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Create URL Slug from Post Title

Regular expression function that replaces spaces between words with hyphens.

<?php
function create_slug($string){
   $slug=preg_replace('/[^A-Za-z0-9-]+/', '-', $string);
   return $slug;
}
echo create_slug('does this thing work or not');
//returns 'does-this-thing-work-or-not'
?>

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  1. Robin

    Maybe you can add a strtolower there?

    Reply ↓
  2. Dalibor Sojic

    Here is jquery (client side) slug creator.

    $('#title').change(function() {
    $(this).val($.trim($(this).val()));
    // Trim empty space

    $(this).val($(this).val().replace(/\s+/g,' '));
    // replace more then 1 space with only one

    $('#url').val($(this).val().toLowerCase());
    $('#url').val($('#url').val().replace(/\W/g, ' '));
    $('#url').val($.trim($('#url').val()));
    $('#url').val($('#url').val().replace(/\s+/g, '-'));
    });

    Reply ↓
  3. Benjamin Mayo

    Stop words are always a nice accompaniment to slug creators,

    Reply ↓
  4. Weblap.ro

    function remove_accent($str)
    {
    $a = array('À','Á','Â','Ã','Ä','Å','Æ','Ç','È','É','Ê','Ë','Ì','Í','Î','Ï','Ð','Ñ','Ò','Ó','Ô','Õ','Ö','Ø','Ù','Ú','Û','Ü','Ý','ß','à','á','â','ã','ä','å','æ','ç','è','é','ê','ë','ì','í','î','ï','ñ','ò','ó','ô','õ','ö','ø','ù','ú','û','ü','ý','ÿ','Ā','ā','Ă','ă','Ą','ą','Ć','ć','Ĉ','ĉ','Ċ','ċ','Č','č','Ď','ď','Đ','đ','Ē','ē','Ĕ','ĕ','Ė','ė','Ę','ę','Ě','ě','Ĝ','ĝ','Ğ','ğ','Ġ','ġ','Ģ','ģ','Ĥ','ĥ','Ħ','ħ','Ĩ','ĩ','Ī','ī','Ĭ','ĭ','Į','į','İ','ı','IJ','ij','Ĵ','ĵ','Ķ','ķ','Ĺ','ĺ','Ļ','ļ','Ľ','ľ','Ŀ','ŀ','Ł','ł','Ń','ń','Ņ','ņ','Ň','ň','ʼn','Ō','ō','Ŏ','ŏ','Ő','ő','Œ','œ','Ŕ','ŕ','Ŗ','ŗ','Ř','ř','Ś','ś','Ŝ','ŝ','Ş','ş','Š','š','Ţ','ţ','Ť','ť','Ŧ','ŧ','Ũ','ũ','Ū','ū','Ŭ','ŭ','Ů','ů','Ű','ű','Ų','ų','Ŵ','ŵ','Ŷ','ŷ','Ÿ','Ź','ź','Ż','ż','Ž','ž','ſ','ƒ','Ơ','ơ','Ư','ư','Ǎ','ǎ','Ǐ','ǐ','Ǒ','ǒ','Ǔ','ǔ','Ǖ','ǖ','Ǘ','ǘ','Ǚ','ǚ','Ǜ','ǜ','Ǻ','ǻ','Ǽ','ǽ','Ǿ','ǿ');
    $b = array('A','A','A','A','A','A','AE','C','E','E','E','E','I','I','I','I','D','N','O','O','O','O','O','O','U','U','U','U','Y','s','a','a','a','a','a','a','ae','c','e','e','e','e','i','i','i','i','n','o','o','o','o','o','o','u','u','u','u','y','y','A','a','A','a','A','a','C','c','C','c','C','c','C','c','D','d','D','d','E','e','E','e','E','e','E','e','E','e','G','g','G','g','G','g','G','g','H','h','H','h','I','i','I','i','I','i','I','i','I','i','IJ','ij','J','j','K','k','L','l','L','l','L','l','L','l','l','l','N','n','N','n','N','n','n','O','o','O','o','O','o','OE','oe','R','r','R','r','R','r','S','s','S','s','S','s','S','s','T','t','T','t','T','t','U','u','U','u','U','u','U','u','U','u','U','u','W','w','Y','y','Y','Z','z','Z','z','Z','z','s','f','O','o','U','u','A','a','I','i','O','o','U','u','U','u','U','u','U','u','U','u','A','a','AE','ae','O','o');
    return str_replace($a, $b, $str);
    }

    function post_slug($str)
    {
    return strtolower(preg_replace(array('/[^a-zA-Z0-9 -]/', '/[ -]+/', '/^-|-$/'), array('', '-', ''), remove_accent($str)));
    }

    Reply ↓
  5. Ant

    You would need also to remove punctuation symbols:

    $string = preg_replace( '/[«»“”!?,.]+/', '', $string );
    Reply ↓
  6. Asif Iqbal

    Its quite simple and good. Nice effort I must say.. I had also written one post for ASP Classic for same topic.

    How to: Create SEO Friednly URL in ASP Classic

    Thanks!

    Reply ↓
  7. Sudeep Sakalle

    Excellent post ! very simple and good.

    Thanks for putting it online.

    @Weblap.ro Thanks for this special char. removal script. This makes this page very useful.

    Sudeep
    Infovinity

    Reply ↓
  8. Seebz

    Another equivalent function that make better results : http://code.seebz.net/p/to-permalink/

    Reply ↓
  9. Devin

    This is the bees knees simple slug creation. Thank Chris!

    Reply ↓
  10. itechfan

    how to make post slug when you language is utf-8 like “xin chào”. i don’t want to change like “xin cho” when i use your function.

