MultiHosted Domain Forum: sub folders

[lokki]

Hey all,

I set up a multihosted domain, and tried to install a forum to it. Found out that's not possible from the CPanel. To get around this, I have put the forum into a frameset so the 'virtual' domain remains constant in the address bar. So far, so good.

The problem is when I open the forum, or type in the address directly using the virtual domain, it shows up as a subdomain.

for example,

virtual.com << multihosted
mysite.com << actual hosted domain

If I go to virtual.com/forum, the URL redirects to
virtual.mysite.com/forum

I'd like the URL to stay 'virtual.com/forum'

Any ideas on this?

Thanks!!

[dkadave]

Well, I never used CPanel to install scripts for me. But if you go into the admin center for the forum. You may be able to change the url of the forum. I would think. That's how the scripts I install are.

[jason]

The script installers are pretty basic and inflexible. I'd recommend installing the scripts by hand. Often too, the installer scripts are older, out-of-date versions than what you can download from the official sites for those packages.

The redirect issue is something totally different. My guess is that when you set up the subdomain you set up redirection ofr it. That is unnecessary. The redirection is for cases where you want to give out a short url for something with a longer one. For example, some companies have affiliate programs where they provide a customized shopping cart type of site for you to sell their products. They might give you a URL to access it that is something like www .company. com/resellers/cart/12345667890. That's a lot to type out, so with subdomain redirection you can set up something like buy.yourdomain.com and point it at the longer URL. If you do not set up redirection requests to your subdomain will be served out of the directory with the same name as the subdomain in the same manner as your main domain is served out of the public_html directory.

Hope this helps.

--Jason

[lokki]

Thanks for the info... I will try the upgrades once I solve this redirect problem.

I used the CP to remove redirection (I had never actively set it up), but the problem persists. The URL to the site works properly, but when I add /forum, the subdomain shows up.

So...
virtualsite.com works as expected
virtualsite.com/forum redirects immediately to virtualsite.mainsite.com

Is there something more robust I can do outside of the CP? It's been a long time since I last went rampaging through *nix.

[Gwaihir]

Use /forum/ The redirect only happens when the last slash is missing.

The problem has nothing to do with what is in that subfolder (i.e. with your board). I guess it is standard Apache behaviour. It is annoying though, so if anyone has a good tip on how to prevent it: PLEASE .

[I know that the ending slash should technically be there to refer to a folder and not to a possible file in the folder above it, but hey; what does the average websurfing visitor know or care about that?]

[gerilya]

Originally posted by Gwaihir
Use /forum/ The redirect only happens when the last slash is missing.

The problem has nothing to do with what is in that subfolder (i.e. with your board). I guess it is standard Apache behaviour.

It is not a standard Apache behaviour. If you try rewrites from URL Rewriting Guide, you will notice that some of them do not work here even though they work elsewhere.

"Standard" httpd.conf file will automatically add a missing slash and never rewrites multihosted domain as subdomain

[lokki]

well... wow. I haven't encountered that before. Kind of embarassing, you know?

Thanks for the tip, Gwaihir!

gerilya - I'm not sure how to use that information. I guess I have a lo-o-ong document to work through Thanks - I'll start on it, and if I find a decent solution, I'll post here.

In the meantime, anyone got a quick fix or another pointer? I am thinking about trying the upgrade mentioned earlier this weekend, but being the bull-headed sort, I've got to try and impose my will first.

[Ron]

I don't see you acknowledging what dkadave suggested -- maybe you missed it, or just didn't mention it, but in the administration panel of phpbb there's a place for the URL of the forum.

Do you have that set appropriately?

Good Luck

[lokki]

Ron,

I noticed it and forgot to mention that I did in fact play with that setting. So, thanks dkdave and Ron for pointing out this option. Unfortunately, it had no effect.

I guess I should qualify that comment... I tried using both the virtual domain (sub) and the master domain. Both work for the general operation of the site, but using the virtual domain causes the registration to fail.

Further, I noticed that logging in sometimes causes the forum to jump out of the frameset altogether. I haven't gotten this to happen consistently, so I'm not sure how to troubleshoot it.

At this point, a clean install of the latest version into the virtual domain seems the best option. Or, I could just get another account and avoid the whole mess

Just to be clear, I do appreciate all the responses, whether they work or not - it helps me understand the technology a bit to see how people approach the problem.

Thanks =)