How does Freebie ignore segment_1 and know what template to use?

Question

I am wanting to use Freebie to ignore segment_1.

I want to use a 'programs' template group but dont want programs in the url.

for example: NO - domain.com/programs/cycling YES - domain.com/cycling

If I place programs in the Freebie segments, how does it know when domain.com/cycling is used to use the programs template? Because at this time it shows the sites homepage.

I've read about htaccess and the way the index.php is removed, but still dont see how it ignores segment_1 and knows what template to use.

Thanks

Answer 1

I can think of two solutions here:

1) Use the pages module. Then you can assign arbitrary URLs to use a specific template.

2) If you use Switchee or Ifelse in your site's homepage template to determine what to do. Usually I place snippets inside of each condition within those add-ons, to minimize embeds. Since the conditionals parse before the contents, you don't have to worry about running lots of unnecessary code in the template.

The decision really depends on how dynamic you need that first URL segment to be.

Answer 2

What we've done before is to add a folder with the name of the segment you wish to ignore, and put a separate .htaccess & an index.php file.

It's a trick often used for multi-language sites, but also could work here.

I may be wrong, but I believe Freebie cannot ignore segment_1 from what I recall.