Ultimate SEO v3 (and v2.200) [Support Thread]

[DivaVocals]

Writing on behalf of a client running ZenCart v1.5.0 and moze.n template. When adding the Ultimate SEO URLs module, the category and product pages are being broken. After much searching, I still cannot pinpoint what is causing it to throw off the layout.

Example can be found at devstore7.ldsstores.com. Click on any product or category page to see what is happening. It seems to be completely disregarding all CSS for menus, sidebars, footer and just about everything else.

I have compared source code between working page and broken page and found no differences of any consequence. Please advise on what more information is needed or how the issue can be resolved. Thank you.

I sincerely doubt this is an issue cause by Ultimate SEO..

[sle39lvr]

I have a small store, so I am wondering if I can do this:

Instead of:
'http://www.mysite.com/my-category-c-2/my-product-p-7.html

to:
'http://www.mysite.com/my-category/my-product.html

[lhungil]

... When adding the Ultimate SEO URLs module, the category and product pages are being broken. After much searching, I still cannot pinpoint what is causing it to throw off the layout. ...

This is not an issue caused by "Ultimate SEO URLs". This does not occur with a stock installation of Zen Cart using the default template. The problems you are experiencing are caused by other modifications which have been made to your Zen Cart installation.

Some notable issues with your site:

• The custom code used to generate the "category menu" on the left is not the standard Zen Cart categories code. The custom code appears to not be using the Zen Cart zen_href_link function. The custom code is generating invalid links and injecting invalid category names into the HTML. All internal Zen Cart links should be created using the built-in Zen Cart function zen_href_link (handles session params, escaping entites such as &, etc).
• Broken javascript code in the template. Getting reported errors in FireBug including "function not found".
• Poorly generated / coded HTML including duplicate attribute ids, failure to escape required characters, improperly nested elements, common optimizations missing, and the list goes on...
• Seeing some "HTTP 406" errors... Often this can be caused by mod_security restrictions... But can also be caused by other issues with "content negotiation". You will want to track down the culprits.
• Alterations have been made to the HTML head section (either the Zen Cart code or the installed template). There are a number of problems with the HTML being generated inside the head element... Most importantly you are defining "relative linked" resources BEFORE the base element. This will cause those resources to be loaded relative to the URL in the browser window instead of relative to the BASE element. Either make those references absolute or move them below the BASE element.
• Many missing / broken images. This slows down accessing the page and will make debugging more painful. Please copy over the images from the live store.

That is just the short list and other issues may be present in your Zen Cart installation...

Note: See http://validator.w3.org/ for a list of errors found in the HTML generated by your theme.

[manage-it]

How do I enable the manufacturers to show up with the manufacturersname instead of id.
I am getting this : index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=46
Using version 2.212 and zc 1.51

[lhungil]

How do I enable the manufacturers to show up with the manufacturer's name instead of id. ...

Adding the manufacturers name (page=index) to the URL is enabled by default. Double check your installation and configuration.

Some basic troubleshooting steps and questions to answer:

1. When installing were there any warning or error messages? If so what? If unsure, redo the installation and note any and all messages displayed by Zen Cart. If you did not see any messages... Re-read and follow the installation instructions.
2. Is the module enabled? If not may indicate installation failed or the module has not been configured / enabled. Make sure in the configuration menu this module is enabled.
3. Are other generated links using the alternate URLs? Are category and product links using the alternate URLs? If not, make sure in the configuration menu 'index' is in the list of pages to alter (rewrite).
4. Is there anything in the Zen Cart debug files? Is there anything in the webserver or php error logs (may need to enable depending on where Zen Cart is hosted)?
5. What other modifications have been made to Zen Cart? Do they correctly use zen_href_link to generate URLs?
6. URL to example website displaying the noted issue(s)?

[lhungil]

How do I enable the manufacturers to show up with the manufacturers name instead of id. ...

If this is the site in your profile... I do not see ANY alternate URLs being generated (not in the HTML or in the canonical links). This indicates #1 or #2 from above are the most likely candidates.

[joyjoy]

You might need to "repair" the database table (if damaged can cause issues with entries being added / removed from the table). You can usually "repair" the table from within phpmyadmin. Another alternative (the repair would be better in most cases) is to "drop" the table (remove) and re-install this module (will add the missing table). With a fast database server (without any database consistency errors) this message should be rare.

