Handle languages in .htaccess - apache

Question

I want to solve the next problem:
1) When entering the url without language, use English language as default
example:
http//localhost/plants/ or http//localhost/plants
or
http//localhost/plants/shop/accessories
2) When entering the url with language, pass that parameter as the language to use
example:
http//localhost/plants/es/shop/accessories
or
http//localhost/plants/es/ or http//localhost/plants/es
So far I have tried:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-l
RewriteRule ^(en|es)/(.*)$ index.php?url=$2&lang=$1 [L,QSA]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?url=$1&lang=en [L,QSA]
If I comment the first RewriteRule and enter any url it works fine but always using the en language.
If I comment the second RewriteRule and I use a url with the language:
http//localhost/plants/es/
or
http//localhost/plants/es/shop/accessories
It works fine, but it doesn't set the default language to English when is not given.
Any idea why it doesn't work when I leave the two rules?
Thanks
Ps: I have removed the : after http

Answer 1

If plants is your document root, you should be able to use this rule.
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -l
RewriteRule ^ - [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !/(en|es)
RewriteRule ^(.*)/?$ index.php?url=$1&lang=en [L,QSA]
RewriteRule ^(en|es)/?(.*)/?$ index.php?url=$2&lang=$1 [L,QSA]
Let me know how it works for you.

Answer 2

Found a solution doing this:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-l
RewriteRule ^(en|es)/(.*)$ index.php?url=$2&lang=$1 [L,QSA]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-l
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?url=$1&lang=en [L,QSA]
How can I improve this? It feels wrong I have to write twto time the same Cond

Answer 3

Put the following htaccess file inside the /plants directory:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /plants
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/plants/e[ns](/|$) [NC]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !lang=e[ns] [NC]
RewriteRule ^.*$ /plants/en/$0 [R=301,L]
RewriteRule ^(e[ns])/(.*)$ index.php?url=$2&lang=$1 [NC,L,QSA]
If the above still doesn't work, update your own approach to something like:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -l
RewriteRule ^ - [L]
RewriteRule ^(en|es)/(.*)$ index.php?url=$2&lang=$1 [L,QSA]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php?url=$1&lang=en [L,QSA]