301 Redirect

I've searched the forums and I can't find an answer.

I've made some changes to some forum names and now I get new URLs. (Which is normal) I've 301 redirected the old URLs to the new through .htaccess but I get a 404. It seems that vbseo is intervening somehow and not letting it properly redirect. Is there a setting that I must change in vbseo or is there another method to proceed?

Here's an example from my .htaccess from where I renamed a few forums. Put it right below the RewriteEngine On line. Modify to fit your needs... Old name on the left, new name on the right.

Code:

RewriteRule ^motorcycle-racing-professional/(.*)$ /forums/road-racing-professional/$1 [L,R=301] 
RewriteRule ^motorcycle-racing-club-amateur/(.*)$ /forums/road-racing-club-amateur/$1 [L,R=301] 
RewriteRule ^events-track-days-riding-schools/(.*)$ /forums/track-days-riding-schools/$1 [L,R=301] 
RewriteRule ^events-ride-reports/(.*)$ /forums/general-events/$1 [L,R=301] 
RewriteRule ^events-general/(.*)$ /forums/events-ride-reports/$1 [L,R=301]

I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I'm using the .htaccess in the forum root and now I'm getting a regular 404.

You did change the right side to /forum from /forums for yours, right?

Yes sir

Here's what I have:

RewriteRule ^/forum/domain-name-discussion/(.*)$ /forum/domain-name-forum/$1 [L,R=301]

Try this:

RewriteRule ^domain-name-discussion/(.*)$ /forum/domain-name-forum/$1 [L,R=301]

Worked like a charm! Thanks, you're the best!

Keith-
I just changed domains and there is a 301 setup at the root of my old domain. My understanding is that all URL's will be redirected to the newdomain. So, for example, olddomain.com/forum/categoryxxxxx.html will be automatically redirected to newdomain.com/forum/categoryxxxxx.html.

Here's the thing, with the domain change, I'm also considering changing some of the forum names. So when Google gets the 301 from olddomain, it'll also hit a 301 at the new domain. In effect, olddomain.com/forum/categoryxxxxx.html will redirect to newdomain.com/forum/categoryxxxx.html which will 301 to newdomain.com/forum/newcategoryxxxxx.html.

Am I playing with fire by renaming the categories and setting up 301 on the new domain or is this the best practice for this scenario.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Any time you make changes to domain/forum names and use 301 redirects, it's going to negatively affect you in some way, until everything gets reindexed. I suggest making as few changes as possible.

I placed the following line to my .htaccess:

RewriteRule ^old-forum-name/(.*)$ /new-forum-name/$1 [L,R=301]

Interestingly, it works fine when I try to acess threads in the forum

for example:

...ttp://www.example.com/old-forum-name/something.html

will correctly redirect to:

...ttp://www.example.com/new-forum-name/something.html

However, when I try to access only the forum (not any particular thread), it cannot access it:

...ttp://www.example.com/old-forum-name/ (returns; "No such forum exists")

Hello,

your rewrite rule looks ok. Can you provide a real example URL and exact CRR you use?

Thanks. The following is my rewrite rule:

RewriteRule ^test-forum-old/(.*)$ /test-forum-new/$1 [L,R=301]



I'm hoping that when I click on the following url:

...ttp://www.xxxxxxxxxxx.com/test-forum-old/

it should open the new forum:

...ttp://www.xxxxxxxxxxx.com/test-forum-new/

...but it doesn't :(

Do you insert it right after "RewrteEngine" line?

Oleg, you are correct - yes, that was my problem! My rewrite rule was not immediatelly after RewriteEngine On. It was further down, and I thought it should have mattered (but it did).

Thanks much, Oleg.

P.S. I edited out my real URL from the previous post.

I just performed redirect with my real (non-testing) forum section, and I noticed I no longer see green line in the Google tool bar (PR is gone). I was under the impression that 301 redirect would preserve my PR. Is it supposed to preserve my PR?