Store code in URL for every store view except for default

I didn't become happy using Add Store Code to URLs. The main reason was that we couldn't have several store views using the same language (see my question). Besides that I didn't like I have to use a bad store view code just because of the URL.

I did a small test using the frequently recommended "create a subfolder and create symlinks" tip and it may work. Please check if you like it.

• Create a subfolder /ca/
• Inside the subfolder create symbolic links to
  • ../app
  • ../errors
  • ../includes
  • ../index.php
  • ../js
  • ../lib
  • ../media
  • ../skin
  • ../var
  • (add other directories if you want/need to)

• edit your vHost config for /ca/ (or copy .htaccess to /ca/ and edit it) to

  • Set the rewrite base:

    RewriteBase /ca/

  • Initialise the correct store view based on the URL. There are many ways to do it, one may be:

    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/ca/.* [NC,OR]
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/ca$ [NC]
    RewriteRule .* - [E=MAGE_RUN_CODE:ca]
    RewriteCond %{ENV:REDIRECT_MAGE_RUN_CODE} (.+)
    RewriteRule .* - [E=MAGE_RUN_CODE:%1,E=MAGE_RUN_TYPE:store]`
    

It worked for me:

• Default store view
  • http://test02.magentoshops.vm/ (links from my VM, you won't see anything)
  • http://test02.magentoshops.vm/test-category.html
  • http://test02.magentoshops.vm/test-category/test-product.html
• Canada store view
  • http://test02.magentoshops.vm/ca/
  • http://test02.magentoshops.vm/ca/test-category.html
  • http://test02.magentoshops.vm/ca/test-category/test-product.html

Creating folders and symlinks isn't fun but at least you don't have to edit core files.

User clockworkgeek created the Magento-Store-Codes module just for this use-case.

I have tested this on CE 1.9.2.3 with a single website setup with multiple store views, and it seemed to work perfectly!

See also: Magento : How to hide the default Store View code from the url