The "seo_cache" table is only used at this time if one has the individual persistent caches (category, product, ez-pages, manufacturer, etc) turned on. One can always try turning off the persistent caches (the responses will still be cached in non-persistent memory if one has global caching enabled). One may see a performance boost or drop depending upon the hosting environment (web server, PHP, MySQL, etc).

Thank you very much for your suggestion. If I've truncated this table based from the prior suggestion I received, can I still repair it? I believe after I truncated the zen_seo_cache table it seems the table also changed...if that makes sense. Thank you.

[shags38]

Hi,

just had an unsuccessful installation of v212 - I think it is possibly (read likely) my fault so I am not upset - I just need some help. I now cannot get to my admin - mydomain/admin/login.php just comes up as a blank page. So I am really stuck here (H-E-L-P)

prior to installing I did a database backup and have restored that original database but still no login page.

Here was my mistake - I manage a number of sites and this particular site I didn't realize I had previously installed this plugin, earlier version, but had disabled it in admin - my stupid fault for not checking first.

Anyway I have now lost access to getting into admin - I tried to do the removal but not being php cluey I didn't know how to comment out so I just deleted that install block - note that I had lost admin access prior to this, just had a page with a database error which I did not copy but it went something like this 'TABLE_ADMIN_PAGES' not found; page key = 'configureSEO' bla bla

REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS
===========================================================
1. Edit "new_files/your_admin_folder/includes/init_includes/init_seo_config.php" commenting out the install block and uncommenting the
uninstall block.

So I am currently up the proverbial creek without a paddle - any ideas on how I can retrieve admin access?

cheers,
Mike

[lhungil]

...
Anyway I have now lost access to getting into admin - I tried to do the removal but not being php cluey I didn't know how to comment out so I just deleted that install block - note that I had lost admin access prior to this, just had a page with a database error which I did not copy but it went something like this 'TABLE_ADMIN_PAGES' not found; page key = 'configureSEO'...

To comment out the install block: around line 10 you would add a /* to the start of the line and around line 31 you would add a */.
To uncomment the uninstall block: around line 33 remove the /* from the start of the line and around line 50 remove the */.

If this was another Zen Cart 1.3.9x, it will probably be faster and easier to refer to the notes from the PM I sent back in February (I've resent the PM). Let me know how everything goes :)

[nicksoftsol]

This is not an issue caused by "Ultimate SEO URLs". This does not occur with a stock installation of Zen Cart using the default template. The problems you are experiencing are caused by other modifications which have been made to your Zen Cart installation.

Some notable issues with your site:

• The custom code used to generate the "category menu" on the left is not the standard Zen Cart categories code. The custom code appears to not be using the Zen Cart zen_href_link function. The custom code is generating invalid links and injecting invalid category names into the HTML. All internal Zen Cart links should be created using the built-in Zen Cart function zen_href_link (handles session params, escaping entites such as &, etc).
• Broken javascript code in the template. Getting reported errors in FireBug including "function not found".
• Poorly generated / coded HTML including duplicate attribute ids, failure to escape required characters, improperly nested elements, common optimizations missing, and the list goes on...
• Seeing some "HTTP 406" errors... Often this can be caused by mod_security restrictions... But can also be caused by other issues with "content negotiation". You will want to track down the culprits.
• Alterations have been made to the HTML head section (either the Zen Cart code or the installed template). There are a number of problems with the HTML being generated inside the head element... Most importantly you are defining "relative linked" resources BEFORE the base element. This will cause those resources to be loaded relative to the URL in the browser window instead of relative to the BASE element. Either make those references absolute or move them below the BASE element.
• Many missing / broken images. This slows down accessing the page and will make debugging more painful. Please copy over the images from the live store.

That is just the short list and other issues may be present in your Zen Cart installation...

Note: See http://validator.w3.org/ for a list of errors found in the HTML generated by your theme.

Thank you for the response. The creators of the template haven't been very good at responding to support questions. We had the module working on a different template, but my client insists on this one. I didn't realize how many issues it has.

Thanks again.