As I'm going to be changing all of my extensions to .shtml due to the 'includes', I'm going to need to put a redirect on the old pages (SEO reasons). I'd rather not put some redirecting code into the old pages but I have heard about doing this via the .htaccess file.



Obviously each page will be specified, but would I need to add anything else to this file? Or am I whistling in the wind again?

I don't really want to use a customised error404 page if I can help it.

Thanks

No, stop, don't do it!

Ok, so that was a bit over dramatic, but you don't need to do that. Put this in your .htaccess file instead of the redirect...



This will tell the server to parse your .html files the same way it would parse your .shtml files. Then all you have to do is rename the .shtml files to .html and the SSIs will work just the same.

Now, give it a shot and see if it works with the code I gave you because it may differ a little depending on your server.

Let me know how it goes and/or if you have any questions.
Rich

Oh, you should never use a 301 unless a page that was indexed previously have been removed from the server or changed to a new page, and the initial page will never be used again as there is a (slight) chance that page may never show up in the index again. If you think you may use the old page again in the future you should use a 307.

hoookay, you scared me! Felt like I'd been caught with my hand in the biscuit jar! That has worked perfectly! Thank you so much! Big hugs and definite 'happy dance' time.


301=redirect, 307=?? Just how many are there, and what are they all used for? If there's a lot, is there a link/page that I could look at? Not that I'd do anything without checking here first!

I have another htaccess question if that's okay.
Currently there are different "sites" hosted on the same IP address.
At the moment the main site has a .htaccess file (with a custom error page redirect - which actually works!!)

However there are also 4 subdomains that all need custom error pages (as they all have different menus). Would each subdomain need its own separate .htaccess file? Is this even possible/viable?

Thanks again

This post has been edited by Popje: Apr 13 2008, 06:03 PM

Not too sure on the htaccess question, but here are the error codes mate
http://www.hooverwebdesign.com/templates/h...rror-codes.html

There are a bunch of different HTTP codes. 307=temporary redirect, 404=not found, 200=ok, etc. Here's a link...

HTTP Status Codes



Yes, it is possible to have separate .htaccess files for each subdomain, but the way it works depends on your host. The best thing to do would be to just try a new .htaccess file in the root directory of your subdomain(s) that specifies the custom 404 page. If it doesn't work then you'll have to troubleshoot the config. Probably the easiest thing to do would be to contact the host as they *should* be able to just tell you the right way to do it.

Rich