DDEV SEO URL Redirect

—

### ✅ 1. **Check DDEV's `nginx/apache` Document Root Configuration**

DDEV needs to know that your site’s **document root is `src/`**. You must configure this in `.ddev/config.yaml`.

#### 🔧 Fix:
Open `.ddev/config.yaml` and update the `docroot`:

docroot: src

Then restart DDEV:

ddev restart

—

### ✅ 2. **Check `.htaccess` Rewrite Rules**

If you're using SEO URLs like `/about` or `/products/item`, your `.htaccess` should have proper rewrite rules to forward all non-file requests to `index.php`.

Here’s a working example of a minimal `.htaccess` inside the `src/` folder:

RewriteEngine On

# Redirect requests that are not files or directories to index.php
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php [QSA,L]

Make sure this file is **inside the `src/` folder**, as that’s your document root.

—

### ✅ 3. **Check `index.php` Router Logic**

In your `src/index.php`, you likely have custom routing logic. If all pages go to the homepage, your routing logic might be defaulting everything to the home view.

#### 🔧 Fix:
Make sure `index.php` reads and interprets the `$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']` correctly, e.g.:

$request = trim($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], '/');
switch ($request) {
    case '':
    case 'home':
        require 'home.php';
        break;
    case 'about':
        require 'about.php';
        break;
    // more routes here
    default:
        http_response_code(404);
        require '404.php';
        break;
}

—

### ✅ 4. **Verify Apache is Used in DDEV**

Ensure your `.ddev/config.yaml` is using **Apache**, not Nginx, since `.htaccess` works only with Apache.

webserver_type: apache-fpm

Then run:

ddev restart

—

### ✅ 5. **Flush DDEV Router and Clear Browser Cache**

Run:

ddev restart
ddev poweroff
ddev start

Also try a private/incognito browser window to avoid cached redirects.

—

If the issue persists after trying all the above, feel free to share your `.htaccess` and `index.php` file snippets so I can help debug further.

1. 🚫 `.htaccess` rewrite rules not being executed properly
2. ⚠️ `index.php` route handling is incorrect

—

### ✅ Let’s verify step-by-step:

#### 🔍 Step 1: Check `.htaccess` inside `src/`
Ensure your `.htaccess` (in `src/.htaccess`) has this:

RewriteEngine On

# Skip existing files/directories
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d

# Route everything else to index.php
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php [QSA,L]

—

#### 🔍 Step 2: Check `index.php` routing logic

Inside `src/index.php`, try a simple router like this to test:

<?php
$request = trim(parse_url($_SERVER["REQUEST_URI"], PHP_URL_PATH), '/');

switch ($request) {
    case '':
    case 'home':
        echo "This is the Home Page";
        break;
    case 'about':
        echo "This is the About Page";
        break;
    default:
        echo "404 Page not found: $request";
        http_response_code(404);
        break;
}

Now visit:

– `http://project.test/` → should show “This is the Home Page”
– `http://project.test/about` → should show “This is the About Page”
– Anything else should show a custom 404

—

#### 🔍 Step 3: Confirm Apache is used in DDEV

Run this command inside your DDEV project:

ddev describe

Look for:

webserver_type: apache-fpm

If it's using `nginx-fpm`, update `.ddev/config.yaml`:

webserver_type: apache-fpm

Then run:

ddev restart

—

#### 🔍 Step 4: Enable `.htaccess` debugging (Optional)

To confirm `.htaccess` is being executed, add an invalid directive inside it (like `XYZTestDirective`) — if it breaks with a 500 error, then `.htaccess` is being read. If not, it's being ignored.

—

### Final Thoughts

If after all this, **every custom URL still goes to the homepage**, it's almost certainly because your `index.php` is defaulting to home for all paths (e.g. `require 'home.php';` at the top). The routing logic needs to correctly parse the URL and route to the appropriate content.

If you're stuck, share your `.htaccess` and `index.php` content and I’ll inspect it directly.

