How to apply mod_rewrite rules to files within directory? - php

Question

I'm trying to apply rewrite conditions in my htaccess file to all pages contained within a specific directory on my website, but not the directory index itself.
Ultimately, I'm trying to remove .php file extension from pages within a specific directory.
What I currently have now:
https://www.example.com/directory/page-1.php
End result I'm trying to achieve:
https://www.example.com/directory/page-1
Additionally, if a user attempts to visit the .php version of the page, it 301 redirects to the new version without the .php file extension.
Example matches:
https://www.example.com/directory/page-1.php
https://www.example.com/directory/page-2.php
Should not match:
https://www.example.com/directory/
Here's what I have so far:
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} \/directory\/[^\s]+$
How should the RewriteRule be written?

Answer 1

The expression that might help us to find a RewriteRule can look like:
^https?:\/\/(www\.)?example\.com\/directory\/[^\s]+\.php$
which would fail our undesired URLs, and pass the desired ones.
Demo
Our RewriteRule might likely look like:
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (.*\/directory\/)([^\s]+)\.php [NC]
RewriteRule (.*directory\/)([^\s]+)\.php $1$2 [L,R=301]
</IfModule>
Demo
RewriteRule Test
You can test your RewriteRules in htaccess.madewithlove.be.
RegEx Circuit
jex.im visualizes regular expressions:
We might also want to clear our browser cache, every time that we would change our htaccess file.

Answer 2

You can use the following rule in htaccess in your subfolder create one if it doesn't already exist :
RewriteEngine on
#rule for /subfolder/htaccess
#redirect /subfolder/file.php to /file
#The condition bellow prevents infinite loop/Too many redirects error
RewriteCond %{ENV_REDIRECT_STATUS} ^$
RewriteRule ^(.+)\.php$ /subfolder/$1 [L,R]
#internally map /subfolder/file to /subfolder/file.php
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.php -f
RewriteRule ^(.+)/?$ /subfolder/$1.php [L]
If you want to use your root htaccess file instead , then add the following contents:
RewriteEngine on
#rule for root/.htaccess
#redirect /subfolder/file.php to /file
#The condition bellow prevents infinite loop/Too many redirects error
RewriteCond %{ENV_REDIRECT_STATUS} ^$
RewriteRule ^subfolder/(.+)\.php$ /subfolder/$1 [L,R]
#internally map /subfolder/file to /subfolder/file.php
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME}.php -f
RewriteRule ^subfolder/(.+)/?$ /subfolder/$1.php [L]