To redirect - or What, That is my question.

[tomm]

I know that this is not the recommended way to do things, but it is where I am at nonetheless.

Here's my situation -
I am building a ministry site for a client publishing his content, books, etc.
I started out with a SohoLaunch system because it is easy to get along with the back-end, and I thought that I would set him up with a   template and a basic navigation - and turn his loose to finish adding his content.  I have Soho videos to help him out as well.

As I got into this project, it became clear that I was going to be doing all the work on the server - He doesn't have the knowledge, time, or the grace to do this part of the work.  Good enough for me I am delighted to be working on the site and publishing the collected teachings of a seasoned Christian Leader.  Also, I began to realize that the amount of material, and complexity of subjects etc. were going to make navigation and organization more difficult.  I began to bump into limitations with Soho Launch. Things like a good site search function, and the ability to have content items listed in different menus by different categories.

I made a decision to go with Joomla - I am more familiar with Joomla, and it has component add-ons that suit the needs of the site.

All that to get here -

I put the Joomla install in a sub-folder (called "gcmo") but I did not uninstall the Soholaunch application.  Every thing works fine, but I am ready to have the Joomla be the only site system.  I have a temporary re-direct to point to the gcmo folder for the home page. That works fine, but I am wondering how I should set things up so that Google, MSN, and Yahoo will index the new pages.

They seem to hate re-directs.  Many Soho pages are indexed, but none of the Joomla pages are being found.

Is it safe to uninstall the SohoLaunch with the Fantastico installer? (I am not concerned about the content on those pages )
How should I point to the home page of the Joomla Installation?

I assume it would be wise to to a site back-up before I change anything.

You advice is greatly appreciated.  Website address is www.great-commission-ministries.org
I am www.fishingwithanet.net
Thanks, Tom

[AlphaWolf]

There are a couple of issues.  google doesnt hate permanent redirects, so that isn't an issue.  But if you have PR on the existing site, the best thing to do is first put a big link on the main page to the new site.

Next, put a link to the new site in a message here - Google PRs this forum at 3-4 depending on the day, and spiders here 5-6 times a day minimally.

If possible, leave things like that for a month.  Then do a permanent redirect from domain/index.htm to domain/directory/

Once that is done uninstall Soho via Fantastico

peace

Wolf

[tomm]

Thanks so much for the advice!
The new address for Great Commission Ministries Website is http://www.geat-commission-ministries.org/gcmo/
I have a few other links from other websites that point to Great Commissions Ministries so I will update them also and wait for the indexing robots to do their thing.

Thanks again, Tom Marxen.