Google search is not picking up correct URL

[nwh10]

In early March, we moved our phpBB forum to a new domain. For the most part, the migration went fine. But there are problems with Google search.

The Search Console reports thousands of indexing problems due to failed redirects and "alternate page with proper canonical tag":

seo problem 1.png

Here's an example of the details:

seo problem 2.png

I see the problem, but I don't know how to fix it.
Each of these links goes to index.php instead of viewtopic.php.

Example:
https://albinowners.net/aog/index.php?t=12758 takes you to the main page.
The correct link is https://albinowners.net/aog/viewtopic.php?t=12758.

We are using Prosilver. Overall_header.html and viewtopic.php appear to be unmodified.
I've read https://www.semrush.com/blog/canonical-url-guide/, but it doesn't give me clear guidance to correct the problem.

I'd welcome any suggestions.

[nwh10]

Hmmm. It's been a few days with no replies. Maybe I need to be more patient. Or maybe I need to look for the answer elsewhere. But I don't know where. Do I need to find a webmaster? Mine is tied up for a while with family health problems.

Thanks for any guidance.

[thecoalman]

If you hover over a URL there is a magnifying glass that will give you information. What is the referring page for one of the index.php?t=123456 URL's?

Taking a wild guess there is redirect on the old domain and it's not formed properly.

[nwh10]

Thanks for that clue, Coalman. Wild guesses are good. Yes, there's a redirect on the old domain, and I'm trying to find out exactly where it's located so that I can look at it.

When you suggest hovering over a URL, do you mean in the Google Search Console shown in the screenshots? The referring page is the same as the displayed problem:

seo problem 3.jpg

[thecoalman]

Click the magnify glass icon in highlighted link. It will tell you where it's being redirected from. For the index.php?p=123456 it's probably olddomain.com/viewtopic.php?p=123456

The redirect is likely from .htaccess file on the old domain, when you move content to a new domain or different directory on same domain it's what you want to do but it needs to be done correctly.

[nwh10]

Ah, the magnifying glass!
Ugh, no joy:

seo problem 4.jpg

It's a perfect illustration of the problem.
The URL is https://albinowners.net/aog/index.php?p=52373.
If I change "index" to "viewtopic", the URL works fine.
https://albinowners.net/aog/viewtopic.php?p=52373

I hear you on making the corrections properly in .htaccess.

[AmigoJack]

I hear you on making the corrections properly in .htaccess.

For that you have to post the content of it first. Most likely it's set up wrong, so it just redirects to index.php instead of viewtopic.php.

[delete duplicate]

Click on the report button on your posts (the exclamation mark on the top right), select the appropriate reason (f.e. "duplicate post" or "does not fit") and then enter what a moderator should do in your opinion (f.e. deleting the post). Moderators don't read every topic on every forum - you have to bring an issue to their attention by reporting it (elsewhere this is known as "opening a ticket").

[P_I]

I hear you on making the corrections properly in .htaccess.

For that you have to post the content of it first. Most likely it's set up wrong, so it just redirects to index.php instead of viewtopic.php.

I have found the tool htaccess tester - madewithlove very helpful for offline testing/debugging problems such as this. It has saved my bacon on more than one occasion before I actually implemented ReWrite rules. Disclosure: I have no affiliation with the site, I am just a very happy user of the functionality it provides.

[nwh10]

P_I - thank you for the link to the .htaccess testing tool.

AmigoJack, I agree that the clues are pointing to a problem with the .htaccess redirect. You suggested that I post the contents.

Background:
Old domain is https://albinowners.com.
New domain is https://albinowners.net.
File organization is the same in both domains.
Each domain contains two occurrences of .htaccess.
The first resides in the public_html directory.
The second resides in public_html/aog.

Test results:
1. Applying rule to https://albinowners.com
A. public_html/.htaccess rule: RewriteRule ^/?$ "http\:\/\/www\.albinowners\.net\/aog\/index\.php" [R=301,L]

htaccesstest 1.jpg

B. public_html/aog/.htaccess rule: RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://albinowners.net/aog/index.php [R=301]

htaccesstest 2.jpg

2. Applying rule to https://albinowners.net
A. public_html/.htaccess rule: RewriteRule ^/?$ "http\:\/\/www\.albinowners\.net\/aog\/index\.php" [R=302,L]

htaccesstest 3.jpg

B. public_html/aog/.htaccess rule: RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://albinowners.net/aog/$1 [R=301,L]

htaccesstest 4.jpg

I very much appreciate everyone's help. My web guy is unavailable due to a very grave family illness.

[AmigoJack]

Instead of

Code: Select all

^(.*)$ http://albinowners.net/aog/index.php [R=301]

make it

Code: Select all

^(.*)$ http://albinowners.net/aog/$1 [R=301]

because otherwise even /ucp.php becomes /index.php.

Start trying to format your posts with BBCode, especially on code portions and when you have lists.

[nwh10]

Thank you, AmigoJack! I've made the change and of course it works perfectly.
You're my hero! I really appreciate your help with this.