---
title: "URL & Routing - PerfLocale"
description: "Subdirectory, subdomain, per-domain, or query-parameter URL routing with automatic language detection via GeoIP, browser, cookie, and URL."
canonical: "https://perflocale.com/features/url-routing/"
source: "https://perflocale.com/features/url-routing/"
format: "markdown"
---
# URL & Routing

Flexible URL structures and automatic language detection for every visitor.

## Flexible URL Structures

Choose between subdirectory, subdomain, per-language domain, or a query-parameter (`?lang=`) layout. Subdomain and per-language domain modes carry the language in the hostname, so they work with any permalink structure; subdirectory mode shines with pretty permalinks (Plain permalinks work too, as long as your server routes every path to WordPress). The query-parameter mode (`?lang=de`) works with every permalink structure — including Plain — on any server, and always keeps the default language on clean URLs.

## Automatic Language Detection

Detect visitor language using a configurable priority chain: URL prefix, cookie, browser language, or GeoIP geolocation. PerfLocale walks the chain in order and stops at the first match — no extra lookups once a language is found.

1

Visitor arrives

IP `198.51.100.42` · no language cookie

2

Country lookup

PerfLocale ships no lookup service — you point it at a source:

-   perflocale/geo/lookup\_country Return a country code
-   perflocale/geo/providers Register an HTTP provider

Result cached — 24h by default, no re-query

3

Country → language

🇩🇪 `DE` → Deutsch

4

302 Redirect

acme-bakery.com/de/

## GeoIP Redirect

Redirect first-time visitors to their local language based on the country they're browsing from. PerfLocale bundles no geolocation service and contacts no third party on its own — you decide where the country code comes from. If your CDN already sends one (Cloudflare's `CF-IPCountry`, for example), returning it from `perflocale/geo/lookup_country` is a one-liner; otherwise register an HTTP provider through `perflocale/geo/providers`. PerfLocale handles the country → language mapping, the redirect, and the caching.

 ![PerfLocale Language Fallbacks UI: an ordered, drag-handle list per language. English (US) falls back to English (UK) then Deutsch; English (UK) falls back to English (US); Deutsch falls back to English (US) then English (UK); Français falls back to English (US) then English (UK); Español falls back to English (US); العربية has no fallbacks and uses the Missing Translation Action instead. Click for the full settings row including the row label and description.](https://perflocale.com/assets/shots/08-settings--fallbacks.png)

Drag to reorder each language’s chain. PerfLocale jumps straight to the first published sibling — one redirect, never two. Never a redirect chain — just one hop, always

## Language Fallbacks

Set an ordered fallback chain per language. When a visitor requests a page that hasn’t been translated yet, PerfLocale walks the list and issues a **single redirect** to the first published sibling — never a chain of hops. If nothing in the chain matches, the global Missing Translation Action takes over. [Read the language-fallback docs](https://perflocale.com/docs/language-fallbacks/).

## Self-Healing Rewrite Rules

PerfLocale watches WordPress’s URL routing and rebuilds it the moment something drifts. Pretty URLs never 404 from a stale cache — no manual _Save Permalinks_ trips.

[← Back to Features](https://perflocale.com/features/)