Install Drupal in a Sub-directory

The easiest way to install Drupal is to copy all the drupal files to your web server's document root or your public HTML directory (normally this is public_html directory).  However, this causes many issues.

• There are other top-level directories under web root. The drupal files will clutter with them  in the root.
• Themes, modules and configuration files are all under separate directories in the root directory.
• Upgrades are problematic because of intermixing.

Therefore, I would prefer have Drupal installed in a subdirectory, and it will make maintenance a lot easier.

For reference, my living website (www.gleanergames.com) set up like this:

• gleanergames.com root = /public_html
• Drupal root = //public_html/drupal

Follow these steps to install drupal in a subdirectory.

• Extract all drupal files into a subdirectory named drupal. The directory structure should be:
  
  • public_html (root directory)
  • public_html/.htaccess
  • public_html/drupal
  • public_html/drupal/.htaccess
  • public_html/drupal/includes
  • public_html/drupal/modules
  • public_html/drupal/...
  • public_html/drupal/sites/
  • public_html/drupal/sites/default
  • public_html/drupal/sites/default/settings.php
• Edit the .htaccess file in root directory (public_html/.htaccess), add these lines:
  
  RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} ^(www\.)?gleanergames\.com$
  RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/drupal/
  RewriteRule ^(.*)$ drupal/$1 [L]
  
  Don't forget to change the domain name (gleanergames) to yours.
  
• Save the .htaccess.
• Open browser and type your domain name, you should be able to see your web site.

Please note, these steps allows you to install drupal in a subdirectory but access it as if it lived in the root. You don't need to change the .htaccess file in public_html/drupal/.