where to add redirection rewriterule in .htaccess file?

Question

I use the redirection plugin which can give me the rewrite rules in this format as output:

# Created by Redirection
# Sun, 06 May 2018 09:25:01 +0000
# Redirection 3.2 - https://redirection.me

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteRule ^abc$ /123/ [R=301,L]
</IfModule>

# End of Redirection

My current .htaccess file is standard:

Where should I add the direction code from the plugin into the .htaccess file? Should I add it first or last, or somewhere in the existing rule-set?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Your external redirect needs to go at the very top of your .htaccess file, before the WordPress front-controller (ie. before the # BEGIN WordPress section).

If you place it at the end of the file then it will simply never get processed, because the WordPress front-controller routes all URLs and then stops further processing.

If you place it inside the # BEGIN WordPress block then WordPress is likely to (try to) overwrite this in a future update.

Aside: You don't need the <IfModule mod_rewrite.c> wrapper. You already know that mod_rewrite is enabled on your server (or not) and presumably this redirect is mandatory?