WP Manifestindependent plugin directory
manifest / seo / pretty-search-urls

Pretty Search URLs (MU)

Enables pretty search URLs like /search/parameter and redirects old search query URLs.

by Kian babaabady · github.com/kianbabai/pretty-search-urls

★ 1stars
0forks

Install

No release zip yet. The repository archive installs, but the folder name will carry the branch suffix and updates will not flow:

wp plugin install https://github.com/kianbabai/pretty-search-urls/archive/refs/heads/main.zip

Declares an update source (your-github-repo-link (e.g., https://github.com/kianbabaabady/pretty-search-urls)), so updates arrive through the plugin's own updater.

Readme

Pretty Search URLs (MU)

A WordPress Must-Use (MU) plugin that enables clean, SEO-friendly search URLs like /search/term while providing robust security protection against common web attacks.

Description

This plugin transforms WordPress search URLs from the default query parameter format (?s=searchterm) to clean, pretty URLs (/search/searchterm). It also includes comprehensive security measures to detect and block malicious search queries that could compromise your site.

Key features:

  • Converts search URLs to clean /search/term format
  • Automatically redirects old search query URLs to the new format
  • Protects against Directory Traversal, LFI/RFI, SQL Injection, XSS, and Command Injection attacks
  • Works as a Must-Use plugin for seamless integration

Installation

For Standard WordPress Installation:

  1. Download the cst.php file
  2. Upload it to your /wp-content/mu-plugins/ directory
  3. If the mu-plugins directory doesn't exist, create it
  4. Visit Settings > Permalinks in your WordPress admin and click "Save Changes" to flush rewrite rules

For WordPress Multisite:

  1. Download the cst.php file
  2. Upload it to your /wp-content/mu-plugins/ directory
  3. The plugin will automatically activate network-wide
  4. Visit Settings > Permalinks and click "Save Changes" to flush rewrite rules

Usage

Once activated, the plugin works automatically. Any search on your site will be redirected to the clean URL format:

  • Old format: https://yoursite.com/?s=wordpress
  • New format: https://yoursite.com/search/wordpress

The search functionality remains unchanged - this only improves the URL structure.

Security Features

The plugin includes comprehensive protection against various web attacks through malicious pattern detection:

Directory Traversal & File Inclusion Protection

Blocks attempts to access unauthorized files or directories:

  • ../, ..\, /etc/passwd, /proc/, etc.
  • PHP stream wrappers like php://filter, data://, file://
  • Remote file inclusion patterns like http://, https://

SQL Injection Protection

Detects and blocks common SQL injection attempts:

  • Quote marks (', ") used to break out of string literals
  • SQL comments (--, #, /*)
  • SQL keywords (SELECT, UNION, DROP, etc.)
  • Advanced techniques like time-based injections

Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Protection

Prevents client-side script injection:

  • Script tags (``)
  • JavaScript protocols (javascript:)
  • Event handlers (onload=, onerror=, etc.)
  • HTML tags commonly used for XSS (<img>, <svg>, `

Read the full README on GitHub →