The Tool Desk
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What is a WordPress permalink?
A permalink is the address WordPress uses for a piece of content or an archive. WordPress.org Documentation describes these URLs as permanent and says they should not be changed casually. In practice, a permalink is the address people bookmark, share, or link to from another page.
WordPress supports three broad URL styles:
- Plain: a query-string address such as
http://example.com/?p=N. - Pretty: a readable path such as
/2012/post-name/or/2012/12/30/post-name. - Almost pretty: a readable path that begins with
/index.php/.
Plain URLs work across server environments. Pretty URLs are more readable, but depend on the web server being configured to route them correctly. WordPress’s permalink documentation explains these formats and the available structure tags.
Which permalink structure should you choose?
In Settings → Permalinks, WordPress offers Day and name, Month and name, Numeric, Post name, and Custom structure. Choose based on how your site publishes and what URL detail is useful to readers—not on a promise of better search rankings. WordPress’s documentation discusses readability, aesthetics, usability, and compatibility; it does not say a particular structure guarantees a ranking improvement.
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| Choice | What it conveys | When it may fit |
|---|---|---|
| Post name | A readable title-based path | A straightforward choice when readers do not need dates in the URL. |
| Day and name | Year, month, day, and post name | When publishing date is useful context, such as for time-sensitive updates. |
| Month and name | Year, month, and post name | When a less detailed date context suits the publishing model. |
| Numeric | A numeric identifier in the path | When numeric paths suit the site’s existing conventions. |
| Custom structure | Any supported combination of structure tags | When the built-in patterns do not express the site’s intended URL format. |
For a new, simple site, a short post-name pattern is easy to read. A settled site has a different consideration: changing its pattern can alter URLs people already use. Weigh the benefit of a new format against the work of redirects and link updates before switching.
How to change the permalink structure
- In the WordPress dashboard, go to Settings → Permalinks.
- Select one of the built-in options, or choose Custom structure and enter a pattern.
- Adjust the optional category or tag base fields if needed.
- Click Save Changes.
The pattern field takes structure tags, not your full domain name. Examples include /%postname%/ for a post-name path or /%year%/%monthnum%/%postname%/ for a year-and-month path. Common tags include %year%, %monthnum%, %day%, %post_id%, %postname%, %category%, and %author%. WordPress recommends ending a custom structure with %post_id% or %postname% so it can identify an individual post. See WordPress’s guide to customizing permalinks.
Category bases, tag bases, and individual slugs
The category and tag base fields affect archive prefixes, not the main post structure. For example, you can use topics as a category base. Leave either field blank to retain its default. The settings do not remove category or tag bases from archive URLs altogether.
A post or page slug is the URL-friendly final segment associated with that item. It is separate from the site-wide structure: the structure determines where the slug appears in the full address. After saving an item as a draft, edit its slug in the editor and check the resulting full URL. Keeping the slug concise and meaningful makes the path easier to recognize. WordPress describes the editor workflow in its block editor documentation.
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Saving a permalink structure updates WordPress’s setting, but the web server must also route pretty paths to WordPress. The required configuration varies by server and hosting environment.
- First, save the setting again: open Settings → Permalinks, confirm the selected structure, and save changes.
- On Apache: pretty URLs commonly rely on rewrite rules in
.htaccess. Confirm that the necessary rewrite module and configuration are enabled. - On Nginx: routing is typically configured in the server block; Nginx does not use per-directory
.htaccessfiles.
If the issue persists, ask your host or server administrator to check the rewrite configuration for your setup rather than copying server directives blindly. WordPress’s web-server documentation describes the Apache and Nginx distinction, and its troubleshooting FAQ lists unavailable or disabled mod_rewrite as one possible cause of pretty-permalink 404s.
Changing permalinks on an established site
Changing a live post’s URL does not automatically send visitors from the old address to the new one. Links from other pages may then stop working. If a change is necessary, plan redirects from the old URLs, review internal links, and identify important links from other sites that may need updating. The closer the site is to launch, the easier it generally is to change a structure before URLs are widely shared; WordPress Learn’s permalink tutorial explains why established addresses deserve care.
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