Server File Configuration: Using .htaccess to redirect to a script but pass CGI arguments aswell

Question

I have an idea that will allow a Web Forums Content/Threads to be better indexed by search engines but avoid taking up too much unnecessary space on the web server.

My idea is not unique(I think StackOverflow uses it) but I am having difficulty working out how I am going to achieve redirecting through .htaccess commands or main server configuration files.

For a web forum website; when a new thread is created:

• I store the thread HTML in an SQL database(rather than creating a HTML file which I think will take up more server space - is that correct?).
• I create a directory on the server where the directory's name is the threads name(this will allow for easier indexing from google & other search engines wont it? Because the url is more descriptive?). So www.myForum.com/posts/unique_thread_name/. I think this is how StackOverflow does this, if you look at the url of my question its a directory.
• The new directory(thread directory) will be empty except for a .htaccess file which will redirect to a script www.myForum.com/cgi-bin/loadWebpage.py. This script will grab the thread's HTML from the database when accessed & display that thread.
• So when someone accesses www.myForum.com/posts/unique_thread_name/, the .htaccess file will redirect to www.myForum.com/cgi-bin/loadWebpage.py?thread=unique_thread_name. Notice the arguments, is it possible for a .htaccess file to redirect to a script but pass arguments aswell?

My Questions:

• The apache website says you should never use .htaccess files "In general, you should never use .htaccess files unless you don't have access to the main server configuration file.". If I am using a webhost like GoDaddy do I have access to this file or is this server config file only for VPS?
• Is it better to do this with the Server Config file instead?
• Is there a way easier way of doing this? The whole idea is to store Forum Threads that take up as little space as possible but are still easy for search engines to index(thus the unique directories created).
• Do I NOT need to create a .htaccess file in each post directory? Can I just write in my main .htaccess file that any request to a file/folder in posts should redirect to www.myForum.com/cgi-bin/loadWebpage.py?thread=the directory they accessed?

Maybe the code would look something like this?

Redirect /posts/* www.myForum.com/cgi-bin/loadWebpage.py?thread="HOW DO I SPECIFY THE FOLDER?"

Answer 1

If I am using a webhost like GoDaddy do I have access to this file or is this server config file only for VPS?

Godaddy shared hosting only allows .htaccess use.

Is it better to do this with the Server Config file instead?

Its better performing if you have access to Server Config, but shared hosting like Godaddy does not allow it.

Do I NOT need to create a .htaccess file in each post directory? Can I just write in my main .htaccess file that any request to a file/folder in posts should redirect to www.myForum.com/cgi-bin/loadWebpage.py?thread=the directory they accessed?

You can do it with a single .htaccess in the root dir of your site with contents as below

RewriteEngine on
RewriteBase /

RewriteRule ^posts/(.+)/$ /cgi-bin/loadWebpage.py?thread=$1 [NC,L]