Shortening url's in subdomains.

[stealthhosts]

I can't really go into any more detail without knowing a bot more about the setup (Domain Setup / Registrar, hosting control panel etc) - If the control panel is cPanel then it's easy... After that it could be a lot harder or even impossible to setup without access to DNS on the server.

What difference does the registrar, or indeed the control panel make?

With regard to DNS, I don't see what difference it makes if bind is running on the box. Even if he doesn't have direct shell/dns acccess, it should be something his host is happy to deal with on his behalf (one would hope anyway).


EDIT - cos I'm a retard and I typed a totally different service to the one I meant

 

[TWD-Tony]

What difference does the registrar, or indeed the control panel make?

With regard to DNS, I don't see what difference it makes if bind is running on the box. Even if he doesn't have direct shell/dns acccess, it should be something his host is happy to deal with on his behalf (one would hope anyway).


EDIT - cos I'm a retard and I typed a totally different service to the one I meant

The registrar probably doesn't matter to much thinking about it - but the CP is important, if it's cPanel then there is alot you can do re: DNS and aliasing just from the user CP unlike say ENSIM which is very restrictive in that way...

An as for "it might not be as easy as that...." I think it actually is that easy... You are all talking abut web forwarding which does exactly what it says - it forwards from one domain to another, but aliasing is different because it allows you to point different domains at the same website... For example (this is a clients site BTW)

www.whoowhoos.com
www.whoowhoos.co.uk
www.whoowhoos.net

Those domains are ALIASED not FORWARDED - you see how when you click the .co.uk or .net names the browser address bar does NOT change? If it were a forwarded domain then the address would change.

Is this the effect we are after - or have I gone off on a tangent as usual

 

[stealthhosts]

The registrar probably doesn't matter to much thinking about it - but the CP is important, if it's cPanel then there is alot you can do re: DNS and aliasing just from the user CP unlike say ENSIM which is very restrictive in that way...

An as for "it might not be as easy as that...." I think it actually is that easy... You are all talking abut web forwarding which does exactly what it says - it forwards from one domain to another, but aliasing is different because it allows you to point different domains at the same website... For example (this is a clients site BTW)

www.whoowhoos.com
www.whoowhoos.co.uk
www.whoowhoos.net

Those domains are ALIASED not FORWARDED - you see how when you click the .co.uk or .net names the browser address bar does NOT change? If it were a forwarded domain then the address would change.

Is this the effect we are after - or have I gone off on a tangent as usual

I am well aware of the differences between aliasing and forwarding. I don't think I made myself clear.
With regard to the control panel, reason I don't think it makes any difference is that its an apache and dns function, therefore, what CP is overlayed is of little consequence, it can all be done in the shell.
What concerns me is that Duke would like his subdomains to be aliases of his root domain.

So when he types subdomain.com/index.php it will appear as domain.com/index.php but the file being served will be /home/usr/public_html/subdomfolder/index.php

this is something I would not advise, it leads to confusion. This is what I was saying it would not be as easy as. There is no technical limitation, I just don't think it will work very well if people try to add to favs and/or access the file directly, they will end up getting domain.com/index.php instead of the subdomain page they expect when trying to access directly.

 

[TWD-Tony]

I am well aware of the differences between aliasing and forwarding. I don't think I made myself clear.
With regard to the control panel, reason I don't think it makes any difference is that its an apache and dns function, therefore, what CP is overlayed is of little consequence, it can all be done in the shell.
What concerns me is that Duke would like his subdomains to be aliases of his root domain.

So when he types subdomain.com/index.php it will appear as domain.com/index.php but the file being served will be /home/usr/public_html/subdomfolder/index.php

this is something I would not advise, it leads to confusion. This is what I was saying it would not be as easy as. There is no technical limitation, I just don't think it will work very well if people try to add to favs and/or access the file directly, they will end up getting domain.com/index.php instead of the subdomain page they expect when trying to access directly.

Sorry for seeming to call anyone stupid - I am certainly NOT doing that.... I seem to have got off on the wrong foot on here... It's just that everyone was mentioning Domain Forwarding which I don't think is what is needed here.

Maybe because you are also in the hosting business and I am a newbie you think I'm trying to be-little you or something... or a threat of some sort.....????????

The only reason I mentioned the CP was the fact that if it is Cpanel then the aliasing can be done from there to the sub-domain, but I don't think the others (Ensim, Plesk etc) support this feature so it is something that the host would have to do at shell level as you stated - but most webmasters don't have shell access to a server.

I'll crawl back into my shell and not bother you again

 

[stealthhosts]

Sorry for seeming to call anyone stupid - I am certainly NOT doing that.... I seem to have got off on the wrong foot on here... It's just that everyone was mentioning Domain Forwarding which I don't think is what is needed here.

Maybe because you are also in the hosting business and I am a newbie you think I'm trying to be-little you or something... or a threat of some sort.....????????

The only reason I mentioned the CP was the fact that if it is Cpanel then the aliasing can be done from there to the sub-domain, but I don't think the others (Ensim, Plesk etc) support this feature so it is something that the host would have to do at shell level as you stated - but most webmasters don't have shell access to a server.

