.htaccess redirect from subdirectory to parent directory file but maintain url path

Question

My apologizes if this has been answered but I haven't found anything that works for me. This is on a cheap godaddy shared server, php based.

I have tried a few RewriteRules but to no avail.

Basically, if you are linked to something like :

www.example.com/items/apple

It would keep that in the url, but instead go to:

www.example.com/items

In the items page, I would be able to get the /apple part and do with it as I will. Either having it passed in through parameter like ?dir=apple or just as the /apple. My problem right now is the redirecting. My .htaccess file looks like this

RewriteEngine On
Options -Multiviews
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^([^\.]+)$ $1.php [NC,L]
RewriteRule ^item/([^/]+) /item?dir=$1 [NC]

Answer 1

Try adding an additional condition and/or switch the order:

RewriteEngine On
Options -Multiviews

RewriteRule ^item/([^/]+) /item?dir=$1 [NC]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{DOCUMENT_ROOT}%{REQUEST_URI}.php -f
RewriteRule ^([^\.]+)$ $1.php [NC,L]