micro007:
Okay, if I'm understanding you correctly, my problem is with the redirects?
Yes, it could be due to redirects, but no, you didn't quite understand what I was trying to tell you.
The point I was trying to make is that you are needlessly using redirects and that can only complicate matters for you. It's like putting up several detours where none are needed. At the end of the day if all the detours are correct you'll eventually end up at the correct destination, but it is far better to take the more direct route.
micro007:
The site name is registered with another company and points to my server.
This is essentially true of nearly all websites. The only exceptions are if the domain registrars also provide hosting services (many don't). On the flip side, most web hosts will also provide registration services but only by registering the domains on the clients behalf with an ICANN accredited registrar.
There are many 1000's (perhaps millions) of 'Webhosts' out there, but the number of registrars can be counted in the hundreds.
micro007:
I have all of my hosted domains sitting under my main domain.
I understand what you are saying, but this technically isn't the case. What you have is all of your domains managed by a single user account. A user account and a domain name are not the same thing, but most hosts tend to muddy the waters a little by assigning the 1st domain name setup as being the account name.
micro007:
When I built the store I built it in the store directory under the main domain directory so I could make sure it was secure before going live. It was not built in the blackwidowarms directory. So, I used a redirect from the blackwidowarms directory to the store directory when it went live. The redirects do exactly what their suppose to do....
That will work (as you know), but a far better way of achieving the desired results WITHOUT having to use a redirect would be to set the Document Root of any given domain to match where the site files actually reside.
IOW, if you have somedomain.com having its document root at /filepath/filepath/public_html/ and you develop the site by placing the files in /filepath/filepath/public_html/store/ and later decide you want people to find the site at "somedomain.com" instead of "somedomain.com/store" instead of doing a redirect, just change the document root for somedomain.com from /filepath/filepath/public_html/ to /filepath/filepath/public_html/store/ and you'll acheive the same results without having to redirect the browser.
Not only do redirects complicate matters in regards to where the client finally ends up, they also come at a performance cost as the customers web browser has to 'navigate' the redirects.
Redirected sites also tend to get lower search engine rankings.
micro007:
It's when you get there and click on something and it changes the url in the browser to read maindomain/store.....
This will be because ZenCart creates the URL's dynamically, based on the settings in its configuration.php files. There are two of these files, one for the store itself, the other for the admin section of the store.
micro007:
Have I done this wrong? It worked on the last siteI built.... I understand I might be wrong and really would appreciate any continued help.
I won't go as far to say that you've done it wrong, after all, if it works, then by definition it must be right. It's just that like most things relating to computers there are often many ways of achieving the same end results. It is just that the redirect method is quite inefficient (compared to ending up at the same place without using redirects), and if you then start redirecting something that has already been redirected it is far too easy to make mistakes and causing endless loops (redirect on site 'A' points to site 'B' that redirects back to site 'A' ad infinatum).
Hopefully this has helped clarify rather than confuse, but if I have managed to confuse you, then please feel free to ignore all of this and just do what works for you. You are not alone in jumping onto the 'redirect solution' rather than the document root solution, in fact you are quite probably one of the majority. However, if you want further clarification about any of this don't be afraid to ask.
Cheers
RodG
