{"id":473,"date":"2019-04-19T23:21:07","date_gmt":"2019-04-20T07:21:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bhavyatechnologies.com\/blog\/?p=473"},"modified":"2019-04-19T23:22:17","modified_gmt":"2019-04-20T07:22:17","slug":"setting-wordpress-permalinks-and-how-to-make-them-work-in-windows-iis-hosted-servers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bhavyatechnologies.com\/blog\/setting-wordpress-permalinks-and-how-to-make-them-work-in-windows-iis-hosted-servers\/","title":{"rendered":"Setting WordPress Permalinks and How to Make Them Work in Windows (IIS)-Hosted Servers"},"content":{"rendered":"

When it comes to SEO and URLs, it\u2019s a beauty contest.<\/h3>\n

This is a contest you want to win because search engine optimization (SEO) is a hugely important factor in web marketing. While SEO can seem like black magic, generally search engines give higher page ranks to websites that display relevant content in a clear manner. This now includes the content and structure of a web page\u2019s URL.<\/p>\n

In case you need a little refresher, URL stands for uniform resource locator and is what you type in your browser\u2019s address bar to direct you to a website (ex: http:\/\/www.credera.com).<\/p>\n

But in the eyes of search engines, not all URLs are created equal. Some URLs are ugly and some are pretty.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an example of an ugly URL: http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=jofNR_WkoCE<\/p>\n

Looking at the URL, I can tell that I am watching a YouTube video, but I have no idea what the video is about and the random uppercase and lower case letters look just plain ugly.<\/p>\n

In contrast, here is what a pretty version of that same URL might look like: http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/what-does-the-fox-say<\/p>\n

Oh! It\u2019s \u201cWhat Does the Fox Say?\u201d I\u2019ve had that stuck in my head for weeks! This URL looks much nicer and it is easy to understand what it points to. More importantly, search engines like pretty URLs and making search engines happy increases your website\u2019s visibility.<\/p>\n

WORDPRESS PERMALINKS MAKE URLS PRETTY<\/strong>
\nWordPress is one of the most popular and easily accessible blogging and content management systems (CMS) available. It can be used to create a company blog, a professional website, and manage all kinds of content.<\/p>\n

WordPress can be configured to use permalinks, which resolves the ugly URL issue. Permalinks can turn this URL: https:\/\/www.credera.com\/blog\/technology-insights\/java\/?p=35 into this: https:\/\/www.credera.com\/blog\/technology-insights\/java\/java-8-part-1-lamdas-streams-functional-interfaces\/. That is much more descriptive, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

MAKE YOUR PERMALINKS NOT STINK IN IIS<\/strong>
\nConfiguring Permalinks is super straightforward in WordPress\u2026 unless you are using Internet Information Services (IIS) to host your site.<\/p>\n

DISCLAIMER: WordPress should be hosted on a Linux-based server running Apache. It is definitely not recommended to host WordPress on a Windows Server running IIS. Doing so can cause certain features to function improperly. Specifically, permalinks do not work correctly out-of-the-box in IIS.<\/p>\n

That being said, you may find yourself in a situation where you are working with a WordPress site that is running on IIS and you will probably want to configure the permalinks. Follow the quick steps below to get permalinks running on IIS in no time.<\/p>\n

STEP 1: VERIFY THE URL REWRITE MODULE IS INSTALLED<\/b><\/h3>\n

In order for permalinks to work, the\u00a0URL Rewrite Module 2.0<\/b>\u00a0for IIS 7 needs to be installed on the Windows Server that WordPress is hosted on.<\/p>\n

To check if it is already installed, open a Windows Explorer window and navigate to the following folder:\u00a0%SystemRoot%\\system32\\inetsrv\\.\u00a0<\/b>In here we are looking for the\u00a0rewrite.dll\u00a0<\/b>file. If it exists, the version can be checked by right clicking the file \u00e0 select\u00a0Properties<\/b>\u00a0\u00e0\u00a0<\/b>select the\u00a0Details\u00a0<\/b>tab and view the\u00a0Product Version<\/b>\u00a0field. \u00a0URL Rewrite 1.1 has a File Version of 7.1.490.43 and URL Rewrite 2.0 has a File Version of 7.1.761.0 or 7.1.871.0.<\/p>\n

If rewrite.dll does not exist, then you will need to install the URL Rewrite Module. Downloads for the URL Rewrite Module 2.0 can be found\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

STEP 2: CREATE A WEB.CONFIG FILE FOR WORDPRESS<\/b><\/h3>\n

A web.config file will need to be created and placed in the root directory of the WordPress installation.<\/p>\n

To do this, create a new file in a text editor and name it web.config. Paste the following XML into this file and save it:<\/p>\n

<?xml version=\u201d1.0\u2033 encoding=\u201dUTF-8\u2033?><\/p>\n

<configuration><\/p>\n

<system.webServer><\/p>\n

<rewrite><\/p>\n

<rules><\/p>\n

<rule name=\u201dwordpress\u201d stopProcessing=\u201dtrue\u201d><\/p>\n

<match url=\u201d.*\u201d \/><\/p>\n

<conditions logicalGrouping=\u201dMatchAll\u201d><\/p>\n

<add input=\u201d{REQUEST_FILENAME}\u201d matchType=\u201dIsFile\u201d negate=\u201dtrue\u201d\/><\/p>\n

<add input=\u201d{REQUEST_FILENAME}\u201d matchType=\u201dIsDirectory\u201d negate=\u201dtrue\u201d \/><\/p>\n

<\/conditions><\/p>\n

<action type=\u201dRewrite\u201d url=\u201dindex.php\u201d \/><\/p>\n

<\/rule><\/p>\n

<\/rules><\/p>\n

<\/rewrite><\/p>\n

<\/system.webServer><\/p>\n

<\/configuration><\/p>\n

Once the web.config file has been created, move it to the root directory of your WordPress installation on your server.<\/p>\n

STEP 3: CONFIGURE PERMALINKS IN WORDPRESS<\/b><\/h3>\n

Now that your IIS server is ready to deal with permalinks, let\u2019s enable them in WordPress.<\/p>\n