Joomla! Documentation™

Many problems with SEO arise from the fact that a host has not enabled mod_rewrite (Apache setting) on the servers. They often tell they have (while they don't have) and you can verify if this is correct or not and if this is causing you Error 500 etc.

Here is how to check if mod-rewrite is realy enabled!

1. Enable SEO in your administrator:

In Joomla 1.0: Site -> Global Configuration -> SEO: Search Engine Friendly URLs to Yes.

In Joomla 1.5: Site -> Global Configuration -> Site: Search Engine Friendly URLs to Yes, Use Apache mod_rewrite to Yes. (Setting Add suffix to URLs is optional).

2. Rename your htaccess.txt to .htaccess:

Next place ONLY the following lines in your .htaccess:

Options +FollowSymLinks
Redirect /joomla.html http://www.joomla.org

3. Now point your browser to: http://www.example.com/joomla.html

(Replace www.example.com with your own domain name in the URL above.)

If it redirects you to joomla.org - mod_rewrite is working. If it gives you an error - mod_rewrite is not working.

Note: if your site is located in subdomain example "test" you need to insert in .htaccess as:

Options +FollowSymLinks
Redirect /test/joomla.html http://www.joomla.org