Shared SSL Links & Images

[Mark Smith]

I just signed up with FQ and was chagrined to discover that my shared SSL root is different from my regular root (i.e. it points me to the Secure_Server folder). This breaks a _ton_ of my pages that I have to move over from my old host.

Some questions:
1. Can the root pointer be moved?
2. If not, what design suggestions do you have for linking images and pages outside the secure root?

Thanks for your time!

[GregJ]

Welcome Mark,

I hope you will like it here at FQ! The folks are awesome.

I also moved from a site where the secure pages and the main pages shared the same directory structure. I happen to like this better, but it did cause a problem with my relative links. I am setting up to maintian three or four different sites (IRMs) from my main account - the one already moved has been a relatively easy. Here is how I set it up:

Each of my IRMs is a sub-directory. Each of these sub-directories has an images sub-directory.
So it would look like /big/dom/xdomain/www/IRMdirectory/images.
The secure server setup looks like /big/dom/xdomain/www/Secure_Server/IRMdirectory/
I then set up in the secure server IRMdirectory a symlink named images to my main images directory.
The command I used was (run via telnet in the Secure_Server/IRMdirectory directory): ln -s ../../IRMdirectory/images

The upshot is that the secure server pages see a similar directory structure as my main pages and everyting in the images directory is shared.

GregJ
--love it here!

[dank]

The following thread may be pertinent:

http://www.aota.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9234

Dan

[Rich]

If not, what design suggestions do you have for linking images and pages outside the secure root?
For your images, there should be no links pointing outside your secure area or else SSL will not work. For links to pages outside the secure area, the user will just be transferred to the page and exit SSL mode.

Remember that any images used in your secure pages must copied to your Secure_Server directory (or below it). SSL does not allow any links to images outside the secure 'area'.

The best design approach to make pages portable is to use relative links. For example if page.html includes a link to 'images/picture.gif', then copying the page.html page and the images directory to your Secure_Server folder will allow the link to work correctly.

Rich

[jmcmike]

Try creating a symbolic link named "images" (for instance) in your secure root that points to your physical images directory in your non secure root.

Telnet or SSH into your account and type "ln --help" for details.

Good Luck,
Justin McMichael

[Justin]

Justin hit the nail on the head; that's how I personally handle it. Simply create a symlink so that /images works in either situation, pointing to the same physical images directory. This works for IRMs, subdomains, etc as well.

[Mark Smith]

Thanks everyone! I learn something new every day. I'd never heard of a "symlink" so I downloaded a telnet client and created one. COOL!

Any suggestions on other massive timesavers like that? I'm very creative but "unschooled" so I don't always know the basics.

[jmcmike]

The only suggestion I can offer generically is to always ask questions and to search for the answers. Between groups like this and usenet (http://groups.google.com/) you can find answers for just about every problem you run into.

Just be sure you also share what you know. The system doesn't work without the folks that know sharing with the folks that don't know.

Good Luck,
Justin