# # compress text, HTML, JavaScript, CSS, and XML
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/javascript
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/rss+xml
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/vnd.ms-fontobject
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-opentype
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-otf
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-truetype
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-font-ttf
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/x-javascript
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xhtml+xml
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE application/xml
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/opentype
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/otf
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE font/ttf
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/svg+xml
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE image/x-icon
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/css
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/html
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/javascript
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/plain
# AddOutputFilterByType DEFLATE text/xml
# # remove browser bugs
# BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4 gzip-only-text/html
# BrowserMatch ^Mozilla/4.0[678] no-gzip
# BrowserMatch bMSIE !no-gzip !gzip-only-text/html
# Header append Vary User-Agent

# ExpiresActive On

# ExpiresDefault "access plus 7 days"
# ExpiresByType image/gif "access plus 1 year"
# ExpiresByType image/png "access plus 1 year"
# ExpiresByType image/jpg "access plus 1 year"
# ExpiresByType image/jpeg "access plus 1 year"
# ExpiresByType image/svg "access plus 1 year"
# ExpiresByType image/webp "access plus 1 year"
# ExpiresByType image/svg+xml "access plus 1 year"
# ExpiresByType image/x-icon "access plus 1 year"
# ExpiresByType text/html "access plus 2 weeks"
# ExpiresByType text/css "access plus 20 weeks"
# ExpiresByType text/x-javascript "access plus 20 weeks"
# ExpiresByType application/javascript "access plus 20 weeks"
# ExpiresByType application/x-javascript "access plus 20 weeks"
# ExpiresByType application/vnd.ms-fontobject "access plus 1 year"
# ExpiresByType application/x-font-ttf "access plus 1 year"
# ExpiresByType application/x-font-opentype "access plus 1 year"
# ExpiresByType application/x-font-woff "access plus 1 year"
# ExpiresByType application/x-font-woff2 "access plus 1 year"
# ExpiresByType image/svg+xml "access plus 1 year"

# Options +FollowSymLinks
RewriteEngine on

rewritebase /

RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} libwww-perl.*
RewriteRule .* – [F,L]

RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^[A-Z]{3,9} /index.php
RewriteRule ^index.php$ / [L,R=301]

# FOR PRODUCTION
# RewriteCond %{HTTP:X-Forwarded-Proto} !https
# RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
# RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]
# RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www. [NC]
# RewriteRule (.*) https://www.%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301]

ErrorDocument 404 /error-page.php

# EN
RewriteRule ^compare/?$ index.php?tag=compare [NC]
RewriteRule ^compare/([^/.]+)/?$ seo.php?tag=compare&url=$1 [NC]
RewriteRule ^compare/([^/.]+)/open?$ seo.php?tag=compare&open=true&url=$1 [NC]
RewriteRule ^compare-prices/?$ onclick-form.php?url=compare-prices [NC]
RewriteRule ^compare-prices/([^/.]+)?$ onclick-form.php?url=compare-prices&type=$1 [NC]

RewriteRule ^article/([^/.]+)/?$ artikel.php?url=$1 [NC]
RewriteRule ^articles/?$ artikelen.php [NC]

RewriteRule ^general/?$ algemeen.php?url=general [NC]
RewriteRule ^general/open/?$ algemeen.php?url=general [NC]
RewriteRule ^application/?$ algemeen.php?url=general [NC]

RewriteRule ^contact/thank-you/?$ page.php?url=thank-you [NC]

# NL and BE
RewriteRule ^vergelijk/?$ index.php?tag=compare [NC]
RewriteRule ^vergelijk/([^/.]+)/?$ seo.php?tag=compare&url=$1 [NC]
RewriteRule ^vergelijk/([^/.]+)/open?$ seo.php?tag=compare&open=true&url=$1 [NC]
RewriteRule ^prijzen-vergelijken/([^/.]+)/?$ onclick-form.php?url=prijzen-vergelijken&type=$1 [NC]
RewriteRule ^prijzen-vergelijken/?$ onclick-form.php?url=prijzen-vergelijken [NC]

RewriteRule ^artikel/([^/.]+)/?$ artikel.php?url=$1 [NC]
RewriteRule ^artikelen/?$ artikelen.php [NC]

RewriteRule ^algemeen/?$ algemeen.php?url=algemeen [NC]
RewriteRule ^algemeen/open?$ algemeen.php?url=algemeen [NC]
RewriteRule ^aanvraag/?$ algemeen.php?url=algemeen [NC]

RewriteRule ^contact/bedankt/?$ page.php?url=bedankt [NC]
Redirect /algemene-voorwaarden/ /algemene-voorwaarden-Liftoffertes.pdf

