Hi. I have access to my .htaccess file but do not know how to use it.  

I have recently moved my website from one domain to another and rather
than doing a simple URL forward, I would like to have all the URLs
redirected to the other domain using the .htaccess file, in this
specific fashion :

Here are the 2 websites :

website1.com and website2.com

I have multiple links at website1.com that I need pointed to website2.com 

Here is an example of one of my URLS : 

http://website1.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=Nissi&Category_Code=CR

I need to change 2 aspects of this URL to point to my new domain.  

(1) I need "website1.com" changed to "website2.com" (2) I also need
everything that says ".mv" in the URL changed to ".mvc".

So the above URL would read : 

http://website2.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=Nissi&Category_Code=CR

Everythig else in the URLs need to stay the same.

As I have at least a thousand URLS at each site, I need some kind of
formula or method that will allow me to do this in the .htaccess file
on website1.com to redirect or point to website2.com with the changes.

What is the best way to do this? what do I need to change the
.htaccess file? and if this is not the best way to do this, what
should I do?

Thank you.

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Request for Question Clarification by sgtcory-ga on 03 Mar 2004 13:16 PST

Hello,

Do you have the ability to use PHP on your server? I currently use a
method that uses an htaccess file, and a proper 301 redirect, so
search engines can drop the old pages and index the new ones as
permanently moved content.

Thanks,

SgtCory

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Clarification of Question by applesofgold-ga on 03 Mar 2004 13:58 PST

Hi, it's actually not for the purpose of a search engine indexing - I
wanted to keep the original links there for old customers who may have
bookmarked the page, or for advertising on other sites that we might
have here and there while we complete the transition.

But I think I may just end up doing a general redirect from one
website to the main page of the other if this can't be solved simply.

Thank you.