I want to replace my default Category and Tag archives with new pages that use a ?=category or ?=tag query. Native Wordpress settings allow me to change the Permalink structure for Categories and Tags: mysite.com/mypage?_sft_post_tag=%tag%

The issue is %tag% and %category% always return /tag/ and /category/, please note the slashes. Do you know how to just add the tag or category without the slashes, so it will work within my intended query? Thnx!