Moving VB from root to /forum, how do we not lose any SEO we done?

[TMF]

We are switching over to another CMS for the homepage and moving the forum from root to /forum folder.

How can we do this and not lose any SEO that we have done over the past 2 years and since were using other software for the CMS (in root) than vbulletin?

thanks!

[Brian Cummiskey]

There's really no good way to redirect EVERYTHING, as doing so will then cause your new cms, etc to never work either.

Your best bet is to leave vb in root, change index.php to forum.php, and then make a custom index.php, and place your cms solution in a subfolder, like /articles.

[TMF]

So creating that index.php and placing our new cms into a new folder like /folderhere

Using Joomla, would this be possible and work well you think?

Were gonna use joomla for the homepage, videos and all other inner pages except for forums/blogs.

Is this possible to use joomla for the homepage and still have forum in root?

thx!

[Brian Cummiskey]

I have no experience with joomla. you will need to ask their support area if their software can function in a folder with an index in a directory above it.

[TMF]

Thanks Brian, one last question.

Aside from whats mentioned above, would it be wise to just move the forum out of root into /forum and do a re-direct for a week so Google will index the new urls and then after a week later then I can install new software for the homepage?

What do you think?

thanks man for all the support and helping all of us out! Greatly appreciated!

[Andrés Durán Hewitt]

Hello all,

I think you can redirect all your important content to a "forum/" folder depending on your URL Rewrite Settings, because if you are using ids on your forums, threads and user profiles, you can set a couple of RewriteRule's to redirect all this content. For example:

http://yoursite.com/f1/ (a forum, note that 1 is the forum id)
http://yoursite.com/f1/thread-within-first-forum-1234/ (a thread, note that 1234 is the thread id)
http://yoursite.com/members/chuta-1/ (a user, note that 1 is the user id)

You can use:

# To redirect forums
RewriteRule ^f([0-9]+)$ http://yoursite.com/forum/f$1/ [L,R=301]
# To redirect threads
RewriteRule ^f[0-9]+/[.+]-([0-9]+)$ http://yoursite.com/forum/showthread.php?t=$1 [L,R=301]
# To redirect users
RewriteRule ^(.+)-([0-9]+) http://yoursite.com/forum/member.php?u=$2 [L,R=301]

That's only a suggestion and my opinion. Please wait for a tech for further assistance.

[Brian Cummiskey]

No, this is not ideal as EVERY link out there will break. Leaving a redirect FOREVER is the goal.

GOOD urls never change. You can try Chuta's rules above, depending on your forum rewrite rules. But, I still suggest not moving.

[TMF]

okay, im thinking of going the route of placing joomla in root as well as vbulletin and just changing out the index.php like you stated.

[Brian Cummiskey]

If you do this, you cannot use the SEO (htaccess) of joomla, as both operate on a 'catch-all' principal... and vbseo can't process joomla, and joomla can't processes vb.

[ChangeFive]

As someone who has a forum that has not gone live yet, currently has VB in Root, and maaaay in the future want to do something similar (Setup Joomla in root and move VB to /forums), what would you suggest?

[Brian Cummiskey]

I would suggest installing vb in root.

If you want to use a new cms later, i would suggest makiing a custom index.php page, and then installing the cms in /articles, instead of in root.

[ChangeFive]

I would suggest installing vb in root.

If you want to use a new cms later, i would suggest makiing a custom index.php page, and then installing the cms in /articles, instead of in root.

Thanks! Glad to know I don't have to redo everything just in case I want to change down the road.