XF 1.5 Subdomain or subforum

[VW Derf]

Hi,

I'm migrating from another software with a subdomain for forum.website.com and trying to decided if it is better with Xenforo to make the switch to www.website.com/forum or stick with the forum.website.com setup. I see lots of discussion, but not real answer, especially when it comes to Xenforo foums.

I know that if I move to /forum (or /community) it is easier to integrate other software and the main website as well as, eventually at least, it should increase my search results. But when moving from another software where I'll have lots of 301 redirects is it better to cut the cord and go to /forum right away or continue with the forum.website.com setup for now and decide later?

Is there really one reason to go one way over another?

Thanks,

 

[Mr Lucky]

I always prefer the more integrated approach, but whether to redirect from subdomain at the same time as migrating is purely a matter of preference I think. It may be less headache to do the migration a is and once the dust has settled then consider the move from subdomain into a directory of main site.

There will be two redirects, ie from subdomain (e.g. via .blanket .htaccess redirect) and then via the forum format redirect script. Theoretically each redirect costs a teeny bit aof link value in Google, but once the pages are reidexed, that will only effect inbound inks from other sites.


Depending on the size and format of your main website, you may want to consider the possibility of integrating the main website into xenforo at some stage, especially if there is ever a xenforo CMS. There are article addons and xenforo's page system (which is useful for a few pages but relies on html coding)

If it is viable, then going this route would be my favourite, and you could then have everything installed in the root, no subdomain, no subdirectory.