blog-home.php

<?php

$basic_rewrite = new Basic_Rewrite();
class Basic_Rewrite {

	function __construct() {
		add_action( 'wp_loaded',           array( $this, 'wp_loaded' ) );
		add_filter( 'rewrite_rules_array', array( $this, 'rewrite_rules_array' ) );
		add_filter( 'query_vars',          array( $this, 'query_vars' ) );
		add_action( 'pre_get_posts',       array( $this, 'pre_get_posts' ) );
	}

	// flush_rules() if our rules are not yet included
	function wp_loaded() {
		$rules = get_option( 'rewrite_rules' );

		if ( ! isset( $rules['blog$'] ) ||  ! isset( $rules['blog/page/?([0-9]{1,})/?$'] ) ) {
			global $wp_rewrite;
			$wp_rewrite->flush_rules();
		}
	}

	// Adding a new rule
	function rewrite_rules_array( $rules ) {
		$newrules = array();
		$newrules['blog$'] = 'index.php?bloghome';
		$newrules['blog/page/?([0-9]{1,})/?$'] = 'index.php?bloghome&paged=$matches[1]';
		return $newrules + $rules;
	}

	// Adding the id var so that WP recognizes it
	function query_vars( $vars ) {
		array_push( $vars, 'bloghome' );
		return $vars;
	}

	function pre_get_posts( $query ) {
		if ( is_admin() ) return;

		if ( ! isset( $query->query_vars['bloghome'] ) ) { return; }

		$query->is_home = true;
	}
}