Title: WP Super Cache, custom code and 'RewriteEngine On'
Last modified: August 20, 2016

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# WP Super Cache, custom code and 'RewriteEngine On'

 *  Resolved [definitio](https://wordpress.org/support/users/definitio/)
 * (@definitio)
 * [13 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-super-cache-custom-code-and-rewriteengine-on/)
 * I have noticed the following which I don’t know whether it signifies a problem
   or not.
 * I’ve observed that the secure root htaccess file has the “RewriteEngine On” rather
   high in the file (as would be expected, preceding rewrite rules), but when WP
   Super Cache is enabled, almost all instances of “RewriteEngine On” are removed(
   except the inactive one, which belongs to the hotlinking prevention code) and
   the code of WP Super Cache, inserted at the bottom of the htaccess file has the
   only active such declaration.
 * As it stands I am not sure whether this is a problem or not already, since now“
   Rewrite” rules are not preceded by the “RewriteEngine On” code.
 * Furthermore, if I go ahead and add a rewrite rule e.g. from www. to non-www. (
   this is the code I used with Joomla) in your CUSTOM CODE BOTTOM area
 *     ```
       RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.(.+)$ [NC]
       RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://%1/$1 [R=301,L]
       ```
   
 * then this rewrite rule to would not be preceded by a an active (not commented
   out) instance of “RewriteEngine On”.
 * Is there any issue with this configuration in general? Should I include the “
   RewriteEngine On” declaration myself when adding rewrite rules as custom code?
 * [http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/bulletproof-security/](http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/bulletproof-security/)

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 17 total)

1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-super-cache-custom-code-and-rewriteengine-on/page/2/?output_format=md)
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 *  Plugin Author [AITpro](https://wordpress.org/support/users/aitpro/)
 * (@aitpro)
 * [13 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-super-cache-custom-code-and-rewriteengine-on/#post-3357574)
 * Yes, technically RewriteEngine On should come first before any other rules/conditions.
 * RewriteEngine On is an assumed thing and yeah I have added it too many times 
   in the root .htaccess file – it does not hurt to duplicate this directive. I 
   think for most folks Hosts this would not be a problem that RewriteEngine On 
   is being stripped out of the .htaccess file, but for some folks it might be a
   problem.
 * I think the best place for your www to non-www code is here in the root .htaccess
   file. You want your code to be inside of the WordPress rewrite loop and not outside
   of the loop or what i assume would happen is that URL’s above the root directory
   would not rewrite correctly to non-www URL’s. Example: example.com/will rewrite
   to non-www correctly and example.com/some-category/will not rewrite to non-www
   correctly
 *     ```
       RewriteEngine On
       RewriteBase /
       RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^www\.(.+)$ [NC]
       RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://%1/$1 [R=301,L]
       RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
       ```
   
 *  Thread Starter [definitio](https://wordpress.org/support/users/definitio/)
 * (@definitio)
 * [13 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-super-cache-custom-code-and-rewriteengine-on/#post-3357585)
 * Thank you for your response.
 * I will place the rewrite code to the suggested place.
 * Just one more question, not really relevant to Bulletproof, if you don’t mind.
   
