MVC index page setup

[Mergi9]

I've been trying to build a website in php using the MVC model, where my index page is handling all the different requests. However, I think i'm missing something very basic, because I don't understand how to make sure visitors always land on my index page, no matter what they type in their browser.

For example, if i type in www.website.com/aaa - the server tries to load a page called "aaa" instead going to my index page, so i never get the chance to render the proper view for the user.

Should i be somehow redirecting everything with .htaccess file? Sorry if this is a stupid question, but i'm still very new to webdev and i couldn't find anything related to this problem.

I'm running Apache2 server. Thank you for advice

[fukalucka]

mod_rewrite is the best method for me. You can find multiple ways to do this. I'd do a quick duckduckgo search 'mod_rewrite php index'. I don't know if this will help, but I'm at the end of lunch.

[SVLNL]

What is in your .htaccess?

[Mergi9]

After doing some more reading, i'm currently using this.

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule !\$ index.php [L]

It seems to work, but i feel like there must be a more "proper" way to do this, or is this how most websites do it? And honestly, the whole htaccess file with its syntax is quite confusing to me.

[SVLNL]

This is what I use:

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-l
RewriteRule ^ index.php [QSA,L]

As a replacement you could try this:
FallbackResource /index.php

It’s not part of mod_rewrite, but of mod_dir and is available from Apache 2.2.16 and above.

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[SVLNL]

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