migrating site to .php

[robdawgs]

I would like to take my static html site and move it to php, first to use includes instead of Dreamweaver templates for mass updates. I worry, however, about losing bookmarks, search engine indexes, outside links, etc. by having all my .html files diappear. i understand you can get Apache to handle a 404 error and point users at the new .php version of pages. My site, however is hosted by another company. Can I get this error handler to only work in my directory? Are there security problems or maintanence costs my hosters might have a problem with?

Is there another solution?

[nakedgremlin]

I've been able to do this both for a .php migration along with a .shtml migration.

In the subdirectory, I just included a .htaccess file that states (for the .php case that you stated):

AddType application/x-httpd-php .html

This way, all files can still have the .html extension, yet are at the same time php parsed files.

I don't see how something like this can be a security problem, so I hope your hoster lets you add this little bit of .htaccess magic.