# FR
RewriteRule ^fr/comparer/([^/.]+)/?$ onclick-form.php?url=comparer&type=$1 [NC]
RewriteRule ^fr/comparer/?$ onclick-form.php?url=comparer [NC]
RewriteRule ^fr/comparer/?$ index.php?lang_code=fr&tag=compare [NC]
RewriteRule ^fr/comparer/([^/.]+)/?$ seo.php?lang_code=fr&tag=compare&url=$1 [NC]
RewriteRule ^fr/comparer/([^/.]+)/open?$ seo.php?lang_code=fr&tag=compare&open=true&url=$1 [NC]
RewriteRule ^comparer-les-prix/?$ onclick-form.php?url=comparer-les-prix [NC]

RewriteRule ^fr/article/([^/.]+)/?$ artikel.php?lang_code=fr&url=$1 [NC]
RewriteRule ^fr/articles/?$ artikelen.php?lang_code=fr& [NC]

RewriteRule ^fr/generale/?$ algemeen.php?lang_code=fr&url=generale [NC]
RewriteRule ^fr/generale/open/?$ algemeen.php?lang_code=fr&url=generale [NC]
RewriteRule ^fr/application/?$ algemeen.php?lang_code=fr&url=generale [NC]

RewriteRule ^fr/contact/merci/?$ page.php?lang_code=fr&url=merci [NC]

RewriteRule ^fr/plan-du-site/?$ sitemap.php?lang_code=fr&url=plan-du-site [NC]

RewriteRule ^fr/([^/.]+)/?$ seo.php?url=$1&lang_code=fr [NC]

RewriteRule ^fr/$ index.php?lang_code=fr [L,QSA]
RewriteRule ^fr$ index.php?lang_code=fr [L,QSA]
RewriteRule ^fr/([^/.]+).html/?$ /index.php?lang_code=fr [L,QSA]

# EN, NL, BE and FR
RewriteRule ^contact/?$ contact.php?url=contact [NC]
RewriteRule ^contact/form/?$ contact.php?url=contact [NC]
RewriteRule ^sitemap.xml?$ sitemapxml.php [NC]

# EN, NL and BE
RewriteRule ^sitemap/?$ sitemap.php?url=sitemap [NC]

# ALL
RewriteRule ^admin/$ admin/index.php [L,QSA]

RewriteRule ^/$ index.php [L,QSA]
RewriteRule ^$ index.php [L,QSA]
RewriteRule ^([^/.]+).html/?$ /index.php [L,QSA]

RewriteRule ^([^/.]+)/?$ seo.php?url=$1 [NC]

Redirect /backoffice /backoffice/pages/index.php
RewriteRule ^backoffice/?$ backoffice/pages/index.php [NC]

#
# order allow,deny
# deny from all
#

# Options All -Indexes

—

## ✅ Problem Summary

Your `.htaccess` is **correctly structured** with detailed rewrite rules, but **every URL redirects to the homepage** — likely caused by one or more of these:

—

### 🔍 Issue 1: Missing RewriteBase Handling

Even though you have `rewritebase /`, it's lowercase:

rewritebase /

✅ **Fix:** It must be **`RewriteBase`** (case-sensitive):

RewriteBase /

—

### 🔍 Issue 2: Apache’s `mod_rewrite` might not be enabled in DDEV

Run this inside your container to confirm if `mod_rewrite` is active:

ddev ssh
apache2ctl -M | grep rewrite

You should see:

rewrite_module (shared)

❌ If not present:

a2enmod rewrite
service apache2 restart

But this should already be enabled in DDEV. Still worth checking.

—

### 🔍 Issue 3: Apache might not be honoring `.htaccess` due to `AllowOverride` settings

This usually isn’t an issue in DDEV, but you can force it by adding this to your `src/.htaccess` **top**:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
    Options +FollowSymLinks
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteBase /
</IfModule>

—

### 🔍 Issue 4: Your router files (`index.php`, `seo.php`, etc.) might default to homepage output

If `.htaccess` works but `index.php` and `seo.php` route all requests to the homepage content (even 404s), then the problem is inside your PHP scripts — not the `.htaccess`.

