How to do a vanity url with PHP and htaccess

A vanity URL is a URL that is simplified or is a cover to what the URL is fetching. On website that you have usernames vanity URL’s are the domian.com/username like twitter.com/username what comes after the / is actually still what shapes the GET without it needing a user= or id= in the URL. Vanity URL’s are great for SEO and usability purposes.

The main part of a vanity URL is the .htaccess file which is a file in the root of your websites hosted file directory.

.htaccess

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /profile.php?username=$1

.profile.php

$username = $_GET['username'];
echo $username;

Now if you navigate to yourdomain.com/Jeff it will echo Jeff.

Its a pretty easy process for something that is professional and effective.