In this tutorial, we will discuss about the WordPress Permalinks Settings. Here you will learn what configuration options are available in the Settings Permalinks screen and how to configure the “Permalinks” Settings of WordPress to make a pretty permalink structure.
In general, the Permalinks Settings control the URL structure of your blog. This option is directly related to the user experience and also with the SEO of your website.
These Settings (Permalinks) control the features related to creating a meaningful URL structure (pretty permalink) for your blog posts and pages, which can help to increase the usability of your website.
What are Permalinks in WordPress?
Permalinks are the permanent URLs linking to your blog's individual pages, posts, categories, and tag archives. A permalink is the web address the user will type in his browser to open your blog posts.
According to WordPress best practices, the URL to each post needs be permanent, and should never change after the post is published - hence it is called as the permalink.
The WordPress Permalinks Settings Page allows you to choose your blog's default permalink structure. You can choose from common settings that are used by the majority of bloggers or you may create your own custom URL structures.
By default, WordPress uses "day and name" as the web URL; however, WordPress provides you with the ability to create a custom URL structure for your posts, pages, and archives.
How to Open WordPress Permalinks Settings:
You can access the Permalinks settings by going to your WordPress Dashboard and click on Settings ⇒ Permalinks option. (As shown in the below image)
That will take you to the WordPress Permalinks Setting page. And will look somewhat similar to the below image.
Now you are all set to configure the Settings of WordPress Permalinks Screen.
Configuring WordPress Permalinks Settings:
While you can to the Settings ⇒ Permalinks page, you got many options related to your blog’s URL structure. All the options are explained below:
Common settings:
Select any one of the radio buttons corresponding to the Permalink Structure you want to use for your blog.
Plain - The most unusual URL structure that you should never use. An example of the plain URL structure is:
http://www.yoursite.com/?p=123
Day and name - This is the default permalink structure for WordPress. An example of the day and name based structure is:
http://www.yoursite.com/2018/02/18/sample-post/
Month and name - It is same as above but without the date of the post. The month and name based URL structure looks like:
http://www.yoursite.com/2018/02/sample-post/
Numeric - This is also not much meaningful URL structure. The numeric structure looks like:
http://www.yoursite.com/archives/123
Post name - One of the most popular permalink structure, we also use this structure at certguidance.com. The post name structure looks very simple like:
http://www.yoursite.com/sample-post
Custom structure - This provides you a textbox where you can put multiple parameters to create your own desired custom URL structure. One example is - %year%/%category%/%postname%/. That would look like:
http://www.yoursite.com/2018/sample-category/sample-post
[The detail about using Custom Permalink Structure is given below].
Optional:
You may enter custom bases for your category and tag URLs here. This is used to rename the "category" or "tag" word in within the URL structure. For example, using /topics/ as your category base would make your category links like "http://example.org/topics/category-name/" instead of "http://example.org/category/category-name/".
Category base - You can enter a custom prefix for your category archive URLs here.
Tag base - You may enter a custom prefix for your tag archive URLs here.
Save Changes:
The last and final step is to save the entire configuration you have just changed; Clicking on the Save Changes button will ensure that any changes you have made to these Settings are saved to WordPress database.
Once you click the save changes button, a confirmation text box will appear notifying you that your settings have been saved.
Configuring Custom Permalink Structure Parameters:
You must read this section if you have selected the Custom Structure option under the Common Settings. Otherwise, you may skip this section.
If you have selected the custom structure option, then you have the option to use different structure tags to customize the URL structure.
For using this you must remember two things:
- You should not put your site URL in this permalinks fields. You should only use one or more of the structure tags to customize the URL.
- You must end your structure with either %post_id% or %postname% (e.g. /%year%/%monthnum%/%postname%/) so that each permalink points to an individual post.
You can use these structure tags (shown below) to customize your "Pretty" or "Almost Pretty" permalinks. Some of the most common structure tags are:
%year% - shows the year of the post published in four digits, for example 2018.
%monthnum% - Shows the Month in which post was published (in number), for example 02.
%day% - Shows the Day of post-publication date, for example 19.
%hour% - Shows the Hour of the day when the post was published, in 24-hour format, for example 12.
%minute% - Shows the Minute of the hour when the post was published, for example 25.
%second% - shows the Second of the minute when pot got published, for example 42.
%post_id% - Shows the unique ID # of the post, for example 123.
%postname% - Shows a sanitized and dashed version of the title of the post without any special character (post slug field on Edit Post/Page panel). So “A Test Post!” becomes “a-test-post” in the URL.
%category% - Shows a sanitized and dashed version of the category name (category slug field on New/Edit Category panel). Nested sub-categories (child categories) appear as nested directories (under parent category) in the URL.
%author% - Shows a sanitized and dashed version of the author name.
We hope that you have enjoyed the above tutorial on how to Configure WordPress Permalinks Settings. Be with us to explore free training on Leading Technologies and Certifications.
Leave us some comments if you have any question about pretty permalinks or about the options you get at WordPress Settings ⇒ Permalinks screen, we will be very happy to help you.
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