htaccess question
 

How can I set my .htaccess (I assume that's where it's done...) so that any call for my site always goes to the same url?

To confusing the way I expressed this? - o.k. - let me explain:

I want all hits to go to www.mysite.com/index.shtml
type-in traffic to http://mysite.com without www.
traffic to http://mysite.com/index.shtml - again without www.

(I have already a line
DirectoryIndex index.shtml index.php index.html index.htm which defines the load order...)

Reason: unified referrer url in stats - currently I'm sending traffic out from all different options like http://www.mysite.com/index.shtml, http://mysite.com, http://mysite.com/, http://mysite.com/index.shtml - which in several counters shows as 3 or 4 different referrers and much less traffic in either option than the combined traffic.

Cheers

Evening George -
Look at the top of your browser.
See that button that says "Search"?
Click that and type in "htaccess"
Should find your answer there.
Otherwise Cleo has a fine page from her webmasters page.

Not being synical.. just can't remember the actual URL's of this... it has been covered here before though. :)

Still too easy :D

DD

Many thanks - still the best board around |peace|

Be careful using this on a domain with stuff submitted. If you submit your stuff without the www then it will trigger bots to show a redirect.

Very true Cleo....

as with most htacc redirection thingies... these are not to be applied without planning and forethought..

DD

Thanks for the warning!

I wanted to use it for my TGP sites, because only ~50% of the hits arrive at http://www.picxs.com/index.shtml, the remaining 50% are split across 3 other options... Now if somebody submits and uses a counter like Sextracker it might show that I'm sending 600 hits that day, where in fact it could be well over 1,000 once they check further down the list...

Question:
does this help with Google listings, too?

Currently you might find http://picxs.com/ right above http://www.picxs.com/index.shtml in their results - I would think a combined listing might actually boost my position (rather than hurt it).

Hmmm, I wonder if it will hurt you since the SEs might see it as redirecting.

Don't know if "help" is the right word.. but yes it can effect your Google listings..

Rule #1 - always use http://www.domain.com/ when linking, when exchanging links etc, and then ALWAYS use it into the future.

Rule#2 - if you use http://domain.com/ then keep using that syntax.. dont mix them up.

The permanent redirect "should" help refine your pages and SE listings, as google will find http://www.domain.com/ each time.

IF it is done as a permanent redirect, it will not be classed as "redirecting" by the SE's and robots.

DD