title: Remove category & tag base from WordPress url - without a plugin
body: <p>I would like to remove the category &amp; tag base from WordPress URL. I have come across other posts and solutions which used plugins. I would like to stay away from plugins and have a solution from within functions.php. This would prevent any future plugin updates or WordPress default files from being changed. </p>
  
  <p>Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!</p>
  
  <p>I have tried these solutions so far:</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>This htaccess solution did not work: <a href="http://mikepayne.co/2011/remove-category-base-from-url/" rel="noreferrer">http://mikepayne.co/2011/remove-category-base-from-url/</a></li>
  <li>These methods also failed: <a href="http://www.askapache.com/wordpress/remove-category-wordpress-urls.html" rel="noreferrer">http://www.askapache.com/wordpress/remove-category-wordpress-urls.html</a></li>
  </ul>