Getting rid of /forum.php at the end of URL

[grhawkins]

I have my main website www.example.com, which is running WordPress (I don't think that affects what I'm trying to do, just giving all the information I can). I set up www.forum.example.com for vbulletin. I also removed the "Home" navigation link on my forum display.

How do I get it so that when a user types in www.forum.example.com it's not going to/displays the www.forum.example.com/content.php page? The same home display shows for both www.forum.example.com and www.forum.example.com/content.php (the one with the sections widget, categories, widget, articles, blog posts, etc.).

***I'd like it so the Home display doesn't show at all and that my /forum.php display shows when myself or a visitors types in www.forum.example.com into the address bar. Currenlty, the /forum.php only shows when I type in www.forum.example.com/forum.php.

This is what I've found so far...
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/content.php/295-FAQ-How-to-install-CMS-in-Root-Forums-in-subdirectory

http://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/options_contentmanagement

I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I can't seem to get it to work.

[your24hourstore]

you know i see this asked all the time, but when the page is indexed it shows the whole page name htp://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=260162 like this so what does it matter if it says yoursite.com/forum,php or just yoursite,com

[Brandon Sheley]

you know i see this asked all the time, but when the page is indexed it shows the whole page name htp://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=260162 like this so what does it matter if it says yoursite.com/forum,php or just yoursite,com

it's better in the search engines if you just have one page with content
so if your forum root/ and your root/forum.php have the same content, it's better to redirect it to the home.


To the OP, you should be able to do this with a 301 redirect

[grhawkins]

you know i see this asked all the time, but when the page is indexed it shows the whole page name htp://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=260162 like this so what does it matter if it says yoursite.com/forum,php or just yoursite,com

The problem I'm having however, is that when someone types forum.example.com into the address bar it's still showing the forum.example.com/content.php display rather than the /forum.php display.

My forum is located forum.dropbeatsnotbombs.com (http://forum.dropbeatsnotbombs.com). When you put that into the address bar it brings up the front page display (or home display whatever it's referred to as), which I don't want showing at all (as you can see..I removed the "Home" link n the navigation bar).

[your24hourstore]

I don't think your users are going to be amazed or offended by what the url says too them :)

[grhawkins]

To the OP, you should be able to do this with a 301 redirect

How would I go about setting a 301 redirect up? Through cpanel?

[your24hourstore]

The problem I'm having however, is that when someone types forum.example.com into the address bar it's still showing the forum.example.com/content.php display rather than the /forum.php display.

My forum is located forum.dropbeatsnotbombs.com. When you put that into the address bar it brings up the front page, which I don't want showing at all (as you can see..I removed the "Home" link n the navigation bar).


Oh i see i didn't notice you have it set up that way, its like a sub domain setup

--------------- Added 1299768729 at 1299768729 ---------------

I will let Brandon tell you but I think its htaccess redirect is what you will be doing

[grhawkins]

I will let Brandon tell you but I think its htaccess redirect is what you will be doing

Awesome. If you, Brandon, or anyone else could provide me with instructions on how to set this up with an htaccess redirect that would be amazing!

Sorry for the confusion. I do have it set up as a subdomain.

--------------- Added 1299773152 at 1299773152 ---------------

Ughh, that was a lot more simple than expected. It's funny how the most simplest of things can take forever to figure out.

For anyone else who set up their vBulletin on a sub domain like me here's what you need to do:

Using FTP or cpanel File Manager, find the index.php file in the root of where you installed vBulletin. For me, the index.php it was in the "forum" folder I created where all the vBulletin files are.

/home/xxxxxxxx/public_html/forum/index.php
(Please Note: The x's represent the username I use to log into FTP or cpanel.

Now, open up the index.php file and scroll down until you find:
/**
* Use the CMS as the default script:
*/

require('content.php');

All you have to do is change content.php to forum.php. Save that bad boy and voila. You can now type www.forum.yourdomain.com...It will show your forum display and it won't have the /forum.php trailing the URL.

I may just be a newbie, but I don't know why I couldn't find that simple answer anywhere. With that, I hope this found other users well as I have been frustrated the past few days trying to figure this out.

[indyonline]

easier way would be to comment it out and un-comment forum.php 3 lines below that.