✅ **Check `index.php` and `seo.php` logic**, make sure:

– `$_GET['url']` is actually used
– No fallback like `include('home.php');` on every request
– You log or debug the incoming URL

—

### ✅ Recommended Debug Step

Add this at the **very top of your `index.php`** temporarily:

echo '<pre>';
print_r($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']);
print_r($_GET);
exit;

Then visit:

http://yoursite.ddev.site/article/test-article

Expected:

/article/test-article
Array
(
    [url] => test-article
)

If nothing shows up or you always land at `/`, then either:

– Rewrite rules aren’t being processed
– PHP routing code isn’t checking `$_GET['url']` properly

—

## ✅ Final Checklist

| Step | ✅ Done? |
|—————————–|———-|
| `RewriteBase` is capitalized| ✔️ |
| Apache is using `.htaccess` | ✔️ |
| Apache rewrite module is on | ✔️ |
| PHP router files check `$_GET['url']`| ✔️ |
| DDEV `docroot: src` | ✔️ |
| DDEV webserver is Apache | ✔️ |
| `index.php` doesn't override logic| ✔️ |

—

If you'd like, share the content of your `src/index.php` and `seo.php` — I can verify that the routing logic handles SEO URLs correctly.

Let me know what you find after testing the `$_GET` and `$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']`.

—

### ✅ Core Problem

Your `index.php` **does not contain any logic to handle routing based on the URL path** like `/compare/test-item` or `/article/xyz`.

Instead, it only looks for a `GET` parameter called `tag`:

$tag = $f->getValue("tag");

That means, **if someone visits**:

/compare/test-product

…it will reach `index.php`, but unless `.htaccess` rewrites that to something like:

index.php?tag=compare&url=test-product

your `index.php` will just show the homepage, because it assumes it's a default visit.

—

### ✅ What’s Missing

You're relying on these `.htaccess` rewrite rules:

RewriteRule ^compare/([^/.]+)/?$ seo.php?tag=compare&url=$1 [NC]

So this URL:

/compare/some-product

should land in `seo.php`, not `index.php`.

But your `index.php` is still being triggered — meaning either:

—

## 🛠️ Fix 1: `.htaccess` isn't being executed at all

To test:

### ➤ Add this temporarily to the top of `src/.htaccess`:

RewriteRule ^debug-test$ /test-debug.php [L]

Then create a `src/test-debug.php` file:

<?php echo "REWRITE WORKS"; ?>

Visit:

http://yoursite.ddev.site/debug-test

#### ✅ If you see “REWRITE WORKS”:
→ `.htaccess` **is working**

#### ❌ If it still shows homepage:
→ `.htaccess` is **being ignored**

Then check again:
– Apache is used (`webserver_type: apache-fpm`)
– `.htaccess` contains `RewriteEngine On` and `RewriteBase /`
– Try adding “ wrapper
– Restart DDEV: `ddev restart`

—

## 🛠️ Fix 2: `seo.php` is not routing correctly

If `.htaccess` works but `/compare/product` still shows home, your `seo.php` must be failing or redirecting to home.

Add this to the top of `seo.php` for testing:

<?php
echo '<pre>';
print_r($_GET);
exit;

Now open:

/compare/test-item

You should see:

Array
(
    [tag] => compare
    [url] => test-item
)

If not, routing isn’t working or rewrite rule is broken.

—

## ✅ Final Suggestion

If `.htaccess` fails and you’re on Apache:

Add this near the top of `.htaccess` to handle "all" requests as fallback:

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ index.php?url=$1 [QSA,L]

And then update `index.php` to handle SEO-friendly paths using:

$requestPath = trim(parse_url($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], PHP_URL_PATH), '/');

// route based on $requestPath
if (strpos($requestPath, 'compare/') === 0) {
    include 'seo.php';
    exit;
} elseif ($requestPath === 'about') {
    include 'page-about.php';
    exit;
}
// else show home

—

Let me know:
– What the debug output shows for `/compare/xyz`
– If `.htaccess` is firing based on the test above

And I’ll help finalize the fix.

Let’s fix that quickly.

—

## ✅ Step-by-Step Fix for `.htaccess` Ignored in DDEV

### 🔧 1. **Ensure DDEV uses Apache**

Open `.ddev/config.yaml` and confirm:

webserver_type: apache-fpm

If it says `nginx-fpm`, change it to `apache-fpm`.

Then run:

ddev restart

—

### 🔧 2. **Test if `.htaccess` is working**

#### Add this to top of your `src/.htaccess`:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /

RewriteRule ^debug-check$ debug-check.php [L]

#### Create `src/debug-check.php`:

<?php echo "✅ .htaccess is working"; ?>

Now go to:

http://yourproject.ddev.site/debug-check

#### ➤ Results:
– ✅ If it shows “.htaccess is working” → `.htaccess` is now working.
– ❌ If it still redirects to home → proceed to next step.

