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I have a WP installation in the root of my domain (running on Apache / Linux).

I need to create a new WP installation (for various reasons that are outside of this post) and I have a choice of creating this second installation within either a) a subdomain or b) a folder in the main domain.

So I can create this new installation in either new.mydomain.com or mydomain.com/new/

For SEO and other reasons I prefer to go for the latter ie. creating this new WP installation in a folder.

However, I'm concerned about what problems I might run into. For example, the "main WP installation" (in root) has a htaccess file. Rules in that htaccess file might impact the new WP installation in the folder. So if the root htaccess had, for example, a block on a certain IP then that IP might not be able to access mydomain.com/new/

Am I right to be concerned about issues with files in root like htaccess and robots.txt (and sitemap and others)? What problems am I likely to run into? What can I do to alleviate these problems?

Many thanks in advance.

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  • "Rules in that htaccess file might impact the new WP installation in the folder." - yes, that is possible. And yes, depending on how the IP block was implemented then this could also influence the sub-WordPress installation. "What problems am I likely to run into?" - well, that's really a bit open ended as it depends on the site and what directives you have. With regards to .htaccess, you can usually override parent directives in the child .htaccess file (including IP blocking) - but this "override" is something that you would need to explicitly implement.
    – MrWhite
    Commented Apr 8, 2018 at 14:55
  • Many thanks, MrWhite. With respect the "problems I'm likely to run into" I was hoping for any suggestions of general areas to watch out for (rather than a list of specific problems). The overriding parent directives in the child htaccess is interesting, thanks. I shall investigate that.
    – Melvyn1972
    Commented Apr 8, 2018 at 14:59

2 Answers 2

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To avoid .htaccess files of WP installations, affect other WP installations, use the following file system structure:

hosting_account_folder
    ┌─────┴─────┐ 
public_html subdomains
           ┌────┼────┐
          sub1 sub2 sub3

In this scenario, mydomain.com points to hosting_account_folder/public_html, sub1.mydomain.com points to hosting_account_folder/subdomains/sub1, sub2.mydomain.com points to hosting_account_folder/subdomains/sub2, and sub3.mydomain.com points to hosting_account_folder/subdomains/sub3.

As you can see, none of WP installations, is a subfolder of any other WP installation.

Note: having a WP installation, as a subfolder of another installation, is not good for SEO, it is a myth. Always use subdomains!

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  • Thanks for the suggestion, Frank. While I completely agree with you on your suggestion being the ideal layout, I am not convinced about your comment regarding the SEO being a myth. I have researched this quite extensively - including testing sub-domain vs sub-directory on other websites I own - and I am convinced that, contrary to Google's utterances on the subject, sub-directory has a distinct SEO advantage. But that's a discussion / debate for another time. For now, I think I've found a solution which I shall post below.
    – Melvyn1972
    Commented Apr 9, 2018 at 16:59
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After much hunting, I think I've found an answer: http://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/mod/mod_proxy.html#proxypass

Any comments on this are welcome.

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