.htaccess question

so in my main directory, i have this for my .htaccess file:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^domainname.com
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.domainname.com/$1 [R=301,L]

but then i noticed that if i removed the www from the forum link, it wouldn't redirect to the www (would explain why some members found themselves logged out?)

and then i noticed there is an .htaccess file in my forum directory. is there suppose to be one? this is what it has:

# Comment the following line (add '#' at the beginning)
# to disable mod_rewrite functions.
# Please note: you still need to disable the hack in
# the vBSEO control panel to stop url rewrites.
RewriteEngine On

# Some servers require the Rewritebase directive to be
# enabled (remove '#' at the beginning to activate)
# Please note: when enabled, you must include the path
# to your root vB folder (i.e. RewriteBase /forums)
#RewriteBase /

#RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.yourdomain\.com
#RewriteRule (.*) http://www.yourdomain.com/forums/$1 [L,R=301]

RewriteRule ^((urllist|sitemap_).*\.(xml|txt)(\.gz)?)$ vbseo_sitemap/vbseo_getsitemap.php?sitemap=$1 [L]

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} !vbseourl=
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(admincp/|modcp/|chat|cron)
RewriteRule ^(.*\.php)$ vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1 [L,QSA]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !\.(jpg|gif)$
RewriteRule ^(archive/.*)$ vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1 [L,QSA]

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !^(admincp|modcp|clientscript|cpstyles|images)/
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ vbseo.php?vbseourl=$1 [L,QSA]



is there anything i need to change? i just moved servers and things were really screwy after the move.

#RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.yourdomain\.com
#RewriteRule (.*) http://www.yourdomain.com/forums/$1 [L,R=301]

Remove the # and it should always make it add the www. to the beginning.

Be sure you change yourdomain with your current one

so it's okay to have 2 htaccess files? (one in the main directory and this one in the /forum directory?).

Johnny,

.htaccess files affect the folder they are in and all folders under that folder UNLESS a sub-folder contains its own .htaccess file, in which case that file will override completely the parent folder's .htaccess.