How to Move a Blog From a Subdomain to a Root
Moving a blog from a website subdomain to the main domain’s root folder is a straightforward task that involves copying the blog’s content from one folder to another folder. However, transferring the host folder will also change the blog’s Uniform Resource Locator Web address, so you will need to set up a permanent redirect -- called a 301 Redirect -- to automatically forward visitors and incoming links to the blog’s new URL address.
Other People Are Reading
Instructions
-
Moving the Folder Contents
-
1
Launch the File Transfer Protocol tool that you usually use to manage your blog’s content and log in to your Web host’s server. Alternatively, launch your Web browser and access the administration control panel of your Web host’s online content management system. Both tools usually open automatically on the website’s root folder that contains the subfolders, documents and files that store the website’s content.
-
2
Find the subfolder that contains your blog; for example, if the URL address of the blog is currently “www.mysite.com/blog/” look for the “blog” folder in the root folder.
-
-
3
Double-click the blog subfolder to open the folder and display the contents. Highlight all files and subfolders inside the folder, either by pressing “Shift” on your computer keyboard and selecting each item, or by right-clicking inside the folder and clicking the “Select All” context menu option. Click “Ctrl” and “C” to copy all the selected items.
-
4
Go back to the root folder in your FTP tool or online control panel. Paste the copied items into the root folder to move the content to the website’s main domain.
Creating the Redirect
-
5
Launch Microsoft Notepad, WordPad or your computer’s default text editor. Type the following code into the document:
redirect 301 / http://www.mysite.com/
Change the URL address information in this example to the correct domain for your website.
-
6
Click “File” followed by “Save As” from the main menu. Select “All Files” from the “Save As Type” drop-down menu. Type “.htaccess” into the “File Name” input field.
-
7
Go to the original blog subdomain folder from which you copied the content in your FTP tool or control panel. Highlight and delete all content.
-
8
Upload the “.htaccess” file to this subdomain folder. The file will automatically transfer all visitors to the original subdomain folder to the new location of the blog in the root folder.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
In step 6, ensure you include the period at the start of the “.htaccess” file name. The feature won’t work if you misname the file.
You must create a new .htaccess file and place it in the original subdomain folder for the redirect to work correctly. Don't edit the .htaccess file in the root folder.
