.htaccess issue

[jimnyc]

My site, http://www.lyricsdatabase.net (just bought 2 days ago) requires the following .htaccess file in order to operate, which is in the root of my directories:

RewriteEngine On

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} bosslyrics.com
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.bosslyrics.com/$1 [NE,L]

RewriteRule ^(external|admin)/(.+)$ $1/$2 [QSA,L,NE]

RewriteRule ^([a-z0-9]+)$ index.php?mod=$1 [QSA]
RewriteRule ^([\sA-Za-z0-9_\.-]+)/([\s\.A-Za-z0-9_-]+)$ index.php?mod=$1&sub=$2 [QSA]

I just installed vBulletin at http://www.lyricsdatabase.net/forums/ and it appears that htaccess is keeping it from running. Since I need the file to have the lyrics database run, is there something I can add that would exclude the forums directory?

Thanks,

-Jim

[jason]

I'm not good at eyeballing mod_rewrite rules and suggesting fixes without testing them first, but here it goes... It looks like changing the second RewriteRule to ^(external|admin|forums)... might do the trick, but without testing it I can't say it will for sure. Give it a shot and see what happens...

--Jason

[gerilya]

I just installed vBulletin at http://www.lyricsdatabase.net/forums/ and it appears that htaccess is keeping it from running.

When I access http://www.lyricsdatabase.net/forums/, I see the following message:

Sorry, but there is a problem with our scripts!

You have an error in your SQL syntax. Check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'LIMIT 1' at line 1
UPDATE lyrics SET monthhits=monthhits+1, hits=hits+1 WHERE id= LIMIT 1

Is this the forums problem you are blaming .htaccess for?

[Gwaihir]

As gerilya says: you sure it is .htaccess given you trouble there?

Anyway: if you just want that .htaccess to have no effect for the forums folder, put another .htaccess in that folder with this simple statement: RewriteEngine off. Statements in .htaccess files override eachother top down, so anything set on a higher level folder can easily be overridden / undone on a more specific one.

[Vin DSL]

A couple of things you might try...

First of all, comment out these lines, and see if it makes any difference:

RewriteEngine On

#RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} bosslyrics.com
#RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.bosslyrics.com/$1 [NE,L]

#RewriteRule ^(external|admin)/(.+)$ $1/$2 [QSA,L,NE]

#RewriteRule ^([a-z0-9]+)$ index.php?mod=$1 [QSA]
#RewriteRule ^([\sA-Za-z0-9_\.-]+)/([\s\.A-Za-z0-9_-]+)$ #index.php?mod=$1&sub=$2 [QSA]

If it starts working, uncomment the lines one at a time, until it stops working again, and you've found the culprit.

Secondly, you might try putting a .htaccess file in your forum folder containing simply:

RewriteEngine On

[Spathiphyllum]

...if you just want that .htaccess to have no effect for the forums folder, put another .htaccess in that folder with this simple statement: RewriteEngine off...

A very good debugging tip.

Based on that, I'd suggest another:

Place a comment in the top-level .htaccess file that you overrode this directive in the "forums" directory. It may save you some troubleshooting grief in the future when you forget what got turned on/off lower in the hierarchy. This is one of the pitfalls of editing .htaccess throughout your serving space - remembering the tweaks. The advantage is that Apache may be tweaked ad infinitum. The disadvantage is that Apache may be tweaked ad infinitum. Commenting such "major" modifications will help you in the long run.

[jimnyc]

Secondly, you might try putting a .htaccess file in your forum folder containing simply:

RewriteEngine On

That did the trick, thanks very much!

[Vin DSL]

That did the trick, thanks very much!

My pleasure!

Bet that's got the 'experts' scratching their collective heads. Counterintuitive, you know?

Anyone care to take a guess why that worked?

[Gwaihir]

Anyone care to take a guess why that worked?

For the same reason that 'RewriteEngine off' works: because it overrides the set of rewrite rules given higher up.

That is: I do assume that 'off' works too, right? Real guessing starts if it doesn't.

[Vin DSL]

Heh!