two folders two domains one website

October 1, 2008 9:58 AM

Two domain names loading the same website - only the websites aren't being served from the same folder, despite the fact that they are served from the same server. There exist two folders: users on a Unix machine. How can I get both domain names to serve up the website from the same folder? And is there any reason I should NOT do this?

I don't think there's a webmin...

Thanks!

posted by dance to computers & internet (6 comments total)

If I'm understanding you correctly....

You just need one [Name]VirtualHost with multiple ServerNames in your Apache conf (or to forgo VirtualHosts entirely if these are the only two domains being served from this machine). Assuming you're running Apache. It sounds like currently you have two [Name]VirtualHosts with different DocumentRoots. But it's difficult to say exactly what you need to change without much more detail as to your current configuration.
posted by enn at 10:22 AM on October 1, 2008

As enn said. Or leave the two virtual host entries, since they seem otherwise fine, and just correct the mistake in the apache configuration by making the DocumentRoots the same. Restart apache, poof.
posted by rokusan at 11:14 AM on October 1, 2008

The reason you should not do this is that Google has a very severe duplicate content penalty. If you need either site to appear in Google searches, have one domain redirect to the other instead of both having the same content.
posted by mendel at 11:24 AM on October 1, 2008 [1 favorite]

You can't just warn google that your mirroring the other site?
posted by jeffburdges at 11:50 AM on October 1, 2008

Is there a reason to keep both URLs intact? Can't you just have one redirect to the other?

Otherwise, seconding enn's advice about setting both virtual hosts to the same document root.

Regarding the reason not to do it, mendel's point about the duplicate content penalty is only relevant if you depend on Google searches. Even if you do, keep in mind that Google says,

Duplicate content on a site is not grounds for action on that site unless it appears that the intent of the duplicate content is to be deceptive and manipulate search engine results. If your site suffers from duplicate content issues, and you don't follow the advice listed above, we do a good job of choosing a version of the content to show in our search results.

posted by camcgee at 2:26 PM on October 1, 2008

You can't just warn google that your mirroring the other site?

Nope, you can't.
posted by davejay at 4:03 PM on October 1, 2008