Rewrite URL variable to custom path

Question

I am passing to my url some variables to display latest posts, most viewed etc.

http://website.com/?r_sortby=highest_rated

I am wondering how to create a custom path for it instead for SEO purpose ie. http://website.com/highest-rated/

Help anyone:)

Answer 1

You could add the path via add_rewrite_endpoint, then alter the query via the pre_get_posts action. Here's a proof-of-concept example that alters the posts_per_page when domain.com/highest-rated/ is requested:

// add the endpoint
function wpa85664_add_endpoint(){
    add_rewrite_endpoint( 'highest-rated', EP_ALL );
}
add_action( 'init', 'wpa85664_add_endpoint' );


// check if the endpoint is in the current request
// and alter the query accordingly
function wpa85664_check_endpoint( $query ){
    if( array_key_exists( 'highest-rated', $query->query_vars ) )
        $query->set( 'posts_per_page', -1 );
}
add_action( 'pre_get_posts', 'wpa85664_check_endpoint' );

You could alter any relevant query vars with this method, for example a meta query to sort posts by rating.