5 replies to this topic

[ChuckFinley]

Tech support for our shopping cart says we shouldn't use their .htaccess file to 301 redirect URLs because it is dynamic. What does dynamic have to do with anything? They say I should use a class.htaccess.php file.

???

I'm pretty green and could use some help here.

3 questions --

1) Are they right?

2) Does the class.htaccess.php file go in the root?

3) Where can I find a tutorial on how to create and code a class.htaccess.php file?

[rominosj]

What? Who is your host? .htaccess is what most people use for 301 redirects.

Some hosts (very few) don't let you use .htaccess, and maybe that is why they want you to use htaccess.php. If that is your case, switch hosts.

Regards,

[Mooro]

I second the switch hosts response. They're either not supporting htaccess fully in which case I'd move or they're talking junk in which case I'd also move.

.htaccess is amazingly flexible and can be as dynamic as you need.

"Voodoo. Damned cool voodoo, but still voodoo" - a quote from Brian Moore about mod_rewrite, he's right.

[ChuckFinley]

With their shopping cart the .htaccess is dynamic. So whenever a product is added, the system fully overwrites the .htaccess file. As a result, If I put a 301 redirect in the .htaccess file is will soon get overwritten. The way to do this is to add the 301 redirect to the class.htaccess.php file and it will write to the .htacess file on each update.

Anybody seen an article on class.htacess.php?

[Ron Carnell]

I doubt you'll find much, Chuck. It sounds like something that is part of your shopping cart application and is almost certainly proprietary to it. Your tech people are likely the only ones who can advise you.

For what it's worth, it's not an uncommon scenario. Programmers like to come up with their own way of doing things and I've seen a LOT of them overwrite important system files, forgetting they might just not be the only car on the road. Short of committing to a different shopping cart (and they all have their own weaknesses), there's not much you can do about it.

If it was me, and assuming they won't do it for you, I'd ask tech support for a sample class.htaccess.php file so I could understand the syntax they're looking for. It might be just an .htaccess file with a different name? I'd also ask them where the file should reside. Alternatively, you might see if your shopping cart application has any user support, like forums or a blog. And finally, you might consider putting an experienced programmer to work for a few hours a month to solve the techy problems that are going to inevitably arise with a shopping cart like yours.

Hope that helps . . .

[ChuckFinley]

Hi Ron,

I believe that's good advice. There must be some benefit to them to do it their way but it's not working for me.

The other option is to switch shopping carts as rominosj and Mooro suggest. I have had a lot of problems with this shopping cart so I may change.

If you were to choose between Big Commerce of Shopify, which would you pick?

Any other shopping cart suggestions?