Re: Access forum from multiple URLs
Reply #1 –
Hi bea, sorry to hear this, but I'm sure we'll find a solution.
To move a forum from one server to another or different domain you can use repair-settings.php. Not as easy as Joomla or other cms /forum but does the job. There is no need and it is not indicated to edit the database tables. I did this more than once on smf/elkarte.
Just a few questions to understand better your situation:
1. you are not the owner of that domain, right?
2. the domain is still active or has expired? someone registered it?
3. have you asked the owner of the domain if he wants to give or sell it o you?
4. Have you considered that accessing your forum from two different domains will result in duplicate content in search engines?
If there are non chances to became the owner of the domanin where your forum is hosted, and If you can still use the old domain for a month or more I will proceed in this way:
1. buy a new domain
2. buy a new hosting
3. do a full backup of your forum, database and ftp files
4. restore the database and ftp files to your new host/domain.
5 use repair-settings.php to correct the paths. You can find it here https://tools.elkarte.net/2014/12/repair_settings
6. at this point you will have a working forum hosted on your new host / domain.
7. Important step, upload an .htaccess file to the root of your old forum, in this way you tell search engines that your forum has moved to a new domain and will also redirect visitors to the new domain.
example: old-domain.com/index.php?topic=5 will redirect visitors to new-domain/index.php?topic=5
the .htaccess file should only contain:
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www.newdomain.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.newdomain.com/$1 [R=301,L]
</IfModule>
8. At this point you will have your forum to your new domain and also accessible from your old domain. You can also run some queries on posts, PM, drafts, signature, etc and replace your old domain with the new one. If you are interested I can post them all.