regex - Replace spaces in URL after # -

i have database dump wordpress has url's spaces need remove spaces from. thought lot simpler of task. expression match bad href's

(href\="http\:\/\/wfsu.org/blog-coastal-health\/\?page_id\=\d+\/\#)((\w+)\s(\w+))+\" 

the problem trying replace spaces dashes ..

i'm replacing $1$3-$4" works fine on 2 words not 3+ words. have solution?

i consider using preg_replace_callback(). allow use regex grab url string interested in , pass callback function can use string manipulation replace spaces dashes.

your code might this:

$original_string; // original string holding text content $pattern = '~href="http://wfsu.org/blog-coastal-health/.*"~i'; $cleaned_string = preg_replace_callback(     $pattern,     function ($matches) {         return str_replace(' ', '-', $matches[0]);     },     $original_string ); 

this eliminates need try determine how many pattern fragments need replace within regex itself. instead capture entire href property value , simple str_replace() on it.