    My function like you: 

    
function remove_accent($str)
{
  $a = array('À', 'Á', 'Â', 'Ã', 'Ä', 'Å', 'Æ', 'Ç', 'È', 'É', 'Ê', 'Ë', 'Ì', 'Í', 'Î', 'Ï', 'Ð', 'Ñ', 'Ò', 'Ó', 'Ô', 'Õ', 'Ö', 'Ø', 'Ù', 'Ú', 'Û', 'Ü', 'Ý', 'ß', 'à', 'á', 'â', 'ã', 'ä', 'å', 'æ', 'ç', 'è', 'é', 'ê', 'ë', 'ì', 'í', 'î', 'ï', 'ñ', 'ò', 'ó', 'ô', 'õ', 'ö', 'ø', 'ù', 'ú', 'û', 'ü', 'ý', 'ÿ', 'Ā', 'ā', 'Ă', 'ă', 'Ą', 'ą', 'Ć', 'ć', 'Ĉ', 'ĉ', 'Ċ', 'ċ', 'Č', 'č', 'Ď', 'ď', 'Đ', 'đ', 'Ē', 'ē', 'Ĕ', 'ĕ', 'Ė', 'ė', 'Ę', 'ę', 'Ě', 'ě', 'Ĝ', 'ĝ', 'Ğ', 'ğ', 'Ġ', 'ġ', 'Ģ', 'ģ', 'Ĥ', 'ĥ', 'Ħ', 'ħ', 'Ĩ', 'ĩ', 'Ī', 'ī', 'Ĭ', 'ĭ', 'Į', 'į', 'İ', 'ı', 'IJ', 'ij', 'Ĵ', 'ĵ', 'Ķ', 'ķ', 'Ĺ', 'ĺ', 'Ļ', 'ļ', 'Ľ', 'ľ', 'Ŀ', 'ŀ', 'Ł', 'ł', 'Ń', 'ń', 'Ņ', 'ņ', 'Ň', 'ň', 'ʼn', 'Ō', 'ō', 'Ŏ', 'ŏ', 'Ő', 'ő', 'Œ', 'œ', 'Ŕ', 'ŕ', 'Ŗ', 'ŗ', 'Ř', 'ř', 'Ś', 'ś', 'Ŝ', 'ŝ', 'Ş', 'ş', 'Š', 'š', 'Ţ', 'ţ', 'Ť', 'ť', 'Ŧ', 'ŧ', 'Ũ', 'ũ', 'Ū', 'ū', 'Ŭ', 'ŭ', 'Ů', 'ů', 'Ű', 'ű', 'Ų', 'ų', 'Ŵ', 'ŵ', 'Ŷ', 'ŷ', 'Ÿ', 'Ź', 'ź', 'Ż', 'ż', 'Ž', 'ž', 'ſ', 'ƒ', 'Ơ', 'ơ', 'Ư', 'ư', 'Ǎ', 'ǎ', 'Ǐ', 'ǐ', 'Ǒ', 'ǒ', 'Ǔ', 'ǔ', 'Ǖ', 'ǖ', 'Ǘ', 'ǘ', 'Ǚ', 'ǚ', 'Ǜ', 'ǜ', 'Ǻ', 'ǻ', 'Ǽ', 'ǽ', 'Ǿ', 'ǿ');
  $b = array('A', 'A', 'A', 'A', 'A', 'A', 'AE', 'C', 'E', 'E', 'E', 'E', 'I', 'I', 'I', 'I', 'D', 'N', 'O', 'O', 'O', 'O', 'O', 'O', 'U', 'U', 'U', 'U', 'Y', 's', 'a', 'a', 'a', 'a', 'a', 'a', 'ae', 'c', 'e', 'e', 'e', 'e', 'i', 'i', 'i', 'i', 'n', 'o', 'o', 'o', 'o', 'o', 'o', 'u', 'u', 'u', 'u', 'y', 'y', 'A', 'a', 'A', 'a', 'A', 'a', 'C', 'c', 'C', 'c', 'C', 'c', 'C', 'c', 'D', 'd', 'D', 'd', 'E', 'e', 'E', 'e', 'E', 'e', 'E', 'e', 'E', 'e', 'G', 'g', 'G', 'g', 'G', 'g', 'G', 'g', 'H', 'h', 'H', 'h', 'I', 'i', 'I', 'i', 'I', 'i', 'I', 'i', 'I', 'i', 'IJ', 'ij', 'J', 'j', 'K', 'k', 'L', 'l', 'L', 'l', 'L', 'l', 'L', 'l', 'l', 'l', 'N', 'n', 'N', 'n', 'N', 'n', 'n', 'O', 'o', 'O', 'o', 'O', 'o', 'OE', 'oe', 'R', 'r', 'R', 'r', 'R', 'r', 'S', 's', 'S', 's', 'S', 's', 'S', 's', 'T', 't', 'T', 't', 'T', 't', 'U', 'u', 'U', 'u', 'U', 'u', 'U', 'u', 'U', 'u', 'U', 'u', 'W', 'w', 'Y', 'y', 'Y', 'Z', 'z', 'Z', 'z', 'Z', 'z', 's', 'f', 'O', 'o', 'U', 'u', 'A', 'a', 'I', 'i', 'O', 'o', 'U', 'u', 'U', 'u', 'U', 'u', 'U', 'u', 'U', 'u', 'A', 'a', 'AE', 'ae', 'O', 'o');
  return str_replace($a, $b, $str);
} 

function post_slug($str)
{
  return strtolower(preg_replace(array('/[^a-zA-Z0-9 -]/', '/[ -]+/', '/^-|-$/'),
  array('', '-', ''), remove_accent($str)));
}

    Help me make change slug like string: “xin chào.”

    Thanks

    Reply ↓
  11. tranh

    cool tips, but I can restrics duplicate slug

    Reply ↓

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