The top-level link to https://www.threetowners.net is giving a 404 error

[phands]

Hi,

Don't know if anyone else is seeing this, but trying to access https://www.threetowners.net is throwing a 404 error. Accessing https://www.threetowners.net/forum works just fine. Clearing cookies makes no difference - I think the web server needs a configuration check.

I see the error from New York.

Paul

[bobnetau]

Hugh, I have had same issue.

[Hughie]

Hugh, I have had same issue.

Netta, you've followed the link given. That's not listed anywhere as a link to the forum.

It's the way I've configured it. threetowners.net/forum it leaves me with the right to add another new site unrelated to the forum, such as threetowners.net/hughie
Putting threetowners into a search engine you shouldn't find "threetowners.net" but you will find threetowners.net/forum and threetowners.com/ our home page which occupies that whole domain

[phands]

Hugh,

The 404 error is really off-putting - makes people think the site is down or gone. It's also a change from before. A casual passer-by would have to know that /forum has to be appended to the base URL. If you add another area to the site, how will people find it? The reason I raise the matter is that I recently joined a FaceBook group on Memories of Saltcoats as a Kid and recommended that members there - over 10500 of them - come to threetowners.net, as it's one of my favourite web sites. A few of them got the 404, so I changed my link to the "A stroll around 1960s Saltcoats", and now they can find it.

threetowners.com still resolves to what I was expecting to see...

Then, clicking on the forum link at the bottom of that page, you get redirected to threetowners.net/forum as expected.

Speaking as someone whose career is in software engineering and the Internet, a 404 is sign that something has gone wrong. I would make sure that the top-level page resolves to something, so people don't give up, or have to guess at a subdomain link. All this is meant in the nicest way - I want to drive traffic here, and 404s put non-tech people off.

Paul

[brian f]

Phands, Fifteen posts in 10 years..... And you have the total cheek to tell Hughie how to run the forum. Happy New year pal

[Hughie]

Hugh,
I would make sure that the top-level page resolves to something, so people don't give up, or have to guess at a subdomain link. All this is meant in the nicest way -

Hi Paul, Yes, I agree, the top-level page should resolve to something. I'll work on that.

I want to drive traffic here, and 404s put non-tech people off.

Non-tech people would have to type the url https://www.threetowners.net in, or delete "/forum" from the url to get the error - they don't type urls in.
But, I'm no expert. You are welcome to PM me.

[Bruce]

I’d go along with Paul. Yes, it’s been that way for ever- but for some reason my browser has cached that bad url, and it’s now the first thing that comes up when I enter “thre....” in my search bar. Yes, I could clear it, but I haven’t

Maybe stick a top-level redirect into the root page - if you decide to add a second sub-site later, it’s easy to undo.

[Hughie]

Maybe stick a top-level redirect into the root page - if you decide to add a second sub-site later, it’s easy to undo.

Thanks, Bruce, that's what I'm looking at.
Added: I'll study up on how such a redirect is done in cPanel - no rush.

[Hughie]

All fixed! Thanks Paul and Bruce. Every day's a school day!