How to remove directory from the URL – Apache

If you’re writing it in native PHP then you have to write your own routing system. Something like this:

$str = "$_SERVER[HTTP_HOST]$_SERVER[REQUEST_URI]";
$sections = explode("/", $str, 3);

$page = (isset($sections[2]) && $sections[2] != '') ? $sections[2] : 'homepage';
$page = parse_url($page);
$page = trim($page['path'], '/');

// list of your custom php function
$functions = array(
    'contact-us-success' => 'contact_us_success',
);

//check functions first
if (isset($functions[$page])) 
{
    call_user_func($functions[$page]);
    return true;
} 

//else check page
elseif (is_file("pages/{$page}.php")) 
{
    include_once("pages/template/header.php");
    include_once("pages/{$page}.php");
    include_once("pages/template/footer.php");
    return true;
}