Need someone to move forums from /forums to the root

[MPinelli]

title explains it all. and do some database cleanup of uninstalled forum addons

Pm me

[cursal]

I'm not sure your reasoning for moving the forum to root.
I would suggest keeping the forum where it is and use .htaccess to forward your home page to yoursite.com/forum/

This keeps the root open to branch out in the future or if you change your mind. The SEO benefits include not loosing any indexed pages of your forum.

[CureCancer]

I'm not sure your reasoning for moving the forum to root.
I would suggest keeping the forum where it is and use .htaccess to forward your home page to yoursite.com/forum/

This keeps the root open to branch out in the future or if you change your mind. The SEO benefits include not loosing any indexed pages of your forum.

Very good advice, if you move it, you will loose all indexed pages - you would get ERRORS and Warnings from Google, etc - i learned the hardway!

[cursal]

Very good advice, if you move it, you will loose all indexed pages - you would get ERRORS and Warnings from Google, etc - i learned the hardway!

Thanks

I often feel the same when installing anything in root that has its own "index" page to call. Mostly dealing with CMS/Blogs/Forums/ I like to keep total control over root.

The magic of htaccess and meta tags will allow redirecting pages from the root to where I choose and keeps the bots happy when reporting back to the SE.

[MPinelli]

ok so what exactly should i do

[jdk]

In your .htaccess file in your / directory put the following line

Redirect 301 /index.php http://www.guitarheroforum.com/forums/

This will redirect your page without having the waiting or click here if not redirected page. You can still leave it as a backup.

[MPinelli]

i dont have an htaccess file on my server root, is this bad?

[jdk]

FTP into your site -> go to the /home/username/public_html directory When you FTP in you are likely going to be in the user directory so all you need to do to double click on /public_html and edit .htaccess

Edit .htaccess

[MPinelli]

what do i do if theres no htaccess file

[jdk]

Create one

[MPinelli]

what does one contain other than what im including to redirect it?

[cursal]

Nothing more unless you would like to do other directing and stuff....

i.e always point your domain to www. vs non-www.
redirect files or folders to other pages.

Here is nice group things to do with that fancy new file you created

Clicky

and Google is full of stuff to read about .htaccess

[MPinelli]

thanks all!!

[mulligan]

Sometimes the htaccess file is 'hidden' .. There should be a 'view hidden files' in the 'View' area of your ftp client

[system0]

Very good advice, if you move it, you will loose all indexed pages - you would get ERRORS and Warnings from Google, etc - i learned the hardway!

If you do not plan on ever developing a home page and want the forums to be the main part of the site then moving the forums to the home page is a good move.

You don't need to lose your indexed pages. In the same way you redirect google to your forums directory, you can redirect forum pages to your home page.

All you need to do is setup a 301 redirect to tell google and other search engines that your forums have been moved to a new directory or domain. I've did this a few times and I've never lost any search engine traffic.

[netpro801]

System0 knows his stuff. 301 directs is actually a great communication tool for updating se bots regarding pages that are relocated. I would also recommend a sitemap preferably xml. The sitemap can be updated and resubmitted to google via webmaster tools.

Good Luck

Thanks!

Juan
Aka NetPro801