How to change WordPress permalinks for one category only

2. Modify your theme template files (advanced method)

Developers can change category permalinks directly in theme code for total control.

Step 1: Create a child theme

To preserve your changes through theme updates, generate a child theme using the Create Block Theme plugin:

1. Install and activate the plugin.
2. Go to Appearance > Create Block Theme.
3. Select Create child of [your active theme], name it, and click Create.
4. Activate the new child theme when prompted.

Step 2: Identify the correct template file

Most themes use category.php or archive.php for category archive pages. If those don’t exist, check for a fallback like index.php.

You can then use WordPress’s template hierarchy to confirm.

Step 3: Filter the permalink structure

Add the following code to your child theme’s functions.php file:

add_filter('term_link', 'custom_category_permalink', 10, 3);
function custom_category_permalink($url, $term, $taxonomy) {
    if ($taxonomy === 'category' && $term->slug === 'news') {
        return home_url('/insights/');
    }
    return $url;
}

Replace ‘news’ and ‘/insights/’ with your actual category slug and new URL.

Step 4: Add rewrite rules

To make the new permalink work properly, add this:

add_action('init', function() {
    add_rewrite_rule('^insights/?$', 'index.php?category_name=news',
'top');
});

Then go to Settings > Permalinks and click Save Changes to flush rewrite rules.