Issue redirecting 'blog' to 'news' in WordPress using .htaccess

Question

I know this isn't technically a WordPress issue but since it's on a WP project, I'm posting here hoping others have encountered and resolved a similar issue.

I've changed the Blog section of a site I'm working on to News and it all works great, but the one thing I need is for legacy posts using the Blog slug to redirect using the News one. Seems straightforward, I know, which is why I'm scratching my head with this one.

Here's the code I'm using in my .htaccess file (the last rewrite rule being what I added to the file):

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
RewriteRule ^blog/(.*)$ /news/$1 [R=301,L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress

For some reason, it isn't working and I've done everyone from flushing the cache to deactivating plugins and nada.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

OK, so here's the solution that works for me...

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^blog/(.*) news/$1 [L,R=301]
</IfModule>

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>

# END WordPress

Thanks again to @WebElaine for the input!

Answer 2

I usually have more luck when I put any custom redirects above the WP code. Also you need a / before 'blog' in the redirect:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^/blog/(.*)$ /news/$1 [R=301,L]
</IfModule>

# BEGIN WordPress
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress