[wp-hackers] URL | URI ... not all mammals are dogs.

Tue Jul 20 23:36:46 UTC 2010

If I understand what you are saying, the problem you are having is that 
since you changed from one location, i.e. sub.domain.com to 
domain.com/sub. You discovered that the site no longer worked, since it 
was trying to redirect to sub.domain.com. After some research, you 
discovered an article that stated that in the database, there are two 
options that need to be edited. This either has to be done before you 
move the files in wp-admin or in the database, which is unfortunate or 
you can set the WP_HOME and WP_SITEURL constants in wp-config.php.

Parsing through the crazy, err, rest of the email, I suppose you are 
upset that there isn't a more refined method to fix the situation. I 
have to agree, but discussions towards a more refined way tend towards 
issues with how the Home and Site URL are configured. This is required 
to be known before hand and it is extremely difficult to do if WordPress 
is in a directory. The algorithms are flawed and while they might work 
for majority of cases, it is the minority that prevents such a solution 
from being in WordPress. Every web application has this problem and most 
require even more manual intervention for defining where the web app 
resides on the URI (not so much a problem if Permalinks is turned off).

For WordPress MultiSite, you might want to try the networking plugin 
that allows for multiple domains.

Most likely this will be my only reply, please note that I'm not flaming 
you and any thing that might seem that way is a mistake and I apologize 
up-front now for any misgivings that you might have with my reply.

Jacob Santos

On 7/20/2010 6:22 PM, Bernard D. Tremblay (ben) wrote:
> Hi -
>
> A while back I created a sub-directory to host a sub-domain. And then 
> another and another til my dir structure was a mess.
> Then it dawned on me that I could tuck those sub-dom's in sub-dirs.
> And then *whack* ohhhh right, dear WP might not be too happy moving.
> HeyHo, my bad.
>
> Well ... stopped dead by a matter of technical precision and rigour.
> All URLs are a URI, ayep, a special and specific type.
> Not all URIs are URLs.
>
> see my (frustrated to the limit of my patience) explication on Discussion
> http://codex.wordpress.org/Talk:Moving_WordPress
>
> ====
> Ouch! It's my bad, my mistake, I shouldn't have to do this, but ouch! 
> I want clarity here, not ambiguity. You tell me where to go in Admin, 
> I'm there. You tell me to change the two URIs, I'm with you. But when 
> what I find is two URLs, I'm wondering what's going on. And I don't 
> want to wonder. I want clarity. And yes, there's a good chance that 
> because you're expert and could do this in your sleep you see me as 
> showing how stupid and inept I am. But I'm not expert. If I could do 
> this in my sleep I wouldn't be sitting here keyboarding in Codex after 
> coming to Codex for detailed instructions. see 
> http://bentrem.sycks.net/images/wp-move.jpg ... I see two URLs. Is 
> that what you mean? You went to the trouble of being precise: URI is 
> what you wrote. Please correct / clarify / update, whatever. In the 
> meantime, I'm screwed and I stay screwed. */*OUCH*/!* --bentrem 
> </User:Bentrem> 19:30, 20 July 2010 (UTC)
>
>    I had someone on Twitter question my contra-distinction
> <http://twitter.com/bertil_hatt/status/19024534406> [1], someone who
>    knows his craft. Off the cuff I would have said "If you want URL
>    then you'll get something like http://bla-yada or ftp://yada-blah;
>    if it looks like a directory then it's URI, not URL. But heh URL is
>    a URI too! But not all URIs are URLs. Not all dogs are fine handsome
>    English Springer Spaniels
> <http://www.flickr.com/photos/bentrem/2952005281/>[2]." Instead I
>    looked, found, and quoted TimBL
> <http://twitter.com/bentrem/status/19028507460>[3].
>    So: if WP3 just wants the URL, then happy happy happy I don't have
>    to change a thing all I need do is re-direct that domain, move the
>    files, and I'm off to the races. And if it requires the URI then
>    fine I will scrupulously enter the correct URI, pointing to the new
>    directory in the new directory (which is being mapped to that URL)
>    and then move the files.
>    Either way. But don't please don't state the requirement
>    ambiguously. If it's URL you want, please say so. If any old
>    (correct) URI will do then fine, I'll leave it as
>    http://my.domain.com ... right now I'm not sure that's ok.
>    And yes, from my reading, if I move the files and make a mistake
>    /that *will corrupt the database*/.
>    So it matters to me. (It's already a dog's breakfast because import
>    from Livejournal failed in mode X and import from Blogger.com failed
>    in mode Y, the consequences of which I gave up trying to correct.)
>    --bentrem </User:Bentrem> 23:10, 20 July 2010 (UTC)
>
> [1] http://twitter.com/bertil_hatt/status/19024534406
> [2] http://www.flickr.com/photos/bentrem/2952005281/
> [3] http://twitter.com/bentrem/status/19028507460
>
> If http://gnodal.protension.com/journal/ points to 
> /user/bntrm/protension.com/gnodal.protension/journal then the files in 
> that directory will be served.
> But I'm not sure moving WP will work. The URL (strictly, strictly, 
> strictly) the URL will remain the same. The URI will not.
> It might work. It might not.
> Because the terms (acronyms) seem to have been confounded (most folk 
> take them as synonymous ... as though all mammals are dogs) I don't know.
> I don't like not knowing.
>
> I like "Ben, your initial decision was sub-optimal. Consequently you 
> need to fire up PHPmyADMIN and get to work." That I can work with ... 
> hammer & tongs ... nuts & botls ... brass-tacks ... another day in the 
> salt-mines.
> But I can't get to work.
> I'm stopped dead.
> Because I don't know.
> And that doesn't make me happy.
>
> ben
>
> p.s. yes yes yes because you're an expert this is all perfectly clear 
> to you. so because I'm not an expert I'm an idiot who deserves to be 
> sitting here pounding my bloody face into the sharp corner of my desk? 
> because the docs aren't clear? because 1 says URI and the other URL so 
> I trust neither? Gee, NORAD/SAC liked my work when I pulled their 
> microwave network out of the ditch. And that avionics R&D company was 
> happy with the way I rescued their MIL-SPEC documentation effort. can 
> you see how I resent being made to feel sub-human because I'm having 
> to deal with this particular social group? freakin' years of this ... 
> I'm //really really really// sorry I don't come up to your refractory 
> social standards. *NOT!* "Thank you for flying Air WordPress". 
> (CamelCase, of course ... ThereIsNoOther.)
>
> -- 
> If you look to see how the system works
> Likely you will find that it doesn't.
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