= SlugMaster =
Contributors: davidgarthe0723
Tags: seo, slugs, routing, permalinks
Requires at least: 6.2
Tested up to: 6.9
Requires PHP: 7.4
Stable tag: 1.0.5
License: GPL-2.0-or-later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

Take complete control of your WordPress URL structure. Easily customize author slugs, page URLs, category paths, and route structures from one dashboard — without writing rewrite rules or touching code.

== Description ==

Your URL structure is one of the most underused SEO levers on your website.

WordPress gives you basic permalink settings, but if you want clean author URLs, better content organization, custom paths, or more control over how users and search engines see your site, things quickly become complicated.

SlugMaster solves that.

SlugMaster gives you a centralized URL management system for WordPress that lets you control how your pages, posts, categories, and authors appear in your URLs.

Instead of being locked into default structures like:

/author/john  
/category/news  
/blog/my-post

You can create cleaner structures like:

/members/john  
/topics/news  
/resources/my-post

Perfect for:

* Blogs
* Communities
* Membership sites
* Directories
* Agency websites
* Business websites
* SEO-focused content sites
* Custom WordPress projects

No rewrite rules. No code. No hunting through multiple settings pages.

Just complete URL control.

== Features ==

✓ Easily customize author URL slugs  
✓ Create cleaner page and category structures  
✓ Replace default WordPress URL patterns  
✓ Build SEO-friendly URL paths  
✓ Create branded URL structures  
✓ Centralized URL management dashboard  
✓ Route conflict detection  
✓ Canonical URL support  
✓ Redirect protection  
✓ Simple interface with no coding required

== Why SlugMaster? ==

Most WordPress sites eventually run into one or more of these problems:

* URLs look inconsistent
* Author URLs feel generic
* Site structure becomes difficult to organize
* SEO paths are difficult to optimize
* URL changes feel risky
* Multiple plugins are needed to manage different URL types

SlugMaster puts everything in one place.

== Example Use Cases ==

Change author URLs:

Before:
`/author/john-smith`

After:
`/members/john-smith`

Organize content:

Before:
`/category/training`

After:
`/topics/marathon-training`

Create branded resource sections:

Before:
`/blog/seo-checklist`

After:
`/resources/seo-checklist`

== Installation ==

1. Upload the plugin folder to `/wp-content/plugins/`.
2. Activate the plugin through the Plugins screen.
3. Open the SlugMaster menu in wp-admin.

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= Will SlugMaster break my existing URLs? =

SlugMaster is designed to safely manage URL changes and includes redirect and canonical handling to help preserve your site structure.

= Can I customize author URLs? =

Yes. Easily replace default author URLs such as:

/author/john

with cleaner structures like:

/members/john
/team/john
/coaches/john

= Do I need coding experience? =

No. SlugMaster is designed for both beginners and advanced users.

= Is this useful for SEO? =

URL structure is one of many signals search engines use to understand content hierarchy and organization. SlugMaster helps you create cleaner, more intentional URL structures.

== Screenshots ==

1. Easily create custom slug categories for every type of user.
2. Easily create custom slug categories for every page.
3. Easily create custom URLs/slugs for a single blog post.
4. Easily create custom URL/slug paths for a particular user within the user admin.

== Changelog ==

= 1.0.5 =
* Made Canonical redirects checkbox on Settings page unchecked by default

= 1.0.4 =
* Initial release.
