How to Lose the Splash Page

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October 05, 2006 | by Cory | 27 Comments

Splash pages (those annoying pages with some sort of fancy graphic or flash intro that say "Click to Enter" or "Skip Intro") are bad. I could spend a whole article trying to convince you of this fact, but I think this article does a better job of it than I could ever do.

One of the most common mistakes made by Joomla! designers is to assume that just because you loaded Joomla! in a directory called "http://www.yourdomain.com/joomla" or "http://www.yourdomain.com/cms" or "http://www.yourdomain.com/home" rather than your root web directory, you are stuck needing to create a splash or intro page in your root directory to point your users to the real site. Nothing could be futher from the truth. As a webmaster, you have a couple of options for pointing users to your content without the need for a splash page. I will try to cover those options in this tutorial.

Option 1: Move Your Installation

In my opinion, this is the best option. Why would you not want to move your installation if your root directory is just pointing to a subdirectory? Simply move your Joomla! installation from your subdirectory to your root directory. This is a relatively simple process, which I will cover here.

Step 1: Move all of your files to your root web directory.

Move the files from /path/to/your/web/root/subdirectory to /path/to/your/web/root. There are a number of ways to do this, but it is a pretty straight-forward process using an FTP client application. If you need further explanation, please don't hesitate to ask.

Step 2: Modify your Joomla! 'configuration.php' File.

You will need to modify some variables in your 'configuration.php' file. Here is a list of the settings you need to change:

$mosConfig_absolute_path
$mosConfig_cachepath
$mosConfig_live_site

Option 2: Change your Server Settings to Make the Subdirectory the New Web Root Directory

This is the second-best option, but it is probably not available to you if you are using shared hosting. Also, I only recommend it for advanced users or network administrators. I will not take time in this article to explain how to do it, but just know that this is an option if you have root access to your server.

Option 3: Automatic Re-Direct With .htaccess

I do not recommend this option, but if you have no other choice for reasons outside of your control, then use a .htaccess file to automatically re-direct visitors to your subdirectory. Here is a link to a site that explains how to do this.

Let's Sum it All Up

Splash pages are bad. Moving your Joomla! installation to your root web directory is good.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to post them.

About the Author

Cory Webb In the years since Joomla! was founded, Cory has built dozens of websites with Joomla! and helped thousands of people find answers to questions about Joomla! through HowToJoomla.net. Cory has also written a book about Joomla titled Beginning Joomla! Web Site Development published by Wrox in April, 2009. In February of 2008, Cory founded Cory Webb Media, LLC, where he provides consulting and web development services for companies of all sizes. You can follow Cory on Twitter @corywebb, or become a fan of Cory Webb Media on Facebook.

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Comments (27)

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...
written by mozami.net, December 31, 2006

Thanks cory. Very useful indeed!

...
written by Christina Freeman, February 24, 2007

I made these changes to pull my entire site out of the sub-directory: /joomla.

It seemed to work fine, but when I clicked on a menu item, I got a 500 internal server error

"The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, support@supportwebsite.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

Apache/1.3.33 Server at leniche.com Port 80"

I think it might be because I have ARTIO JoomSEF installed. I don't know! It doesn't make sense because even when I click on the link it navigates me to the actual URL without the subdirectory info...

Please help!!

THank you,

Christina Freeman

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written by Justin, March 28, 2007

I have had the same issue as Christina following the steps for option 1. Can you please advise Cory.

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written by Justin, March 28, 2007

Cory, disregard my previous comment, I had the path for the menu items hard coded. I changed this and all worked find.

Your article explained it perfectly.

Thanks.

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written by Chris J, August 07, 2007

Is there no way to have the index.php - and maybe a few other files - for joomla in the root (so that it is the first thing that comes up) and have the rest of the joomla files in a subdirectory (like joomla)?

I find my site feels very disorganized with joomla all mashed into the root directory. This is the one thing I find really annoying about joomla so if there is a way around it, I'd be grateful to hear about it!

...
written by Cory, August 07, 2007

Hi Chris,

Unfortunately, there is not an easy way to accomplish what you are talking about. That would require modification to the Joomla core, and you never want to do that.

From the user perspective, they do not see all of the files in the root directory. The disorganization you are feeling is only felt by you, and not those visiting your website. I recommend putting it all in the root directory, taking a deep breath, and trying to forget about the disorganization you feel.

Good luck!
Cory

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written by Pamela, September 03, 2007

Is it possible to install joomla in the same location but differrent folder?

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written by Cory, September 03, 2007

Hi Pamela,

Yes, that is possible. You would just need to use either a different database or a different database prefix during installation.

...
written by Peculiar One, September 28, 2007

Hi Cory,

Love your site! It's so helpful to have clearly written instructions in plain, non-technical English when you are learning new systems, programs and what have you. I especially appreciate your method of delivering bite-size portions of data. I find them to be much more palatable than long, drawn out, complex diatribes one can read and read and read until one's eyes cross and still come away lacking a solid understanding!

My reason for commenting, however, isn't to swell your head with wonderful compliments--I just wanted to let you know that you have a typo in the "Option 1" paragraph. smilies/grin.gif

I believe you want the second sentence to read, 'if your root directory is...'

Thanks and keep up the great work (and feel free to delete this then)!

...
written by Cory, September 28, 2007

Hi Peculiar One,

Thanks for the compliment, and for pointing out my typo. As you can see, I have now corrected the typo.

...
written by jeremy, October 17, 2007

Just used your help to move a developing site from one directory to another. Slick as Elvis' coiffure! Thanks fella.

