CMS Made Simple Forums

I tried to utilize Pretty URLs as described at http://docs.cmsmadesimple.org/configuration/pretty-url. However, there appears to be a problem with it and I may have gotten myself in too deep.

Basically, I have lost all access to one particular domain, as well as the admin access to CMSMS. Can't remember all the things I've tried to do to recover. Probably made it worse.

Here are a couple questions:

1. I just installed a fresh CMSMS for another domain, and that one has no .htaccess file in /home/mydomain/. Why should my other domain have one?

2. Step 2 states "Add to the bottom of your website's config.php:". As there may be more than one such file, is this the one in the root of the domain?

Thanks.

1. I just installed a fresh CMSMS for another domain, and that one has no .htaccess file in /home/mydomain/. Why should my other domain have one?

You don't have to have an .htaccess file. Several sites I set up do perfectly well without one.
But ... if you e.g. want to have pretty URLs, .htaccess is there to arrange that.

2. Step 2 states "Add to the bottom of your website's config.php:". As there may be more than one such file, is this the one in the root of the domain?

As far as I kow you only have one config.php file in your CMSMS installation and yes, that 's in the root.

Frank

So while other program installations may have them, such as /home/mydomain/public_html/limesurvey/application/config/config.php, CMSMS only has the one. That makes sense.

Why doesn't the same thing hold true for .htaccess? There are many scattered thru various directories under the CMSMS installation.

Thanks much.

The htaccessfiles in the subdirectories are there because the htaccess in a subdirectory is taking precendence over the root htaccess

Very short overview: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Htaccess

Thanks all. In fact I shouldn't have asked that last question. That was stupid of me. I had already read all about that and understood it.

I was more interested in the relationship of the two files when it comes to pretty URLs. I really don't see what they have to do with them.

Config.php tells your cms to use pretty url's.
Htaccess does the same on serverlevel.

config.php tells cmsms to GENERATE pretty urls.
So all links in the menu, cms_selflink, canonical urls and maybe some other links modules generate.

However, cmsms will not understand those links. It needs something like

index.php?page=alias

That's where .htaccess comes in; it translates the pretty url a visitor/browser uses to something cmsms can understand.

Ah... okay. Let me see if I have this right:

1. So one must place the code: at the end of the config.php file, located in the root of the domain, as in /home/mydomain/ (or is it /home/mydomain/public_html/?), and this will allow the Pretty URLs to be generated.

2. Then one must substitute the .htaccess found in the root of the domain (same location question as above) with the one found in /doc, as supplied by CMSMS named htaccess.txt, by copying it and renaming to overwrite existing one. This then makes it possible for the system to interpret the Pretty URLs created by the action in number 1 above.

What about the other .htaccess files found in other directories? They are there to control access to them; the other part of what .htaccess files do as I understand it. But don't they have to have the information added from htaccess.txt as well?

The path is most times /public_html where you unpack the CMSMS files, you should be able to find the admin folder there to make sure...

Yes, add those 2 lines to the config.php, then copy [root]/doc/ htaccess.txt into [root] and rename to .htaccess...

The other .htaccess files are only to limit access to those folder they are in and no they don't need any more code added to them...

Thanks, Doc, for verifying that for me. I thought I got it but was not sure.

What is the rule for knowing which .htaccess files should be edited and which do not need to be or should not be?

Thanks again.

The only htaccess file you should touch is the one we already talked about...

Thanks for the good rule of thumb. I will remember that.