   I’ve observed that some kind of redirection from www. to non-www is already in
   place, following the permalink structure in the settings, which does not include
   the www. I am not certain whether I actually should be adding that rewrite code,
   that is, whether it is unneeded or it may even cause a problem with the existing
   functionality.
 * I read somewhere than in WordPress it may cause trouble, specifically end up 
   redirecting all links to the home page, but when I tried it for a while, I did
   not get this behaviour.
 * The reason I added it in the first place was that after moving from Joomla to
   WordPress, in Google Webmasters Tools I saw errors in the [http://www.mysite.com](http://www.mysite.com)
   version of the domain (one should add both and direct Google to use one of them)
   where none existed before (i.e. crawling errors with regard to robots.txt) whereas
   before the [http://www.mysite.com](http://www.mysite.com) seemed “invisible”.
 * I am looking for an technician’s opinion, but I know this is outside the Bulletproof
   support duties, so you can ignore it, by all means
 *  Plugin Author [AITpro](https://wordpress.org/support/users/aitpro/)
 * (@aitpro)
 * [13 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-super-cache-custom-code-and-rewriteengine-on/#post-3357588)
 * Double check your WordPress General Settings page to see what your WordPress 
   Address (URL) & Site Address (URL) are. Settings >>> General.
 * Personally I believe that www is better than non-www, but I do not have any proof
   that that is actually any better. 😉 I believe that I have come across sites 
   that have said www is better than non-www and explained why, but it has been 
   years since I looked that up. So whether or not it is really needed or better
   I do not have a definite/definitive answer for you.
 *  Thread Starter [definitio](https://wordpress.org/support/users/definitio/)
 * (@definitio)
 * [13 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-super-cache-custom-code-and-rewriteengine-on/#post-3357598)
 * My settings are without the URL, just the way I wanted it to be, when I used 
   DUPLICATOR plugin to transfer my site from a testing subfolder to the main folder.
 * My question regarding www. to non-www concerned whether the EXTRA code I want
   to add is actually NEEDED given that the permalink and Site & WordPress URL does
   not include www. and some (efficient or not) redirection is already implemented
 * i.e. I don’t to have two rules for the same function:
    1) wordpress using non-
   www. as set in the installation process 2) my extra code redirecting www to non-
   www.
 * That’s what I read might cause trouble. I am just not certain that WP does that
   rewrite efficiently enough, because I see Google trying to index the www. version
   of the site, whereas it used to be “invisible” before.
 *  Plugin Author [AITpro](https://wordpress.org/support/users/aitpro/)
 * (@aitpro)
 * [13 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-super-cache-custom-code-and-rewriteengine-on/#post-3357600)
 * Well all I know for sure is that I have always used www since around 2000 for
   all the websites I have built, worked on, my personal sites, etc. In the back
   of my mind is a set rule that I go by – always use www and do not use non-www.
   Where I got the information or came to that decision is lost to me since it has
   been many years.
 * All i can offer you is my personal opinion – always use www and not non-www. 
   What you should do is Google this info to find out why a www prefix is better
   to use. 😉
 *  Thread Starter [definitio](https://wordpress.org/support/users/definitio/)
 * (@definitio)
 * [13 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-super-cache-custom-code-and-rewriteengine-on/#post-3357604)
 * Ok will investigate more.
 * Thank you
 *  Plugin Author [AITpro](https://wordpress.org/support/users/aitpro/)
 * (@aitpro)
 * [13 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-super-cache-custom-code-and-rewriteengine-on/#post-3357607)
 * I Googled this and now I remember why i use www
 * [http://serverfault.com/questions/145777/whats-the-point-in-having-www-in-a-url](http://serverfault.com/questions/145777/whats-the-point-in-having-www-in-a-url)
 *  Thread Starter [definitio](https://wordpress.org/support/users/definitio/)
 * (@definitio)
 * [13 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-super-cache-custom-code-and-rewriteengine-on/#post-3357623)
 * Thank you but the choice between www. and non-www is not my issue, don’t know
   if I have been vague above.
 * Let me try and sum up my problem:
 * 1) My site has been on the non-www for two years, so I don’t intend to change
   it (used to be Joomla, now WP).
 * 2) When I installed WordPress, I went for the non-www version, intentionally.
 * 3) By picking the non-www version in settings, WP automatically redirects all
   www. to non-www
 * 4) **I have doubts as to whether the rewrite WP is automatically doing is actually
   efficient**
 * 5) The reason I think so, is that for the first time in two years, I see in Google’s
   WebMasters Tools errors in the www. version of the site (set to point to non-
   www), whereas it was totally invisible before.
    Now I am getting reports about
   indexing failures by Googlebot. Before it didn’t even see it, didn’t have stats
   for www. reported.
 * 6) I want to add my old www. to non-www rewrite code in WP htaccess file, but
   I read somewhere that because WP already does that, the inclusion of the extra
   code might actually cause trouble.
 * So I fear WP does not do the rewrite efficiently & that adding the previously
   proven as efficient code might break the site in some way.
 * For now I have the extra code added as you instructed me. It doesn’t seem to 
   break anything. May be early to tell.
    **My wondering was, will the extra code
   break WordPress, which is already redirecting www. to non-www. in what may be
   a not definitely efficient manner?**
 *  Plugin Author [AITpro](https://wordpress.org/support/users/aitpro/)
 * (@aitpro)
 * [13 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-super-cache-custom-code-and-rewriteengine-on/#post-3357628)
 * 1. Yep do not change from non-www to www if you have an established website. 
   There are other ways as you see from the link i posted above to handle adding
   subdomains for future site growth.
 * 4. I believe the internal rewriting that WordPress does is Very efficient and
   I believe the issue/problem that is going on is outside/not directly related 
   to WordPress itself. Or maybe some plugin you have installed could be doing something
   incorrectly? Like an SEO or Sitemap plugin?
 * 5. I think you need to look at the what is going in Google Webmaster Tools and
   then try to solve the problem completely in Google Webmaster Tools. And also 
   look at your plugins. WordPress is very efficient and very streamlined. I have
   been using WordPress for years and have never had the kind of problem you are
   describing. I have fixed website that were using SEO and Sitemap plugins that
   caused massive damage. And I have also helped clients fix their fubar Google 
   Webmaster Tools settings. ie adding both a non-www and www site in Google Webmaster
   Tools. You should only have 1 and not both or you will have problems.
 * 6. Yes, WordPress does internal rewriting with php coding. I am not exactly sure
   of the order of things. ie does WordPress default or override .htaccess rewriting?
   The problem is not going to be with WordPress itself guaranteed.
 * No, nothing should break. You should be testing your site using sniffers and 
   other testing to ensure that there is not a problem before you find out if there
   is a problem the hard way – an email from Google or a deindexed site or Google
   penalties.
 *  Plugin Author [AITpro](https://wordpress.org/support/users/aitpro/)
 * (@aitpro)
 * [13 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-super-cache-custom-code-and-rewriteengine-on/#post-3357629)
 * Actually what was I thinking/saying – of course WordPress internal rewriting 
   always defers to whatever rewriting you add to your .htaccess file. DUH. LOL
 *  Thread Starter [definitio](https://wordpress.org/support/users/definitio/)
 * (@definitio)
 * [13 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-super-cache-custom-code-and-rewriteengine-on/#post-3357635)
 * 4. Don’t really know…went for the one of the most popular out there, Yoast’s 
   SEO plugin, which also creates the sitemap.
 * The error I am getting in Webmasters Tools is this:
    A red exclamation mark next
   to the www. version of the site and I am getting a warning to check its health,
   saying that robots.txt is blocking some important page. The link of that important
   page cited in the “details” on the right is the www. site itself.
 * When I navigate in the health section for the www. site, I am told that googlebot
   is blocked from the www. site
 * The content of the robots.txt file shown there is
 *     ```
       User-agent: *
       Disallow: /
       ```
   
 * When I click the link to the ‘www.mysite.com/robots.txt’ I am instead shown the
   contents of the ‘mysite.com/robots.txt’ although the browser URL shows “www.mysite.
   com/robots.txt”. Its contents are
 *     ```
       User-agent: *
       Disallow: /wp-admin/
       Disallow: /wp-includes/
       ```
   
