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/ Remove Category URL – Remove 'category' base from category permalinks

Remove Category URL – Remove 'category' base from category permalinks

By Themeisle

Site Administration & Utilities / URL Redirects & 301 Management

Reviewed by Omar Dabbas

Trusted WordPress expert with 20+ years of experience evaluating plugins for the WP ecosystem.

Remove Category URL – Remove 'category' base from category permalinks Review - In-Depth Analysis

Remove Category URL strips the /category/ base from your category URLs. It creates cleaner URLs without any configuration needed.

Performance Overview

WPS Score

7.51/10

User Rating

4.3/5 (based on 60+ reviews)

Active Installations

40,000+

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

Remove Category URL strips the /category/ base from your category URLs, turning something like /category/my-category/ into simply /my-category/.

Just activate, and you are done. No configuration needed.

Features include creating cleaner URLs like mydomain.com/my-category/ and mydomain.com/my-category/my-post/. It works out of the box with no settings to configure and supports multiple sub-categories. The plugin automatically 301 redirects old category URLs to the new structure, making it SEO-friendly. Sitemaps are automatically updated with the new URLs after activation, and it is compatible with WordPress Multisite, WPML, and popular sitemap plugins.

Removing the /category/ base in WordPress URLs does not help your visitors or search engines understand your content better. Cleaner paths like mydomain.com/news/ instead of mydomain.com/category/news/ are shorter, easier to remember and share, and more consistent with how your pages are already structured. Shorter URLs also tend to look better in search results and make your site feel more polished overall.

We are here to help. Feel free to open a new thread on the Support Forum.

If you like this plugin, you are sure to love our other plugins as well. Our blog is a great place to learn more about WordPress. Get the most out of your website with our helpful WordPress YouTube Tutorials.

Comparing to Alternatives

This plugin has no close direct alternatives in its category, making it a unique solution for removing the 'category' base from category permalinks.

Top alternatives

Strengths

Effectively removes the 'category' base from URLs for cleaner permalinks.
Simple and efficient to use, as noted by users.
Continues to work well despite lack of recent updates.
Provides a fundamental fix that some users find essential.
Improves URL appearance to be more natural and user-friendly.

Weaknesses

No settings page available in the latest WordPress versions.
May block Google's indexing robot, causing SEO issues.
Lacks recent updates, which may affect compatibility.
Adds unwanted elements to the admin area, as reported by some users.

User Sentiment Analysis

With a 4.2 out of 5 rating from 59 users, most reviews are positive, highlighting the plugin's effectiveness and simplicity. However, about 18.6% of ratings are 1 or 2 stars, reflecting some significant issues.

Positive highlights

'Simple and efficient! Great!' — tuxmerlin
'Still works great and is a fundamental fix.' — studioactiv8
'Works like a charm despite no updates for over two years.' — hfng
'Perfect for improving URLs on our website.' — carlosmartinez001

Common complaints

Blocks Google's indexing robot, causing pages not to be referenced in Google Search Console.
No settings page available for use with the latest WordPress version.
Adds unnecessary elements to the admin area and spams its own blog.

Weaknesses

Compatibility issues with the latest WordPress versions.
Potential SEO problems due to blocking search engine crawlers.
Lack of updates may lead to reduced reliability over time.
Unwanted admin interface clutter reported by some users.

Who Should Use This?

Best for

Users who need a straightforward solution to remove the 'category' base from their URLs and are comfortable using a plugin that may not have recent updates but still functions well.

Not ideal for

Users who require full compatibility with the latest WordPress versions, need a settings interface, or rely heavily on SEO tools that require proper indexing by Google crawlers.

Pricing & Value

Free version includes

The free version offers the core functionality of removing the 'category' base from category permalinks without additional features.

Final Verdict

Remove Category URL is a simple and effective plugin for users wanting to clean up their category permalinks without the 'category' base. It enjoys positive feedback for its core functionality and ease of use, despite not having recent updates.

However, potential users should be cautious due to reported issues with Google indexing and lack of a settings page in newer WordPress versions. Those needing guaranteed compatibility and SEO safety might consider alternative methods or plugins.

Other Notable Features

Here are a few other notable features of this free Remove Category URL – Remove 'category' base from category permalinks plugin.

Custom Permalinks

Remove Category Base

Remove Category Url

FAQ

No. The plugin automatically redirects your old category URLs to the new shorter ones using 301 redirects. So if someone visits mydomain.com/category/my-category/, they’ll be seamlessly redirected to mydomain.com/my-category/.

Contributors and developers

“Remove Category URL – Remove 'category' base from category permalinks” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.