Re-direct threads from old forum to new forum

[len backus]

I just started a new forum. I imported threads from 2 of the old forum's sub-forums. I have set the old sub-forums to not allow guest viewing so Google will no longer index them in order to eliminate duplicate problems.

Meanwhile, is there a way to re-direct in some way to help the new site?

[Joe Ward]

You can apply a redirect from the old to the new, of all traffic, on the old domain:
[How to] Setup www.yourdomain.com or yourdomain.com (www vs. non-www) - With .htaccess 301 redirects

The same .htaccess code given in the above link can be used.

[len backus]

Thanks, Joe

Would I then need to allow guest viewing again so Google indexes the old forum threads again?

[Joe Ward]

You need to enable guest viewing on the new forum, of course.

However, on the old forum once the redirect is in place, the forum does not even need to be installed.

As soon as a request comes in, it will forward it off to the new site. It is not going to look for the *actual* content on the old server.

[len backus]

So there is no disadvantage to the new forum, if the old forum threads are viewable to guests, once the re-direct is in place?

[len backus]

Why does Google not look at this as duplicate content if the threads are still on both sites? Would it not be better to delete them at some point form the old site?