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Choose the route your application uses
A profile URL might identify a member in a query parameter, such as /profile.php?member=42, or in a path segment, such as /members/alex-smith. The correct form depends on your application’s route and whether it expects an ID, username, or slug. Use the route already defined by your application rather than choosing a URL shape in isolation.
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Query-string route
Use http_build_query() to construct the parameter string instead of joining parameter names and values by hand. For RFC 3986-style encoding, pass PHP_QUERY_RFC3986:
<?php
$profileUrl = '/profile.php?' . http_build_query(
['member' => $memberId],
'',
'&',
PHP_QUERY_RFC3986
);If $memberId is 42, this produces /profile.php?member=42. Change the parameter name and base route to match the endpoint your application actually handles.
#1 Best Overall
Path-segment route
If the application expects the member value as one path component, encode that value with rawurlencode() before adding it to the route:
<?php
$profileUrl = '/members/' . rawurlencode($memberSlug);Keep the route’s structural slashes outside the encoded value. This example assumes the route accepts a slug in that position; it is not a universal PHP route.
Rank #2
Encode the value for its URL component
URL characters such as /, ?, and & can separate components or parameters. Build the URL from its known components and encode only dynamic data for the component that will carry it; do not encode the entire URL as one value. RFC 3986 explains how reserved characters function as delimiters and why URI components should be separated before percent-decoding: RFC 3986.
PHP’s urlencode() follows form-encoding conventions for query values, where spaces become +. rawurlencode() uses RFC 3986 encoding, where spaces become %20. For query strings, http_build_query() lets you choose RFC 3986 behavior with PHP_QUERY_RFC3986. Match the encoding to the URL component and what the receiving route expects. See the PHP documentation for http_build_query(), rawurlencode(), urlencode(), and PHP_QUERY_RFC3986.
Quick Recap
Rank #4
Check the URL against your application
- Confirm the route and parameter or path-segment name your application expects.
- Use the identifier type the route is designed to receive, such as a member ID or slug.
- Test identifiers containing spaces or reserved characters, and verify that the receiving route interprets them as data rather than delimiters.
- Enforce profile visibility and authorization in the application. Encoding a member identifier does not grant permission to view that profile.
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