I'll crawl back into my shell and not bother you again

HAHA, no need to go back to your shell, I didn't take offense. I also have no reason to feel a threat from you. I don't view this forum as a soapbox, just a way for me to pass on some of the things I have picked up over the years.

I wasn't saying that anything you said was incorrect, just that your comments seemed absolute, which to duke may have come across as dependancies for what he was attempting to acomplish. I just wanted to make sure that he/anyone else was aware that those things are by no means required to achive the goal.

You are correct about cpanel, although ENSIM/PLESK also have the ability to create alias' as do most/all control panels. It is neither here nor there as duke stated that he uses CPANEL. With regards to shell access, I see no reason this couldn't be accomplished with effective use of .htaccess which any webmaster should be able to implement. I'm not sure I would want to do it that way, but if hosts have refused to allow access to the shell then sometimes needs must.

Any host who is confident in their security should have no reason not to provide jailed shell access to their box (IMHO)

I like a good debate

 

[TWD-Tony]

You are correct about cpanel, although ENSIM/PLESK also have the ability to create alias' as do most/all control panels.

Yes - but only cPanel can alias directly to sub domains (I know that Ensim CANNOT create aliases at all from the user CP, it is a host / reseller function only - not sure about PLESK... )

I see no reason this couldn't be accomplished with effective use of .htaccess which any webmaster should be able to implement.

True - but it would be rather more complicated than going the cPanel route and mod_rewrite has it's limitations when using scripts (if scripts are involved here?)

Any host who is confident in their security should have no reason not to provide jailed shell access to their box

I totally agree!

I like a good debate

So do I I just felt that you were being very defensive, I just looked at one of cPanel's and it;s definately do-able that way although not something I have tried before... Trial and error is needed here I think

 

[Duke]

May not be that easy......

Surely you need to create <VirtualHost> tags in httpd.conf?

Is there an easier way in CPANEL? I know you can do domain forwarding. He is attempting to change the host part to match the root domain though.

So that sub.domain.com appears as domain.com but domain.com already has content, therefore any files with the same name will cause a loop

I am still understanding you correctly aren't I duke?

Apologies for the delay, I forgot about this thread.

No problem at all, I've been busy myself and haven't gotten a chance to reply.

I believe you have it correct but I'll try to explain more:

- The domain name in question is hobby-universe.com. The URL re-directs you to hobby-universe.lifesupporters.com because it's a subdomain. All browsing on this site affects the url as follows: http://www.hobby-universe.lifesupporters.com/index.php or downloads.php, whatever.

- I wan't to lose the subdomain listing in the url so all browsing onsite only shows http://www.hobby-universe.com/index.php or downloads.php, etc.

I'm not interested in moving this site and want to keep it as a subdomian without the subdomain url. I have many reasons for wanting to keep it as a subdomain but the biggest is how quickly and easily PR is distributed without linking, stats are all credited to lifesupporters.com regardless of site browsed, search engines recognize the subdomains and list them with lifesupporters.com.

 

[Duke]

Tony, as for your examples, there exactly what I'm not looking for.


www.whoowhoos.com
www.whoowhoos.co.uk
www.whoowhoos.net

When you navigate any site other than the .com extension, your naviation url returns to .com even when on .co.uk or .net. I'm hoping that hobb-universe.com stays that url regardless of where you are on the site.

I really do appreciate your guys help on this one.

BTW, I posted my webhost specs a page or so ago and I am using cpanel.

 

[stealthhosts]

I see what you are talking about tony, I didn't mean to come across as defensive in ANY way. I'll take a look at some of our client PLESK and ENSIM boxes, if they can't do it then nobody has ever asked for the ability to, are you sure it just isn't a default option? I see no reason not to be able to allow it.

Duke, if you get stuck, I don't mind sorting it out for you in your cpanel if you want to set a temporary pass. It's pretty easy though. Take a look at the cpanel notes on cpanel.net, if you need a talkthrough let me know.

The only thing you need to watch with doing this in cpanel is that it's internal DNS can get screwed very easily. We recently had a client with a lot of email problems when parking domains, turned out that bind decided to shadow records.

I am in the same boat as Tony, never having to do this for a user in a GUI before, we have always done things in the shell and left the GUI's for the clients but I can't see it being any more taxing than doing the same for a root domain.

It will be a case of tial an error but like I say, if you need any help then give me a shout.

Cheers

Lewis

 

[Paul_KY]

Duke, are you really doing this for PR's sake?

 

[Duke]

Duke, are you really doing this for PR's sake?

This really has nothing to do with PR, it's more to do with getting listed in the search engines along with the rest of the network. I'm glad to have PR Paul, but since joining this site, I've realized that it's not as important as I once thought. I only make mention of it in passing, not so much as a selling point.

 

[Paul_KY]

Oh, BS! You're a PR Nazi, admit it!

 

[Duke]

lmao, not nearly as much as I used to be.

You kill me though.