What is the correct mod_rewrite rule for redirecting a parameter url?

welcome to WebmasterWorld [webmasterworld.com], Anthonyandrews!

are you redirecting a single url from old to new or is there more involved?

RewriteRule http://www.example.com/topsites/in.php?id=name

the Pattern of a RewriteRule directive "is matched against only a partial path".
source: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewriterule

therefore it won't match the hostname or the query string specified in the Pattern.
you can use RewriteCond directives prior to the RewriteRule to match these if necessary.

will this do it?

Sorry, no, for two separate but related reasons.

The body of a RewriteRule sees only the URLpath. Not the parameters, not the protocol, not the hostname. Therefore

#1 If your pattern includes “http://example.com/” then mod_rewrite will never recognize the URL, hence conditions (if any) won't be evaluated, and the rule will never execute.
#2 Parameters have to go in a RewriteCond, because the body of the rule doesn't see them.

Is it just the one redirect? I was wondering how mod_rewrite knows that /topsites/in.php?id=name should turn into https://example.net/product/ -- but if that's the only URL being redirected, then the answer is obvious: it knows because you're telling it so.

Are there other possible parameters, attached to the same /topsites/in.php path, that are not to be redirected?

Note incidentally that it is perfectly OK to say “http://example.in” when posting here, if that is easiest for you. It just has to be “example”.

Yes this is just 1 redirect.
There are no other possible parameters that are not to be redirected.

so will this do it?
RewriteRule /topsites/in.php?id=name https://example.net/product/ [L,R=301]

so will this do it?
RewriteRule /topsites/in.php?id=name https://example.net/product/ [L,R=301]

the Pattern of a RewriteRule directive "is matched against only a partial path".
source: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewriterule

therefore it won't match the hostname or the query string specified in the Pattern.
you can use RewriteCond directives prior to the RewriteRule to match these if necessary.

#2 Parameters have to go in a RewriteCond, because the body of the rule doesn't see them.

see: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewritecond

so will this do it?

No, for at least one and possibly two reasons.

Unless the rule is lying loose in the config file (most likely in a vhost section), patterns must not start with a / or they will not be recognized.

The other reason has already been covered.

If there are no not-to-be-redirected parameters, why not simply redirect the bare URL, independent of parameters, and discard the parameter? In fact, as the rule is currently written, the redirect would reappend the parameter. I suspect that is not what you want.

Well i have 4 such urls in ahrefs and each one has some google power in it
Google has indexed all 4 with parameters..
I want to pass all the link power in them to the new domain
So a redirect on the base url without parameters would pass that link power to the new url ?

Yes this is just 1 redirect.
There are no other possible parameters that are not to be redirected.

Well i have 4 such urls in ahrefs and each one has some google power in it
Google has indexed all 4 with parameters..

could you please clarify or rectify these two statements?

The url exists with 4 different parameters
RewriteRule http://www.example.com/topsites/in.php?id=name1 https://example.net/product/ [L,R=301]
RewriteRule http://www.example.com/topsites/in.php?id=name2 https://example.net/product/ [L,R=301]
RewriteRule http://www.example.com/topsites/in.php?id=name3 https://example.net/product/ [L,R=301]
RewriteRule http://www.example.com/topsites/in.php?id=name4 https://example.net/product/ [L,R=301]

Lucy is suggesting redirecting the bare url without the parameters.
I am asking if this would pick them all up and redirect each one to the target
RewriteRule http://www.example.com/topsites/in.php https://example.net/product/ [L,R=301]

So you want requests for "/topsites/in.php?id=name(any single digit number)" to go to "https://example.net/product/"?
You will be sending visitors from all 4 pages to one different directory? Just trying to understand, because it does not sound like you will like the result. Has all the content at those old URLs moved to that new one?

All yours, phranque. I'm tired.

RewriteRule http://www.example.com/topsites/in.php https://example.net/product/ [L,R=301]

i'm not going to repost my first response in this thread and apparently lucy24 won't be reposting hers but you should start there.
look for "hostname" while rereading those.

So you want requests for "/topsites/in.php?id=name(any single digit number)" to go to "https://example.net/product/"?
You will be sending visitors from all 4 pages to one different directory

Yes to all these points.

Thanks to all for the explanations about how these rules work.

<Topic-drift>
If the new URL is not replacing those older pages, it might not be any help even if Google likes those old pages. Google doesn't rank the URL but what is found on that URL and delivering something different is more likely to hurt your new site than to add any value to it. </t-d>

RewriteRule http://www.example.com/topsites/in.php?id=name1 https://example.net/product/ [L,R=301]

is not a valid rule because:
1. The rule has no RewriteCond
2. Your rule uses a full URL and
3. if you are getting advice that you don't understand, it would help a lot if you were to ask questions about any answer that you don't understand.

Read these posts again and ask questions if you need to.
Especially these parts, they tell you how to do it correctly:

#1 If your pattern includes “http://example.com/” then mod_rewrite will never recognize the URL, hence conditions (if any) won't be evaluated, and the rule will never execute.
#2 Parameters have to go in a RewriteCond, because the body of the rule doesn't see them.

the Pattern of a RewriteRule directive "is matched against only a partial path".
source: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewriterule

therefore it won't match the hostname or the query string specified in the Pattern.
you can use RewriteCond directives prior to the RewriteRule to match these if necessary.

To see all the why and how, visit source: https://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewriterule
(copy that URL and paste it into your browser's address bar to visit)

1. The rule has no RewriteCond

I hope you weren’t saying that RewriteRules have to have Conditions. They don’t. In particular, if you have old redirects that you shifted over from mod_alias, they will come through without conditions because none are needed.