 * Never had an error before in Webmasters Tools. I have correctly set my preferred
   domain to non-www from the beginning.
 * Don’t know what to make of this, if there really is an issue or not. My novice
   rationalization may have complicated it more, confused me worse.
 *  [ryansatterfield](https://wordpress.org/support/users/ryansatterfield/)
 * (@ryansatterfield)
 * [13 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-super-cache-custom-code-and-rewriteengine-on/#post-3357658)
 * I have a few questions for you. What plugin(s) are you using? What WordPress 
   version are you using? What is your sites address?
 *  Plugin Author [AITpro](https://wordpress.org/support/users/aitpro/)
 * (@aitpro)
 * [13 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-super-cache-custom-code-and-rewriteengine-on/#post-3357711)
 * I thought you said you had a non-www site? You should not have both a www and
   non-www domain submitted in Google Webmasters Tools.
 * So is what Google saying actually really important or valid? Have you verified
   this yourself? I get automated warnings and notifications from Google intermittently.
   Some of them are valid and some are just false alerts/not valid. All warnings,
   messages and alerts are autogenerated by Google so some are going to be accurate
   and some are not. So you need to check and confirm that there is an issue/problem
   or if it is just a false alert.
 *  Thread Starter [definitio](https://wordpress.org/support/users/definitio/)
 * (@definitio)
 * [13 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-super-cache-custom-code-and-rewriteengine-on/#post-3357746)
 * > I thought you said you had a non-www site? You should not have both a www and
   > non-www domain submitted in Google Webmasters Tools.
 * I have read guides telling administrators to claim both the www. and the non-
   www. version of their site in Google and set a preferred choice through the dashboard
   settings. Google will then display their links in www. or non-www as per choice.
 * >  I get automated warnings and notifications from Google intermittently. Some
   > of them are valid and some are just false alerts/not valid. All warnings, messages
   > and alerts are autogenerated by Google so some are going to be accurate and
   > some are not. So you need to check and confirm that there is an issue/problem
   > or if it is just a false alert.
 * Yes I don’t have the knowledge to do that and have already acknowledged that 
   I may be making novice rationalizations.
 * What I am seeing is Google reporting failure to crawl the www. version of the
   site
    – Is this actually “good”, signifying that WP has set a global “Disallow”
   on ‘www.mysite.com’? Could be – The other hypothesis/conjecture is that the www.
   version is somehow now more “visible” for Webmasters Tools to report errors on
   it (?). Never had this thing happen before.
 * I forgot to mention that in “Crawl Errors” on this site I am getting a reported
   failure to crawl this url
    `http://www.mysite.com/function.require` …at least
   that’s new and it started on the day I made the official switch from Joomla to
   WordPress
 * > I have a few questions for you. What plugin(s) are you using? What WordPress
   > version are you using? What is your sites address?
 * 1) Plugins: [http://postimage.org/image/c9q78gclz/](http://postimage.org/image/c9q78gclz/)
   
