No Category Base (WPML) Review - In-Depth Analysis
Remove the mandatory 'Category Base' from your category permalinks. Compatible with WPML.
Performance Overview
User Rating
4.5/5 (based on 34+
reviews)
Active Installations
100,000+
Update Frequency
Below Average
It is calculated using the weighted average of same category
plugins.
Security Score
1 / 10
(Very Low Risk)
It is calculated using the weighted average of all versions.
What It Does
This plugin will completely remove the mandatory 'Category Base' from your category permalinks, changing them from 'mysite.com/category/my-category/' to 'mysite.com/my-category/'.
The plugin requires no setup or modifying core WordPress files and will not break any links. It will also take care of redirecting your old category links to the new ones.
Features include better and logical permalinks, simple operation with minimal overhead, and compatibility with sitemap plugins and WPML. It works with multiple sub-categories and is compatible with WordPress Multisite, ensuring that old category permalinks are redirected properly for SEO.
Comparing to Alternatives
No Category Base (WPML) is a specialized plugin designed to remove the category base in URLs, particularly supporting WPML multilingual setups. It has a couple of close alternatives that offer similar functionality.
Strengths
- Supports multiple sub-category URLs effectively
- Lightweight and performs as described
- Ensures proper redirection avoiding 404 errors
- Compatible with WPML multilingual setups
Weaknesses
- Does not support custom taxonomies
- Does not work with custom post types
- Limited to category base removal without broader permalink customization
User Sentiment Analysis
With a high rating of 4.5 out of 5 from 34 users, most feedback is positive, highlighting the plugin's effectiveness and reliability. However, a small portion of users report issues, particularly regarding compatibility.
Positive highlights
- 'Quick relief from sub-category 404 problem' - Imran Sayyad
- 'Working!' - Web Building
- 'Life saving plugin' - delrod
- 'Perfect! Ensures redirection without 404 errors' - mengeco
- 'Good!' - Jakob Helmer
Common complaints
- Does not work with custom taxonomies
- Does not support custom post types
- Reported as ineffective by some users
Weaknesses
- Limited compatibility with custom taxonomies and post types
- No support for advanced permalink customization
- No pro version to extend features
Who Should Use This?
Best for
Users who need a simple, lightweight solution to remove the category base in URLs, especially those using WPML for multilingual sites.
Not ideal for
Users requiring support for custom taxonomies or custom post types, or those needing more advanced permalink customization features.
Pricing & Value
Free version includes
The free version includes the core functionality to remove the category base and support for multiple sub-category URLs with WPML compatibility.
Final Verdict
No Category Base (WPML) is a reliable and lightweight plugin that effectively removes the category base from URLs, with strong support for WPML multilingual sites. It has garnered mostly positive reviews for its simplicity and effectiveness, making it a good choice for users with standard category URL needs.
However, its lack of support for custom taxonomies and post types limits its usefulness for more complex sites. Users needing broader permalink customization or compatibility should consider alternatives. Overall, it offers good value as a free plugin with no known security issues.
Other Notable Features
Here are a few other notable features of this free
No Category Base (WPML) plugin.
FAQ
Use this plugin if you want to get rid of WordPress’ “Category base” completely. The normal behavior of WordPress is to add ‘/category’ to your category permalinks if you leave “Category base” blank in the Permalink settings. So your category links look like ‘mysite.com/category/my-category/’. With this plugin your category links will look like ‘mysite.com/my-category/’ (or ‘mysite.com/my-category/sub-category/’ in case of sub categories).
As far as I can tell, no. We have been using this on several sites for a while and it doesn’t break anything.
Simply don’t have a page and category with the same slug. Even if they do have the same slug it won’t break anything, just the category will get priority (Say if a category and page are both ‘xyz’ then ‘mysite.com/xyz/’ will give you the category). This can have an useful side-effect. Suppose you have a category ‘news’, you can add a page ‘news’ which will show up in the page navigation but will show the ‘news’ category.
No, you can use this plugin without having WPML installed.
Just ask on the support forum. If its useful enough and we have time for it, sure.
When you deactivate the plugin, you need to tell WordPress to refresh its permalink rules. This is easy to do.
Go to Settings -> Permalinks and then click on Save Changes.
Contributors and developers
“No Category Base (WPML)”
is open source software. The following people have
contributed to this plugin.