—

### 🔧 3. **Enable `.htaccess` in Apache config explicitly (if needed)**

Usually not needed in DDEV, but just in case:

#### Create or edit `.ddev/apache/apache-site.conf` (create folder if not exists)

mkdir -p .ddev/apache

Then create/edit `.ddev/apache/apache-site.conf`:

<Directory "/var/www/html">
    AllowOverride All
    Require all granted
</Directory>

Then edit `.ddev/config.yaml` to include this:

web_environment: []
additional_hostnames: []
additional_fqdns: []
use_dns_when_possible: true
webserver_type: apache-fpm
router_http_port: "80"
router_https_port: "443"
timezone: "UTC"
hooks:
  post-start:
    - exec: "apachectl restart"
nginx_config: []
apache_config: ["apache/apache-site.conf"]

Then restart DDEV:

ddev restart

—

### ✅ 4. **Try the test URL again**

Go to:

http://yourproject.ddev.site/debug-check

If you now see the output, `.htaccess` is finally working.

—

### ✅ After That: Restore Your Rewrite Rules

Put back your main rewrite rules into `.htaccess` and test your SEO URLs like `/compare/something`.

Let me know if the test output still fails — I’ll help troubleshoot the exact Apache config if needed.

—

## ✅ Fix: Switch DDEV to Apache to Enable `.htaccess` Support

Follow these steps to switch to Apache and get your SEO URLs working:

—

### 🔧 1. **Update `.ddev/config.yaml`**

Edit `.ddev/config.yaml`:

webserver_type: apache-fpm

Save the file.

—

### 🔧 2. **Restart DDEV**

Run this in your project root:

ddev restart

—

### 🔧 3. **Verify Apache is Active**

Run:

ddev describe

Look for:

webserver_type: apache-fpm

—

### 🔧 4. **Test `.htaccess` is Working**

Add to top of your `src/.htaccess`:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^htaccess-test$ htaccess-test.php [L]

Create `src/htaccess-test.php`:

<?php echo "✅ .htaccess is working!"; ?>

Now visit:

http://yourproject.ddev.site/htaccess-test

If you see the message → `.htaccess` is now working ✅

—

### ✅ Finally: Restore Your Full Rewrite Rules

Put back your original `.htaccess` content (the one you shared earlier), and now your SEO URLs like `/compare/xyz`, `/artikel/test`, etc., should work correctly.

—

Let me know once you've switched and tested — I’ll help debug further if needed.

Let’s finish fixing it.

—

## ✅ Goal

If a URL like `/compare/something` is entered and no physical file exists, it should rewrite to a PHP file (like `seo.php` or `index.php`) — not 404.

—

## 🔧 1. **Ensure `.htaccess` has fallback rules**

At the **end of your `.htaccess`**, add a **catch-all** rewrite rule:

# Catch-all fallback for URLs not matched above
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^([^/.]+)/?$ seo.php?url=$1 [QSA,L]

> This sends any unmatched URL (e.g., `/foo`) to `seo.php?url=foo`

—

## 🔧 2. **Double-check RewriteBase and engine are on**

Make sure you have **at the top** of `.htaccess`:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /

—

## 🔧 3. **Test with debug output**

Temporarily edit `seo.php` like this at the top:

<?php
echo '<pre>';
print_r($_GET);
exit;

Visit:

http://yourproject.ddev.site/compare/something

Expected Output:

Array
(
    [tag] => compare
    [url] => something
)

If this appears → the rewrites work and now your PHP routing logic needs to show content.

—

## ✅ Optional: Send all unmatched to `index.php`

If you want **all unmatched URLs** to be handled inside `index.php` instead of `seo.php`, then use this instead:

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^ index.php [QSA,L]

Then in `index.php`, inspect `$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']` or use a router.

—

## 🔁 Summary

| Task | Status |
|——|——–|
| Switched from nginx to apache-fpm | ✅ |
| `.htaccess` now working | ✅ |
| 404 on SEO URLs | 🔧 fixing now |
| Add fallback rewrite rule | ✅ |
| Route inside `seo.php` or `index.php` | 👈 You choose |

—

Let me know whether you want all traffic routed through `seo.php` or `index.php`, and I’ll finalize the routing logic with you.