What is mod_speling?

What is mod_speling?

You can add modules to Apache servers on VPS and Dedicated accounts for extra functionality. One such module is mod_speling. mod_speling gives Apache a way to ignore capitalizations and up to one spelling error. When users have to enter URLs manually, wrongly capitalizing or misspelling a word can result in an error. For example, www.example.com/home.html is not the same as www.example.com/Home.Html.

With mod_speling setup, the server can overlook most minor errors like this and process the URL without issue. To see mod_speling’s developer documentation, visit the Apache documentation mod_speling page.

Enabling mod_speling

Setting up mod_speling requires two steps: enabling it and adding directives to your .htaccess.

You can enable mod_speling in your VPS or Dedicated Account Control Center (ACC). To enable, follow these steps:

Choose the tutorial that reflects your ACC interface type: 

• Legacy Interface
• New ACC Interface

Not sure what the difference is? See Which ACC Interface Am I Using? 

If you are using the Legacy Interface:

1. Log in to the ACC on your VPS or Dedicated account at my.pair.com
2. In the left sidebar, click Dedicated, then click Apache Options in the drop-down
3. In the Apache Module section, check the box next to mod_speling
4. Click the Make Changes button

If you are using the New ACC Interface:

1. Log in to the ACC on your VPS or Dedicated account at my.pair.com
2. In the top navigation bar, click Hosting
3. Click the Dedicated tab
4. Click the Server Management drop-down and select Manage Apache
5. Switch on the mod_speling toggle
6. Click the Make Changes button

This will enable the module on your server, though it may take up to 15 minutes for the change to go into effect.

Add Spelling and Capitalization Checks to .htaccess

The next step is to add the spelling and capitalization checks to the server’s .htaccess files. For information about accessing your .htaccess, see our Accessing Your .htaccess File article.

In the .htaccess file, add the following code:

<IfModule mod_speling.c>
    CheckSpelling on
</IfModule>

Save your .htaccess file so that the changes can go into effect.

You may now want to check your configuration to see if it works. Try entering a capitalization that doesn’t exist in your URL. The server should automatically take you to the page even with the capitalization in the URL.