Have a site: "something.com" with a folder structure of :something.com/htdocs (Xoops). Want to rename the site: somethingelse.com.
How will this affect the installation of XOOPS in the /htdocs/ folder? Just renaming the site via a control panel, not renaming the associated database.

You'll need to edit mainfile.php to reflect the changes you have made to get it to work right.

// Physical path to the XOOPS documents (served) directory WITHOUT trailing slash
define( 'XOOPS_ROOT_PATH', 'rootpath/htdocs' );

// For forward compatibility
// Physical path to the XOOPS library directory WITHOUT trailing slash
define( 'XOOPS_PATH', 'rootpath/specialfolder/xoops_lib' );
// Physical path to the XOOPS datafiles (writable) directory WITHOUT trailing slash
define( 'XOOPS_VAR_PATH', 'rootpath/specialfolder/xoops_data' );
// Alias of XOOPS_PATH, for compatibility, temporary solution
define("XOOPS_TRUST_PATH", XOOPS_PATH);

// XOOPS Virtual Path (URL)
// Virtual path to your main XOOPS directory WITHOUT trailing slash
// Example: define( 'XOOPS_URL', 'http://somthingelse.com' );
define( 'XOOPS_URL', 'http://somthingelse.com' );

Thanks, I was hoping it was that simple but I thought I'd ask before screwing things up.

In principle it is only the URL definitions in mainfile.php.

If you change directory, also the physical files must be changed.

Some modules may have also preferences with URL's or paths.

In some theme and configuration files or content (forum, articles), full URL links may contain the old domain name.
To correct the theme files, search in a backup trough the files for the old name, replace with the new and reupload.
To correct the content, search for the old domain in the database backup (SQL text).

Ah ha! More complicated than first indicated. I will check those files BEFORE I do the change to see where I may need to tweak . thanks ghia.