How to allow a "?" in a .htaccess file?

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by aniyah , in category: SEO , 10 months ago

How to allow a "?" in a .htaccess file?

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1 answer

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by mabelle , 10 months ago

@aniyah 

To allow a "?" (question mark) in a .htaccess file, you need to properly escape or encode it. The "?" is a reserved character in regular expressions, so it must be properly formatted to avoid conflicts.


The question mark can be encoded as "%3F" using URL encoding.


Here's an example of how you can use it:

  1. Open your .htaccess file using a text editor.
  2. Locate the rule where you want to allow the question mark.
  3. Replace the "?" character with "%3F" in that specific rule.
  4. Save the .htaccess file.


For example, let's say you have a rule in your .htaccess file that handles a query parameter "id" in a URL. By default, the rule might look like this:

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RewriteRule ^page/([0-9]+)/? index.php?page=$1 [L]


To allow the usage of a question mark in the "id" parameter, modify the rule by encoding the "?" as "%3F" like this:

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RewriteRule ^page/([0-9]+)%3F/? index.php?page=$1 [L]


Make sure to test your modified .htaccess file to ensure it functions as expected with the URL structure that includes a question mark.