htaccess: how to redirect requests to a subfolder without showing the subfolder itself in the URL

Question

As in the object of this post, i have an hosting that makes me able to configure more than one domain using the same hosting.

My root folder is: /home/my_username/

Inside this folder, i have the /public_html (/home/my_username/public_html/) folder where i have to put my files that have to be reached from the Internet.

Those kind of hosting requires a principal domain (call it http://principal-domain.ext ) that points to /home/my_username/public_html/

All other domains will point to /home/my_username/public_html/other-domain.ext/

So, as an example, if i have three domains:

• http://principal-domain.ext (This is the principal domain and points to /home/my_username/public_html)
• http://second-domain.ext (this points to /home/my_username/public_html/second-domain-folder)
• http://third-domain.ext (this points to /home/my_username/public_html/third-domain-folder)

So, in the end, the FOLDER STRUCTURE is like this

/home/
- my_username/  
  - public_html/  <- Here go files for principal-domain.ext
    - second-domain-folder/
    - third-domain-folder/

WHAT IF I WANT TO INSTALL WORDPRESS FOR PRINCIPAL-DOMAIN.EXT

If i want to install WordPress for principal-domain.ext, in this moment i have to put the WordPress' files into /home/my_username/public_html/

This is really an inconvenient folder structure, as the main WordPress installation is "mixed" with the subfolders dedicated to other domains.

To make me clear, i would have a folder structure like this:

Actual Wrong UNWANTED Folder Structure

/home/
- my_username/
  - public_html/      <- **HERE GO FILES FOR PRINCIPAL-DOMAIN.EXT (WRONG!)**
    - second-domain-folder/     <- second-domain.ext folder
    - third-domain-folder/      <- third-domain.ext folder
    - wp-admin/                 <- principal-domain.ext WordPress folder
    - wp-content/               <- principal-domain.ext WordPress folder
    - wp-includes/              <- principal-domain.ext WordPress folder

Instead, what i want is a folder structure like this below

My desired folder structure

/home/
- my_username/
  - public_html/
    - principal-domain-folder/  <- principal-domain.ext folder
       - wp-admin/                <- principal-domain.ext WordPress folder
       - wp-content/              <- principal-domain.ext WordPress folder
       - wp-includes/             <- principal-domain.ext WordPress folder
    - second-domain-folder/     <- second-domain.ext folder
    - third-domain-folder/      <- third-domain.ext folder

This way i can keep more in order my folder structure.

THE PROBLEM

The problem is that with the above folder structure, to access the principal-domain.ext WordPress installation, i have to use the URL http://principal-domain.ext/principal-domain-folder and this is not a good thing.

MY QUESTION

THE ONLY THING I'D LIKE TO OBTAIN is the ability to access the WordPress installation of principal-domain.ext using the URL http://principal-domain.ext and NOT http://principal-domain.ext/principal-domain-folder .

I don't want a redirect, but a rewriting of the URL from the real path URL to the "display" URL. I want to strip the folder /principal-domain-folder/ from the URL.

How can i do this using .htaccess file?

I've read a lot of questions and relative answers, both here at StackOverflow and on other sites on the Internet but all the solutions i've tried worked as a redirect.

The very few that seemed to do what i want, didn't work (loops errors, wrong redirect, etc.).

More, they were very complex, but i think that a simple rewrite as this doesn't require 7 or more RewriteRules as in the snippets i've found around.

Is there anyone who can help me to obtain what i'm trying to?

What rules should i have to put in my .htaccess file to access WordPress using an url like http://principal-domain.ext instead of http://principal-domain/principal-domain-folder/ ?

Answer 1

Try these rules:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^principal-domain.ext
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/principal-domain-folder/
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /principal-domain-folder/$1 [L]

I tested it and it was working for me.

1. RewriteEngine on rule is for enabling Rewrite .
2. RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^principal-domain.ext rule is for filtering your domain.
3. RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/principal-domain-folder/ rule is for denying access to principal-domain-folder .
4. RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /principal-domain-folder/$1 [L] rule is the main rewrite rule . Notice that it has a [L] flag which means it's the last rule.

Also if you need you can add your extra rules for the other domains after these rules.