   2) WordPress 3.5 3) [http://tomakrypodari.gr](http://tomakrypodari.gr)
 * Have to say a big thank you for your interest.
 *  Plugin Author [AITpro](https://wordpress.org/support/users/aitpro/)
 * (@aitpro)
 * [13 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-super-cache-custom-code-and-rewriteengine-on/#post-3357764)
 * > I have read guides telling administrators to claim both the www. and the non-
   > www. version of their site in Google and set a preferred choice through the
   > dashboard settings. Google will then display their links in www. or non-www
   > as per choice.
 * I have personally fixed several client sites problems that were caused by doing
   this. The problems ranged from Google assigning penalties to Google deindexing
   the sites pages. If you know what you are doing then be me guest. I can only 
   tell you what I have found and fixed in my own personal experience.
 * If Google is not crawling the www site submission then this is of course a good
   thing otherwise you would be in the possible scenarios I mentioned above of recovering
   from Google penalties and scrambling to get your website pages reindexed after
   Google deindexed them. 😉
 * The crawl error is obviously not an “error” but a good thing. I doubt that you
   want Google to crawl the function.require file.

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## Tags

 * [htaccess](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/htaccess/)
 * [rewrite rules](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/rewrite-rules/)

 * 17 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [AITpro](https://wordpress.org/support/users/aitpro/)
 * Last activity: [13 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wp-super-cache-custom-code-and-rewriteengine-on/page/2/#post-3357782)
 * Status: resolved