How can I get my htaccess file to allow periods for a variable?

Question

When I go to whats-next/wn_controller.php?user=john.smith , it works. But when I go to whats-next/john.smith , it doesn't work.

I've tried to this line:

RewriteRule ^whats-next/([A-Za-z0-9-_]+)$ whats-next/wn_controller.php?user=$1 [NC,L] # Process profiles

to this:

RewriteRule ^whats-next/([A-Za-z0-9-\._]+)$ whats-next/wn_controller.php?user=$1 [NC,L] # Process profiles

and this:

RewriteRule ^whats-next/([A-Za-z0-9-._]+)$ whats-next/wn_controller.php?user=$1 [NC,L] # Process profiles

But it hasn't fixed it.

Here is my full .htacess file is listed below.

# BEGIN WordPress

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} (.*)$

#RLA Page
RewriteRule ^about/$ whats-next/wn_controller.php [NC,L] # Process about
RewriteRule ^about$ whats-next/wn_controller.php [NC,L] # Process about ##WITHOUT TRAILING DASH URL TOO. FIX SOMEDAY

#What's Next User
RewriteRule ^whats-next/community/$ whats-next/wn_controller.php [NC,L] # Process community
RewriteRule ^whats-next/follow-up/$ whats-next/wn_controller.php [NC,L] # Process follow-up
RewriteRule ^whats-next/people/$ whats-next/wn_controller.php [NC,L] # Process people
RewriteRule ^whats-next/messages/$ whats-next/wn_controller.php [NC,L] # Process messages
RewriteRule ^whats-next/messages([A-Za-z0-9-]+)$ whats-next/wn_controller.php?message=$1 [NC,L] # Process messages
RewriteRule ^whats-next/([A-Za-z0-9-_]+)$ whats-next/wn_controller.php?user=$1 [NC,L] # Process profiles
RewriteRule ^whats-next/settings/$ whats-next/wn_controller.php?user=$1 [NC,L] # Process settings

#What's Next Admin
RewriteRule ^whats-next/admin/$ whats-next/wn_controller.php [NC,L] # Process profiles
RewriteRule ^whats-next/admin$ whats-next/wn_controller.php [NC,L] # Process profiles ##WITHOUT DASH TOO. FIX SOMEDAY

RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>

# END WordPress

Answer 1

Try to remove your dash right after 0-9 .

This worked for me: ^whats-next/([A-Za-z0-9._]+)$