express-uncapitalize

A quite simple Node.js/Express middleware module that will redirect user HTTP requests that contain uppercase letters, to the same URL in lowercase form, for parameter normalization and SEO purposes.

This is primarily to ensure that dynamic routes (using dynamic parameters, e.g. :username) will be interpreted in their lowercase form. Some would argue that user input should be normalized individually, but I found this to be a quicker, simpler solution to writing code that normalizes individual URL parameters.

This is also good for SEO (by ensuring there is single canonical URL for all of your content). A 301 redirect is used to ensure that search engines are redirected to the lowercase, canonical version of your content.

View this project on npmjs.org

Example

Say you have a route parameter, :username, in an Express route like so:

app.get('/user/:username', function(req, res){
    ...
});

Using express-uncapitalize, a user visiting any of the following:

http://wonderfulnodeapp.org/user/BOB
http://wonderfulnodeapp.org/User/bob
http://wonderfulnodeapp.org/user/Bob

will now be 301 redirected to:

http://wonderfulnodeapp.org/user/bob

The final destination URL will be the canonical version to web crawlers (like search engines), and your :username param will always be lowercase without the need for additional normalization.

Installation

$ npm install express-uncapitalize

Usage

Simply add the following line as a middleware in your Express app.configure:

app.use(require('express-uncapitalize')());

Where you add this this middleware to your configuration will vary what is interpreted and redirected. If placed before your static middleware, express-uncapitalize will redirect requests to your static content in addition to your routes:

app.configure(function(){
    app.set('views', __dirname + '/views');
    app.set('view engine', 'jade');
    app.use(express.bodyParser());
    app.use(express.methodOverride());
    app.use(require('express-uncapitalize')());
    app.use(require('stylus').middleware(__dirname + '/public'));
    app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
    app.use(app.router);
});

I generally prefer to place after the static middleware to only redirect requests managed by the router, i.e. only the content where there is likely to be database lookups and case sensitivity matters:

app.configure(function(){
    app.set('views', __dirname + '/views');
    app.set('view engine', 'jade');
    app.use(express.bodyParser());
    app.use(express.methodOverride());
    app.use(require('stylus').middleware(__dirname + '/public'));
    app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
    app.use(require('express-uncapitalize')());
    app.use(app.router);
});

Planned Features

This module is quite simple right now, and was really created to save time across many small projects I have. I plan to add conditional options in the future.

License

Licensed under the MIT license

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the 'Software'), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.