htaccess problem with filename

Question

when I first set up my site I decided to add index.html to the URL but now I have problems with when people remove the index.html and try and access the folder...

For example:

RewriteRule ^archives/([0-9]+)/([0-9]+)/index.html archive.php?mid=$1-$2

So when archives/07/2009/ it will cause an error, how can I avoid this error? Cheers

Answer 1

Make the index.html optional in your RewriteRule:

RewriteRule ^archives/([0-9]+)/([0-9]+)/(?:index\.html)?$ archive.php?mid=$1-$2

Also, in your original rewrite rule, you forgot your end of string anchor $. I've added it above.

Answer 2

Try this rule witht an optional index.html:

RewriteRule ^archives/([0-9]+)/([0-9]+)/(index\.html)?$ archive.php?mid=$1-$2

But I recommend you to stick just with one of both notations, with or without the trailing index.html and redirect if wrong:

# remove index.html
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^(.*/)?index\.html$ /$1 [L,R=301]

# add index.html
RewriteRule (.*)/$ $1/index.html [L,R=301]