Help With Redirecting Using htaccess File!

November 5th, 2009, 9:19 am

Hi,

I currently have four links to my forum as listed below:

Code: [ Download ] [ Select ]

http://mysite .com/forum/
http://mysite .com/forum/index.php
http://www.mysite .com/forum/
http://www.mysite .com/forum/index.php

1. http://mysite .com/forum/
2. http://mysite .com/forum/index.php
3. http://www.mysite .com/forum/
4. http://www.mysite .com/forum/index.php

Ive heard that Google can mistake these for 4 different websites which can lead to split results and poor ranking. So how can I edit my .htaccess file so that each of the above redirects to just one;

Code: [ Download ] [ Select ]

http://www.mysite .com/forum/

Im using vbulletin, if that makes any difference.

Many Thanks,
Steve.

[joebert]

November 5th, 2009, 10:13 am

website-design-forum/www-part-the-url-t77353.html

November 5th, 2009, 10:59 am

Hi,

Thanks for the quick reply. I have something similar as to what is suggested in that thread.

Unfortuately, there seems to be a conflict between the .htaccess file in the root directory (mysite .com/) which contains the following:

Code: [ Download ] [ Select ]

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^mysite\.com
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} =on
RewriteRule .* https://www.%{SERVER_NAME}%{REQUEST_URI} [R,L]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^mysite\.com
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !=on
RewriteRule .* http://www.%{SERVER_NAME}%{REQUEST_URI} [R,L]
RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^.*/index.html
RewriteRule ^(.*)index.html$ http://www.mysite .com/$1 [R=301,L]

1. RewriteEngine on
2. RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^mysite\.com
3. RewriteCond %{HTTPS} =on
4. RewriteRule .* https://www.%{SERVER_NAME}%{REQUEST_URI} [R,L]
5. RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^mysite\.com
6. RewriteCond %{HTTPS} !=on
7. RewriteRule .* http://www.%{SERVER_NAME}%{REQUEST_URI} [R,L]
8. RewriteCond %{THE_REQUEST} ^.*/index.html
9. RewriteRule ^(.*)index.html$ http://www.mysite .com/$1 [R=301,L]

And the one in the forum subdirectory (mysite .com/forum/) which contains the following - required by an add on Im using:

Code: [ Download ] [ Select ]

Options +FollowSymlinks
RewriteEngine on
RewriteRule ^([a-z0-9_\-]*-(f|all)[0-9]+(p[0-9]+|/index[0-9]*)?\.html)$ forumdisplay.php/$1 [QSA,L]
RewriteRule ^([a-z0-9_\-]*-(t|p)[0-9]+(p[0-9]+|/index[0-9]*)?\.html)$ showthread.php/$1 [QSA,L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(index\.php|\.css) [NC]
RewriteRule ^(archive|sitemap)/(.*)$ $1/index.php/$2 [QSA,L]

1. Options +FollowSymlinks
2. RewriteEngine on
3. RewriteRule ^([a-z0-9_\-]*-(f|all)[0-9]+(p[0-9]+|/index[0-9]*)?\.html)$ forumdisplay.php/$1 [QSA,L]
4. RewriteRule ^([a-z0-9_\-]*-(t|p)[0-9]+(p[0-9]+|/index[0-9]*)?\.html)$ showthread.php/$1 [QSA,L]
5. RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(index\.php|\.css) [NC]
6. RewriteRule ^(archive|sitemap)/(.*)$ $1/index.php/$2 [QSA,L]

Since when I remove the latter the force www. does work!

Can anyone spot the problem?
Thanks!

November 5th, 2009, 11:35 am

UPDATE:

Ok, In the end I removed the htaccess file from the forum subdirectory as I found another way to achieve the same thing.


Im wondering if I could also use the htaccess file to redirect from;


http://www.mysite .com/forums

to

http://www.mysite .com/forum


Should visitors accidentally misspell the URL.

[joebert]

November 5th, 2009, 1:45 pm

I'm reluctant to suggest this because you mentioned that you "found another way", but haven't mentioned what that is, but here's the rewrite assuming I'm working from square one.

APACHE Code: [ Download ] [ Select ]

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
 
RewriteRule ^forums(/.*)?$ forum$1 [R=301]

1. RewriteEngine On
2. RewriteBase /
3.  
4. RewriteRule ^forums(/.*)?$ forum$1 [R=301]