How to include a custom string in a Wordpress permalink? - php

Question

I am a bit confused about how WordPress's permalink works, especially beyond Wordpress's own usage. My permalinks are like:
%post_id%-%post_name%
But in single.php I want to put another link to page itself but with different query string. When it is clicked the permalink structure may look like:
%mystring%-%post_id%-%post_name%
I want to get the value from $_GET['action'], so:
$_GET['action'] = %mystring%
my plan is to interpret it like:
if('xx' == $_GET['action']){
//do xx stuff
} else if ('yy'==$_GET['action']){
//do yy stuff
} else {
//show the single post as a single.php always shows
}
that means, I want to parse the $_GET['action'] optionally. If I do not parse it even if it is available in query string, I want the page to be rendered correctly.
So to get this done, where should I actually work? Also how do I form the link for <a> tag? Usually we make link this way:
TEXT
but you already know, I need to add some text before the original permalink of post.
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Leave your permalink structure as it was and check out my answer on custom rewrite rules.
You could adapt the code like so;
function my_rewrite_rules($rules)
{
global $wp_rewrite;
// the key is a regular expression
// the value maps matches into a query string
$my_rule = array(
'(.+)/(.+)/?$' => 'index.php?pagename=matches[2]&my_action=$matches[1]'
);
return array_merge($my_rule, $rules);
}
add_filter('page_rewrite_rules', 'my_rewrite_rules');
function my_query_vars($vars)
{
// this value should match the rewrite rule query paramter above
// I recommend using something more unique than 'action', as you
// could collide with other plugins or WordPress core
$my_vars = array('my_action');
return array_merge($my_vars, $vars);
}
add_filter('query_vars', 'my_query_vars');
Now the page my_page should be available at http://example.com/whatever/my_page and http://example.com/my_page.
You can get the value of whatever using get_query_var('my_action').
Disclaimer
This may have undesired effects when viewing children pages or page attachments. You could get around this by passing an identifier in your rewrite, something to the effect of;
http://example.com/my_identifier/whatever/page
Note: You will need to edit the rewrite rule if you wish to do this. Every time you make changes to the code you will need to re-save your permalink structure to 'flush' the rules.