Dynamic rewrites in htaccess file

Question

I am working on some rewrites and redirects in my htaccess file. My reason for doing this is because I am developing a new design and layout for an existing website therefore I

Answer 1

Yes, it's definitely a good idea to do all redirection stuff in php. Just have a simple "catch-all" .htaccess

RewriteCond  %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond  %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule  .* index.php

then transform urls as you want in php and send a location header when necessary. It might be a good idea to add 301 status code for "old" urls.