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Why root over directory?

  • @nocomment

    Participant

    15 years, 1 month ago

    I know that Mu always advised to put everything in root and seem to remember that BP at the start said the same thing, basically telling you that it would only work in root.

    This statement from the install instructions seems to be ambiguous:

    “Extract the files to a directory on your webserver. The root of your webserver always works best, but a subdirectory will still work fine.”

    Is there a definitive answer on this?

    What are the potential problems if you install in a directory?

    Many thanks.

    PS The intention would be for using wildcard subdomains.

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)

  • @seobrien

    Participant

    15 years, 1 month ago

    Not sure if this is why the instructions suggest as much but there are search optimization considerations

    Each subdirectory in your architecture is a level of less importance in the eyes of a search engine. Putting everything below root.com/blog/post tells the engines that post is less important than /blog/ which is less important than root.com

    subdomain.root.com adds more weight to the relevance of a page to keywords.

    That said…

    subdomain comes with its own unique challenge of being considered a distinct site from root.com or othersubdomain.root.com. That can work for you and against you depending on how you structure the site overall and how you link within the site to each section.

    @nocomment

    Participant

    15 years, 1 month ago

    Thanks Seobrien.

    I understand and appreciate your comment but was wondering whether there is a technical reason why Mu or BP should need to reside in root.

    As far as I remember, there was always a risk of things not working if it was run from a directory, either in Mu/BP it/themselves or perhaps with plugins but I am no longer sure why or what. (I am coming back a bit to both after looking at other things).

    Basically – and notwithstanding your SEO comment – I would prefer having any CMS in a directory to give me the freedom to have whatever I may choose on the root index page.

    Again, many thanks.

    @xevo

    Participant

    15 years, 1 month ago

    Have tried myself, and a sub directory works fine.

    @andrea_r

    Participant

    15 years, 1 month ago

    If you install it in a folder off the root, that folder name will be in the URLs. No, you can’t remove it. If you’re using a subdomain format, your blogs will be username.yourdomain.com/foldername/.

    If you install in a folder and try to use domain mapping, it won’t work.

    So there are technical reasons to keep it in the root, depending on your usage.

    @nocomment

    Participant

    15 years, 1 month ago

    Thanks Andrea and Xevo

    So, as long as there is no intention to use domain mapping and the folder name in the URL is acceptable, it will work OK.

    Many thanks.

    @mercime

    Participant

    15 years, 1 month ago

    Sure. http://example.com/wpmufolder/username/ is OK. In the end, it all depends on how you want to use that WPMU install

Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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