XF 1.1 Can't get the redirect from phpBB to work

[Hilmer]

I can't get the redirect to work. Nothing happens when I enter the old forum


I would like to redirect users that enter our old phpBB forum direct at www.hilmer-koch.dk/foto-forum
to the new Xenforo one at www.hilmer-koch.dk/forum
It would be perfect not to loose the page ranking in the search engines but I don't know how a redirect will affect this?
I have tried this code:

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (^|&)t=([0-9]+)(&|$) [NC]
RewriteRule ^viewtopic\.php$ /foto-forum/threads/%2? [L,R=301,NC]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} f=(\d+)$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^viewforum\.php$ /foto-forum/forums/%1 [L,R=301,NC]

So not this is how my htaccess file looks:
# # Uncomment the statement below if you want to make use of # HTTP authentication and it does not already work. # This could be required if you are for example using PHP via Apache CGI. #
#<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
#RewriteEngine on
#RewriteRule .* - [E=HTTP_AUTHORIZATION:%{HTTP:Authorization},L]
#</IfModule>

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (^|&)t=([0-9]+)(&|$) [NC]
RewriteRule ^viewtopic\.php$ /foto-forum/threads/%2? [L,R=301,NC]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} f=(\d+)$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^viewforum\.php$ /foto-forum/forums/%1 [L,R=301,NC]

 

[MattW]

Based on this

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (^|&)t=([0-9]+)(&|$) [NC] 
RewriteRule ^viewtopic\.php$ /foto-forum/threads/%2? [L,R=301,NC] 
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} f=(\d+)$ [NC] 
RewriteRule ^viewforum\.php$ /foto-forum/forums/%1 [L,R=301,NC]

You are telling the .htaccess file to re-direct them back into the old forum directory

You will need to add a .htaccess file into the OLD forum directory, foto-forum and use that to re-direct them back to the new forum directory.

 

[Jake Bunce]

Did you select the option during the import to preserve the source ids?

Try removing the red parts:

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (^|&)t=([0-9]+)(&|$) [NC]
RewriteRule ^viewtopic\.php$ /foto-forum/threads/%2? [L,R=301,NC]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} f=(\d+)$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^viewforum\.php$ /foto-forum/forums/%1 [L,R=301,NC]

 

[Hilmer]

Okay guys - thank for the replies.

As you can see from my .htaccess file I have already tried to add the code and I have also tried with forum instead og foto-forum
The .htaccess file is in the /foto-forum root dir.

The old one was /foto-forum and the new one is forum.

Nothing happens, when I enter the old forum.

Jake - I cant remember, how can I find out?

All the best
Morten

 

[Jake Bunce]

The .htaccess file needs to be in the foto-forum/ directory.

I can take a look if you are comfortable giving me FTP access to your server.

 

[Hilmer]

Thats kind of you Jake. I need permission from our server guy to give you the information - I will ask tomorrow.

The old forum is located at: www.hilmer-koch.dk/foto-forum
The new one is located at: www.hilmer-koch.dk/forum

the .htaccess is located in the www.hilmer-koch.dk/foto-forum folder.

Is this correct?

Here is the file.

 

[Jake Bunce]

That's a doc file. It should be named ".htaccess", and it should be a plain text file.

 

[Hilmer]

I know - just renamed it because I thought I could upload it here then

 

[Jake Bunce]

Try removing the carrots like I posted before:

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (^|&)t=([0-9]+)(&|$) [NC]
RewriteRule ^viewtopic\.php$ /foto-forum/threads/%2? [L,R=301,NC]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} f=(\d+)$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^viewforum\.php$ /foto-forum/forums/%1 [L,R=301,NC]

 

[Hilmer]

Strange - nothing works

Now my file is named .htaccess placed in the main forum folder, and it looks like this:



RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (^|&)t=([0-9]+)(&|$) [NC]
RewriteRule viewtopic\.php$ /forum/threads/%2? [L,R=301,NC]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} f=(\d+)$ [NC]
RewriteRule viewforum\.php$ /forum/forums/%1 [L,R=301,NC]

 

[Corwin]

Thats kind of you Jake. I need permission from our server guy to give you the information - I will ask tomorrow.

The old forum is located at: www.hilmer-koch.dk/foto-forum
The new one is located at: www.hilmer-koch.dk/forum

the .htaccess is located in the www.hilmer-koch.dk/foto-forum folder.

Is this correct?

Here is the file.

.htaccess should be located in www.hilmer-koch.dk/forum folder. In fact you should edit .htaccess file which comes with XF.

 

[Hilmer]

This is really driving me crazy!

The old PHPbb3 forum and the new Xenforo is on the same server, and on the same homepage - www.hilmer-koch.dk.

the old is /foto-forum
the new /forum

When a user enter the old forum (/foto-forum) I would like the adress to change to the new one (/forum) without delay.

I have tried to make a .htaccess file that contains this code and placed it in the /foto-forum root. (old forums root)

RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (^|&)t=([0-9]+)(&|$) [NC]
RewriteRule viewtopic\.php$ /forum/threads/%2? [L,R=301,NC]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} f=(\d+)$ [NC]
RewriteRule viewforum\.php$ /forum/forums/%1 [L,R=301,NC]

 

[Corwin]

It will not work that way.

 

[Jake Bunce]

I can take a look if you give me a FTP login to your server.

 

[Hilmer]

Hi Jake that is so kind of you. I ask our server guy and I am not allowed to give the information
It just makes it even harder to find the solution.

Corvin - How will it work then? I thought it would redirect the users...

All the best
Morten

 

[Jake Bunce]

Hi Jake that is so kind of you. I ask our server guy and I am not allowed to give the information

That's understandable. But I am certain that I could get it working if you give me access. I have setup redirects for many sites.

The problem with redirects is that there are many points of failure.

 

[MagnusB]

Hi Jake that is so kind of you. I ask our server guy and I am not allowed to give the information
It just makes it even harder to find the solution.

Corvin - How will it work then? I thought it would redirect the users...

All the best
Morten

Seems you got it working now

Just wanted to let you know, I discovered that since phpBB generates so many double URL's, there is one more rule you might want to consider adding:

        RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (^|&)p=([0-9]+)(&|$) [NC]
        RewriteRule ^viewtopic\.php$ /posts/%2? [L,R=301,NC]

That one will redirect direct links to posts, not threads, to Xenforo (e.g. viewtopic.php?f=1&p=1). I think I semi understood Corvin's original rule, and it seems to work on my site.

 

[Hilmer]

Jake you are the man Thanks for fixing it all for me - thats amazing.
I am so glad I got the permission to let you enter our server