Multiple Domanis

[lostincable]

I asked this question over on the main site and was advised I would need to do a code change and purchase multiple licences. Before I purchase i wanted to know how involved this was as IP Board offers a similiar solution so I am waying up my options of which board to buy.

So here goes, I have two domains on a dedicated server. I can setup the domains however I want, I can point both domains to same the folder to use the same instance of VB for example or I can setup symlinks etc etc. I have free run of the server pretty much.

What I wanted to do is share the same instance of VB so each URL points to the same forums so all the general forums are shared and the entire user base is shared.

Now for the tricky part, I want to be able to hide one sub forum from each of the domains. As previously mentioned all user names, avatar, post counts etc etc will be shared I only want to one hide on forum from each domain depending on where you locate the site. For example,

www.hamburgers.com

Hamburgers discussion - Not Shared
Off topic - Shared
Site Information - Shared
Announcments - Shared

www.fishburgers.com

Fishburgers discussion - Not Shared
Off topic - Shared
Site Information - Shared
Announcments - Shared


Is this possible and if so how? Is there a guide on here i can have a read off?

I saw a post on sharing the user database but I don't just want to share the user database I want to share forums and everything.

Any help is appreciated.

[Marco van Herwaarden]

Did you have a look at Multiple domains and the license agreement

[Ian_W]

This is a common request, but to date I have not found any reliable options for version 3.8.1.

One option is to point extra domains at certain forums, so going to fishburgers.com will go directly to hamburgers.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=47 - this can be achieved via the htaccess file - however I would suggest keeping the one domain at the top, rather than going to fishburgers.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=47.

From your post on vb.com you are aware that hiding forums will require multiple licences, but pointing domains at forums will not.

[lostincable]

Originally Posted by Ian_W

From your post on vb.com you are aware that hiding forums will require multiple licences, but pointing domains at forums will not.

That depends on your definition of pointing domains at forums.

I want to do just that, have a main site and sub forums point to that forum.

Now after reading a post on the official site but rather than explain why it is allowed for one person and not another I get an infraction and will probably not buy vb anymore.

Such is life, thanks for your advice, I am still confused as to wether I want to associate myself and money with vb....

A shame as it is a nice piece of software.....

And I still to this point am confused why I need to buy two licences if I will only be using one instance of VB.....

[Marco van Herwaarden]

If multiple URL's/domains show to the user as a single board, then only 1 license is needed. If you present your board as multiple seperated instances to the users, multiple licenses are needed.

[lostincable]

Its a fine line though what vbulletin classifies as two different sites,

If multiple URL's/domains show to the user as a single board, then only 1 license is needed. If you present your board as multiple seperated instances to the users, multiple licenses are needed.

I see from that statment what you mean as each subforum may appear to be a different site.

My argument is still though that even though you have seperated the sub forums by placing them on different URL's if overall layout and the header / footer etc of the website remains the same across all the subforums with full links back to the main site then you are not really trying to hide it as a separate instance but just making it easier for users to access sub forums and also making it better for seo. My intention was to run one board and always will be and if you went to a sub forum domain all registration, passwords, links take you back to the main board.

You could always just run the two domains and point each to the same instance but that is bad for SEO and cookies will be a nightmare between the two.....

I do see the point but its a fine line as to what "multiple separated instances" means. To me separated instances means to me two instances independent of one another. In my case I am not trying to make either one independent but rather a conglomerate of sub forums that all completely advertise the main domain where vb is running from as the home.

I do agree some what though how this could be viewed as an attempt to run multiple sites if I completely separated the instaces and removed any references to the main site on each sub forum but it looks like this is a debate for another day.

I also realise vbulletin has to draw the line in the sand some where but I am still going to disagree with it.

[Marco van Herwaarden]

Let me try to give an example.

Considering i have a board with 2 main topics and a general topic:
- General Chat
- Topic 1 category
--- Topic 1 subforum 1
--- Topic 1 subforum 2
- Topic 2 category
--- Topic 2 subforum 1
--- Topic 2 subforum 2

Now consider the following 2 setups:

Allowed, only 1 license:
- www.myboard.com leads to the main forum home page, show all 3 categories.
- www.mytopic1.com, leads to the Topic 1 category on your board. All this domain does is point directly to a category, navigation bits still show this is a sub-forum, and the link to the main forum (with all the categories) is normally visible, making it clear to the user that he is browsing a category that is part of the entire board.
- "New posts" show posts of all the categories.

Only allowed with multiple licenses:
- The same setup.
- www.mytopic1.com leads directly to the sub-category without the user being aware that he is viewing part of a larger board.

PS Style/banners/etc.. are not considered different content. You are always allowed to have a different style based on the URL without multiple licenses.

[lostincable]

Marco thanks for taking the time to go through this I really apprecaite the guidance.

Your first example is exactly how I want to setup my forums. I have a forum that is related to two mobile phones made by the same company. I have a main forum with two categories for each different model of the phone. I have used your example below and edited it to show my intended setup.

- General Chat - www.mainmobilesite.com
- Topic 1 category www.mobilebrand1.com
--- Topic 1 subforum 1
--- Topic 1 subforum 2
- Topic 2 category www.mobilebrand2.com
--- Topic 2 subforum 1
--- Topic 2 subforum 2

As you have advised all the navigation in the header and footer leads back to the main site "www.mainmobilesite".

If that is allowed I am very happy , I took the dive and bought the forum software anyhow as I was going to do a 301 redirect from the domains I had but that was not the preferred option. If I can set it up this way without breaching anything then that is great.

Now for the million dollars questions....

1) If I point a category to a domain how do I configure that domain on my host and vb setup? I know how to use URL's to make a category but how to make the domain display the category if that makes sense? Say I have

www.mobile1.com

How do I make mobile 1 display the category it needs to? Do I need to park all my domains onto the folder where the VB install is? I have a VPS so I have root access and know my way around a shell?

2) I am assuming this will not harm SEO as there will not be any duplicate information?

3) How does login / logout work passing between domains? I saw on the parrot site that once you visited a category a java script would pop up asking you to login again and it would automatically login you into the new domain? Is there a hack to do this? I saw cookie cutter for 3.7 but I am on 3.8.

4) How do I ensure the new posts section is updating across the domains? I am assumning that would come from answer 1??

Thanks again for your help I am really glad I took the dive in, I have setup a test board already and imported all my users successfully and its a really nice easy board to use.

[Marco van Herwaarden]

Congratulations with your purchase and welcome to the vBulletin community.

Based on the description you give now, it will only require a single license.

For questions regarding the implementation, please use 1 of the support forums as we don't allow detailed answers in our Pre-Sales section.

[lostincable]

Thanks marco will do....

Again really appreciate the time you have taken to draw out of me what i want to do!