How to have different URLs for microsites?

Question

First of all, thanks for anyone bearing with me with this issue. I know that I really should start looking into how Apache settings work etc., but first of all, I would like to get this working. (Plus points for anyone recommending good Apache learning material, right? ;) )

I'm working on a Drupal 6 site running on Apache where several users (around 120) will have content which will act as a microsite. I have defined a content type for this purpose, used ThemeKey to switch to another theme only on those nodes etc.

I would like to be able to serve any of those nodes on a different domain (e.g. microsite.com) than the main site (e.g. mainsite.com). What should I do to "redirect" (sorry if I'm using any wrong terms here) the new domains to the right place? I would like to keep the new URL for the new pages (so it would not occur as mainsite.com/microsites/microsite, but microsite.com in the address bar).

[I've heard that it would be a bad idea to serve the same microsite with two different URLs from a SEO viewpoint - so that's another issue I should consider, but I have no idea on how I should address this...]

Answer 1

This is what the Domain Access module is for. Essentially, it allows you to run multiple Drupal sites out of the same database, and share content.

Sending particular pieces of content to different domains is rather easy; a new tab shows up on edit panels.

It integrates nicely with Panels, Views, and other modules that use cTools, as domain rules show up as selection criteria.

For the Apache side, you need to configure it so that your multiple domains point to the same DOCROOT. How this is done depends on how you are running your sites. If you are using virtual hosts, then you set up additional ServerAlias settings for your <VirtualHost>