Apache mod_rewrite redirect, keep sub-directory name

I'm wondering if this is possible.

I have a single page site in which I'd like to incorporate a trailing slash with a file name that anchors to a section on that site. I'm trying to avoid using hash or hash-bangs.

For example; www.example.com/recent

Right now, I'm removing any trailing slash, but I get a 404 with /recent because it's expecting a file.

RewriteRule ^(.*)/$ /$1 [R=301,L]

Is it possible to redirect to www.example.com, but still maintain the /recent without the server thinking it's a file so I can read it client-side (php/js)开发者_StackOverflow? More so that I can keep using the back and forward buttons.

Thanks for any help!

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TBH it is not 100% clear for me what you want. As I understand you want URL www.example.com/recent to be rewritten (internal redirect, when URL remains unchanged in browser) to www.example.com/index.php?page=recent (or something like that).

DirectorySlash Off
Options +FollowSymLinks -MultiViews

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /

# remove trailing slash if present
RewriteRule ^(.*)/$ /$1 [R=301,L]

# do not do anything for already existing files
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
RewriteRule .+ - [L]

# rewrite all non-existing resources to index.php
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ /index.php?page=$1 [L,QSA]

With the above rules (that need to be placed in .htaccess in website root folder) this can be achieved. Request for www.example.com/recent will be rewritten to www.example.com/index.php?page=recent so your single-page server side script knows which URL was requested. The same will be with any other non-existing resource e.g. www.example.com/hello/pink/kitten => www.example.com/index.php?page=hello/pink/kitten.

It may not be necessary to pass originally requested URI as a page parameter as you should be able to access it in PHP via $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] anyway.

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If I misunderstood you and this is not what you want then you have to clarify your question (update it with more details, make it sound clear).