...
written by Cory, October 17, 2007

Hi Jeremy, I'm glad it was helpful.

...
written by Doug, November 22, 2007

Hi there,

I'm a newbie to Joomla, so excuse the question, but this is the first site in two days searching I found that has an explanation to my problem......Well done!

I have put Joomla in a subdirectory,,www.mydomain.com/joom. So your Option ONElooks like a winner for me. But I'm slighty confused by the Step 1 annotation.

...Move the files from /path/to/your/web/root/subdirectory to /path/to/your/web/root. .......

So with FTP this would me moving the "Joom" folder in its entirety to "root" folder of www.mydomain.com?

Then these (* $mosConfig_absolute_path, * $mosConfig_cachepath
* $mosConfig_live_sitevariable ) should point to thats same folder right?

Also I am using an online website builder, which has its own folder at root level. So I guess any content I have gets wiped? less important.

Thanks
Doug

...
written by Cory, November 22, 2007

Hi Doug,

In your case, you would take the contents from your "joom" folder, and move them into the root directory.

Cory

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written by Justin F., January 03, 2008

Do these directions apply for moving a Joomla 1.5 installation?

I'm looking in the configuration.php for the 1.5 install I just finished & I'm unable to find any of these in configuration.php:
* $mosConfig_absolute_path
* $mosConfig_cachepath
* $mosConfig_live_site

Are these settings kept somewhere else in 1.5?

...
written by Cory, January 03, 2008

Hi Justin...This does not apply to 1.5. The process is similar, but the configuration.php file is different in 1.5 than in 1.0.x.

...
written by Shiv, February 20, 2008

Hi
I am trying to learn how to run a reseller business in hosting, along with joomla. I have set up my clients test sites as subdomains. When they approve for publishing, I want to move the site to a different domain on the same server. Some queries on movement and redirection:
1. Is there any way I can do the re-direction thing for ALL the pages, so that the old test links arent seen in the address bar?
For example: if my clint site is www.client1.mysite.com and the new domain registered is www.client1.com, do I have to do a complete fresh install, including all extensions?
Or can I get away with a redirect - for ALL pages - as mentioned above?
Or... can I do something else like copy only the files - not the databases - or something like that? My site will have quite a bit of data later, which is one reason for me to make the right choice.
2. Ona related query.....are the MySql databases within the joomla installation directories?? or are they located somewhere else??
Thanks for your time
Regards
Shiv

...
written by Nic, May 01, 2008

Hi
Great site! I did option one about six months back, and all went fine, except for Google which still indexed the old pages in the sub-directory. I didn't want to lose these hits so I've left the site there in the subdirectory, but as I've continued to develop the main site, this has got more out of date.
What I'd love to know is if there was some way I could do a redirect for all the pages in the subdirectory to the core.. ie something I could put in the template for the subdirectory site which will redirect
mysite.com/subdirectory/content/view/28/2/ (or whatever)
into
mysite.com/content/view/28/2/
irrespective of which page it is.
Thanks
Nic

...
written by Cory, May 02, 2008

Hi Nic,

I'm sure there is a way to do that using the .htaccess file, but I am not an expert at that. Another thing you could try is installing an SEF URL component like sh404SEF and creating redirects in that component.

Good luck!

...
written by IDS, August 11, 2008

Hi Cory,

Is it possible to use the same instructions above to move Joomla sites from one host to another?

I would like to use J1.5

BTW, thank you for your work on this site, it has helped me through many an issue with Joomla.

IDS

...
written by Cory, August 11, 2008

Hi IDS,

Yes, it is possible. Here are instructions for moving a site from one server to another:

http://www.howtojoomla.net/content/view/17/3/

These instructions are for Joomla 1.0, but most of the steps should be the same.

Cory

...
written by ctruda, September 26, 2008

Hi Cory, I have 1.5...you told justin

"Hi Justin...This does not apply to 1.5. The process is similar, but the configuration.php file is different in 1.5 than in 1.0.x"

so is there any config changes?

...
written by Cory, September 26, 2008

Hi ctruda... yes there are changes, but they are slightly different. Remind me and I'll try to post a how-to soon.

...
written by agvulpes, January 06, 2009

Hi Cory great info. I'm am a very new to Joomla person and I, like "ctruda" would lke to move Joomla from a sub directly to the root dir.
Thanks in anticipation for your help.

"Hi ctruda... yes there are changes, but they are slightly different. Remind me and I'll try to post a how-to soon."
Just a reminder as requested?

...
written by Cory Webb, January 06, 2009

Hi agvulpes... I can't do it today, but I will try to write something up this week. Thanks for stopping by!

The other way
written by mark, February 03, 2009

I have the joomla installed in Root, and i want an Intro page...
everytime i go to the intropage.html, it takes me to Joomla 404 Not found..
I have aRTIO sef installed, what change shall i make to my htaccess so that it will not redirect my basic html file.
(I have also put the server enterance at the /intropage.html so everytime someone visits, it goes to the 404 page

How to keep "Splash" Page and link to Joomla! Frontpage with "Home" button
written by Karen Vick, February 12, 2009

Hi Cory,
I too don't like the use of splash pages (especially in Flash) but... when you have to please the client you just have to.

In my case, the Joomla! site was not in a sub-directory but in the root along with the index.html page. This wasn't good for my Home link in the navigation so, I did some searching (checked your site first ofcourse and found this article) and ended up in the Joomla! Forums where I found this... http://docs.joomla.org/Play_a_..._is_loaded

It worked like a charm! Just remember to do the same for any other menus you may have on your site with the home link.

Thanks again Cory!

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