Wordpress - Ignore a server directory containing index.html if being viewed in preview mode

Question

I have wordpress installed on a root directory. Wordpress was often so slow, I created a node script which will look at all pages on the website, and a create a static directory for each one with an index.html file.

Before making them static, the directory looks like

/wp-content
/wp-includes
/etc etc etc

After

/wp-content
/wp-includes
/etc etc etc
/page-with-same-url-from-wordpress
   /index.html

If I then visit mysite.com/page-with-same-url-from-wordpress/, I am served up the static page. Great, and it loads quick.

The issue is that when I go back to edit the page on wordpress, and want to preview any edits, I still see the overriding index.html content instead of the actual wordpress php content. I see why, but as a workaround, when I want to edit a file, I now need to delete the /page-with-same-url-from-wordpress/ dir which will allow me to see the wordpress changes in preview mode, and when I am done, I run the node script and it creates the /page-with-same-url-from-wordpress/ dir again.

Is there any type of rewrite rule I could add to the .htaccess file that would allow the server to always serve the index.html file UNLESS I am viewing the url in preview mode (which looks like mysite.com/page-with-same-url-from-wordpress/?preview_id=2313

I really appreciate any insight. Thank you.

Relevant part from .htaccess:

# BEGIN WordPress
# The directives (lines) between "BEGIN WordPress" and "END WordPress" are
# dynamically generated, and should only be modified via WordPress filters.
# Any changes to the directives between these markers will be overwritten.
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule .* - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization}]
RewriteBase /
RewriteRule ^index\.php$ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
</IfModule>
# END WordPress

Answer 1

You could force any URL that contains a preview_id URL parameter to the WordPress front-controller (ie. index.php). This will effectively bypass the WP code block for these type of URLs. (It is the WP code block that skips these requests when they map to your static directories.)

(This avoids having to modify the existing "WordPress" rules, as I mentioned in comments.)

Add the following before the WordPress code block, ie. before the # BEGIN WordPress comment marker.

# Send any URL with "?preview_id=" immediately to the WP front-controller
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^preview_id=
RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]

# BEGIN WordPress
: Remaining directives follow...

---

UPDATE:

The wordpress theme I'm using has a live builder feature where you can visually see your changes as you make them.

Add a series of OR'd conditions for each request that needs to be routed through WordPress. For example:

# Force some URLs to the WP front-controller
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^preview_id= [OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^fb-edit= [OR]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^builder=
RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]

NB: Never use the OR flag on the last condition since that will unconditionally send every request to index.php. (It would basically be interpreted as OR true.)

Alternatively, that can be written with one condition using regex alternation if there are only a few exceptions like this. For example:

# Force some URLs to the WP front-controller
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} ^(preview_id|fb-edit|builder)=
RewriteRule ^ index.php [L]