# =============================================================================
# .htaccess STARTER — 301 vs 302 redirects, copy-ready
# Source: https://www.kunaldabi.com/301-vs-302-redirections/
# Author: Kunal Singh Dabi · KD Digital · WhatsApp +91 96366 50036
# =============================================================================
# 99% of redirect bugs are: chains (>2 hops), wrong type (302 instead of 301
# for permanent moves), or HTTPS+www mismatch. This file fixes all three.
# Drop into your site root and edit the rules block below.
# =============================================================================

# Enable rewrite engine (needed for any redirect rule below to work)
RewriteEngine On

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 1. CANONICAL HOST — pick ONE and 301 everything else to it.
#    Without this, Google indexes both http://, https://, www., and apex —
#    splitting authority across 4 URLs for the same content.
#    Example: force https + www. Comment out the block you don't want.
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# https + www  (recommended for most marketing sites)
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !=on [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\. [NC]
RewriteRule ^ https://www.example.com%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301,NE]

# https + apex (no www) — uncomment if you prefer apex
# RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !=on [OR]
# RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\. [NC]
# RewriteRule ^ https://example.com%{REQUEST_URI} [L,R=301,NE]

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 2. PERMANENT REDIRECTS (301)
#    Use 301 for any URL that PERMANENTLY moved. Google passes ~99% of link
#    equity through 301s within 6 weeks. Once it's a 301 in production for
#    >6 months, treat it as locked — reverting to the old URL costs ranking.
#    Format:  Redirect 301 /old-path/ https://www.example.com/new-path/
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Redirect 301 /old-blog-post/ https://www.example.com/new-blog-post/
Redirect 301 /old-category/ https://www.example.com/new-category/
# (Add more rules above this line, keeping them grouped together.)

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 3. TEMPORARY REDIRECTS (302)
#    Use 302 ONLY for temporary moves: A/B tests, geolocation tests,
#    seasonal landing pages that will revert. Google does NOT pass equity
#    through 302s — they're treated as "the old URL still exists, come back".
#    Format:  Redirect 302 /promo/ https://www.example.com/promo-2026/
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Redirect 302 /summer-sale/ https://www.example.com/summer-sale-2026/

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 4. WILDCARD / DIRECTORY REDIRECTS
#    For moving a whole subtree. RedirectMatch supports regex.
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Move everything under /blog/* to /articles/*
# RedirectMatch 301 ^/blog/(.*)$ https://www.example.com/articles/$1

# Strip trailing index.html from URLs (canonical cleanup)
# RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} \s/+(.*?)index\.html[\s?] [NC]
# RewriteRule ^ /%1 [R=301,L]

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 5. KILL CHAINS (avoid /a → /b → /c → /d)
#    If you replaced /old1/ with /old2/ in 2022 and now /old2/ is moving to
#    /new/ — change the original /old1/ rule to point AT /new/ directly,
#    so /old1/ → /new/ (1 hop), not /old1/ → /old2/ → /new/ (2 hops).
#    Google's crawler stops following after ~5 hops. Browsers slow noticeably
#    after 2.
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# 6. POST-DEPLOY: VERIFY EVERY RULE
#    Run the bash script in this kit (redirects-test.sh) to test all rules
#    with real HTTP HEAD requests. It checks status code + Location header
#    + final URL after following the chain. See:
#    https://www.kunaldabi.com/301-vs-302-redirections/#how-to-verify-dont-believe-it-prove-it
# -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

# End of redirects block.