need advice on sub-domain vs. directory?

by Fran_C
5 replies
I'm here asking advice after I already took action and now have second thoughts!

First a warning ... it might seem that I don't know what I'm talking about ... please be patient.

I've had this blog Apprentice Marketer Blog | About Boomers making money online and expectations for life after 60 with children? grandchildren? aging parents? since Feb.09 and all this time
I wanted to have a newsletter (gazette) on the web so I decided to create a sub-domain
blog.apprenticemarketergazette.com.

That let to redirecting the domain name to the blog because the blog has all my content ... so then how do I use the http://apprentice..... domain without it being redirected?

now I'm finally going to come to my question (I could get support at Hostgator) but I would
rather get some discussion going here with my warrior buddies!

1. Should I have created a directory for the blog instead of the subdomain?

2. If going the directory route, how do I do it?

I'm inclined to want my Apprentice Marketer Gazette back, but then how do I publish the newsletter and add the blog?

I want to focus on affiliate marketing articles and posts in the main blog and newsletter and have more varied discussion subjects in the new blog.

I really hope someone can help me,

Thanks, Fran
#advice #directory #subdomain
  • Profile picture of the author vulcanscripts
    As far as I can tell your "blog" sub-domain is already pointing to a seperate directory on your server! However, when I visit your top-level domain my browser is redirected to your sub-domain so in order to use your top-level domain again you will need to turn this redirection off. You can do this via your cPanel (if you used cPanel to set this redirection up in the first place). However, I have a sneaky suspicion that you have two installations of word press installed? One on your top-level domain and one on your sub-domain? In which case you may have setup the redirection within that installation of wordpress, as I'm only getting redirected when I access your index page (index.php).

    To answer your questions:

    1. When you created the sub-domain I beleive that a directory WAS created and that your sub-domain points to that directory. You can run your blog off of your top-level domain, a /directory/ within your top-level domain or off a sub-domain (like you currently are). There is no yes or no answer to your question as there is no right or wrong here, just a matter of personal preference that suits your requirements.

    2.) If you did want to move your blog you would need to move the directory that the sub-domain is pointing to into the main web directory that your top-level domain points to and then modify your word press configuration and posts (absolute/relative/url paths) to take this into account!

    I hope I haven't confused you too much?
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    • Profile picture of the author Fran_C
      Thank you for your reply! And you're right! <quote> "I have a sneaky suspicion that you have two installations of word press installed? One on your top-level domain and one on your sub-domain?"</quote>

      There are two WP installations but when I typed in the top-level domain url, an empty instance of my theme would show up and it really bothered me because my blog is well over a year old and I don't want that to go to waste ... so I went to cpanel and did the
      redirect!

      So would you say that I could set up the main Apprentice Marketer Gazette.com the way I want it to be - focused on marketing subjects and then add a directory for the blog - thus eliminating the sub-domain WP installation? AND the sub-domain itself too?

      Would that blog then show up through a link on the main site?

      Thank you for your help, Vulcan Scripts!

      I re-read your reply and this:

      2.) If you did want to move your blog you would need to move the directory that the sub-domain is pointing to into the main web directory that your top-level domain points to and then modify your word press configuration and posts (absolute/relative/url paths) to take this into account!

      "and then modify your word press configuration and posts (absolute/relative/url paths) to take this into account!"

      that does confuse me!
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      • Profile picture of the author vulcanscripts
        Originally Posted by Fran_C View Post

        Thank you for your reply! And you're right!
        So would you say that I could set up the main Apprentice Marketer Gazette.com the way I want it to be - focused on marketing subjects and then add a directory for the blog - thus eliminating the sub-domain WP installation? AND the sub-domain itself too?

        Would that blog then show up through a link on the main site?
        If the main site isn't a blog and you want to build it around a different format, but you still want to keep the blog then I would just link your site to your blog (where it is now) and link your blog to your main site. If you want to build your site around the blog I would consider moving the blog to your main site and setting up mod rewrite rules on the sub domain (you don't want to lose out on any SEO or backlinks that you have going for you).

        You can link anywhere you like, but if you don't want your main site built around your blog you will of course need to build a new website on your main site and then link it to your blog accordingly.

        Originally Posted by Fran_C View Post

        "and then modify your word press configuration and posts (absolute/relative/url paths) to take this into account!"

        that does confuse me!
        Basically your word press installation is configured to read local file paths (to function) and possibly even URL's in your posts (publication)! Moving it will require updating these paths so that a) the script will not break and b) any published links you may have published aren't pointing to your sub-domain (which will become obsolete).

        I hope this helps, though if you are still confused I'm quite happy to keep replying to this thread until you get the general idea of what I'm trying to say!
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        • Profile picture of the author Fran_C
          Thank you very much for all that info Vulcan! I appreciate your willingness to pursue this
          with me and I will come back to take advantage of your offer a little later - this evening
          and part of to-morrow I have to work at producing some moolah and then I'll be able to
          focus on this blog matter again ...

          Thanks,

          Fran
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  • Profile picture of the author ocsSEO01
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    • Profile picture of the author Fran_C
      Thank you OCS ... I took a look at your site and I saw how you have a title for the blog
      and the URL changed in the address bar when I clicked on it, so is that a directory in
      your domain installation?

      I have two separate WP installations, one for the main URL and one for the main URL/blog
      and Vulcan Scripts suggested I could have a link in each installation to direct visitors ....

      Right now I have to finish some work I need to deliver and then I'll get back to these blogs.

      Thank you,

      Fran
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