Non WWW redirect to WWW and non SSL to SSL - htaccess

Non WWW redirect to WWW and non SSL to SSL - htaccess - .htaccess files are extremely useful in many cases for users who either do not have root permissions or for users who simply aren't comfortable in making changes in their web server's configuration file. Trying to debug .htaccess not working isn't always the easiest thing to do, however, hopefully by checking the discuss below mentioned about htaccess, apache, 301-redirect, , .htaccess common problems as well as the troubleshooting tips, you'll have a better grasp on what you may have to modify to get your .htaccess file running smoothly.Problem :

I'm trying to redirect my Wordpress site from non www to WWW and non SSL to SSL permamently.

Here's the code I'm using:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %HTTPS !=on
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%HTTP_HOST%REQUEST_URI [L,R=301] 

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %HTTP_HOST ^example.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.example.com/$1 [L,R=301]

I wonder if the code is right or it can be done a better way? I mean, it seems to work but PageSpeed says that I should avoid that many redirections.

EDIT: So it should look like that:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %HTTP_HOST ^example.com [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.example.com/$1 [L,R=301]
RewriteCond %HTTPS !=on
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://%HTTP_HOST%REQUEST_URI [L,R=301] 

?

EDIT2:

RewriteEngine On

RewriteCond %HTTP_HOST ^static.example.com [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) https://static.example.com/$1 [L,R=301]

RewriteCond %HTTPS !=on
RewriteRule .* https://%HTTP_HOST%REQUEST_URI [L,R=301] 

Solution :

What you have is perfectly OK and would need to be implemented that way (by redirecting to HTTPS on the same host) if you intend to implement HSTS.

However, to eliminate a double redirect when requesting http://example.com, you should reverse those two rules. Otherwise, you'll get the following double redirect:

• http://example.com to https://example.com tohttps://www.example.com

For example:

RewriteEngine On

RewriteCond %HTTP_HOST ^example.com [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) https://www.example.com/$1 [L,R=301]

RewriteCond %HTTPS !=on
RewriteRule .* https://%HTTP_HOST%REQUEST_URI [L,R=301] 

No need to repeat the RewriteEngine directive.

No need to capture a backreference (ie. (.*)) when it's not being used in the substitution. No need for the anchors ^ and $ since regex is greedy by default.

The other "style" inconsistency between the above rules, is that you are using a captured backreference ($1) in the first RewriteRule and the REQUEST_URI server variable in the second. It makes no difference in how it works as it does the same thing in two different ways. But they are two different "styles" (as if written by two different people).

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EDIT2:

I also have a subdomain - static.example.com (non www). I would like to add SSL here and redirect WWW to non WWW (now users can access the site through www as well, ending up with URL like www.static.example.com). I tried something like in EDIT2 (I just edited my post). Can you tell me what's wrong with that code?

RewriteCond %HTTP_HOST ^static.example.com [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) https://static.example.com/$1 [L,R=301]

RewriteCond %HTTPS !=on
RewriteRule .* https://%HTTP_HOST%REQUEST_URI [L,R=301]

Your first rule here is redirecting static.example.com to static.example.com (ie. no change) - so this will naturally result in a never ending redirect loop (the browser will eventually break with an error).

If you are wanting to redirect from www.static.example.com then you should be checking for this in the RewriteCond directive. For example:

RewriteCond %HTTP_HOST ^www.static.example.com [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) https://static.example.com/$1 [L,R=301]

I don't know whether you are or not, but there is no need to repeat the HTTP to HTTPS redirect - providing you put the directives in the correct order.

So, in summary, with both redirects together:

RewriteEngine On

# Main domain non-www to www redirect
RewriteCond %HTTP_HOST ^example.com [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) https://www.example.com/$1 [L,R=301]

# Subdomain www to non-www redirect
RewriteCond %HTTP_HOST ^www.static.example.com [NC]
RewriteRule (.*) https://static.example.com/$1 [L,R=301]

# HTTP to HTTPS redirect
RewriteCond %HTTPS !=on
RewriteRule .* https://%HTTP_HOST%REQUEST_URI [L,R=301] 

Additionally, if you would like to do some further testing, give the htaccess tester tool a try. It allows you to specify a certain URL as well as the rules you would like to include and then shows which rules were tested, which ones met the criteria, and which ones were executed.