Ceon URI Mapping (SEO)

[conor]

Hi Sasha,

First, thanks for this outstanding piece of code. It works perfectly.

Thanks for the nice comments, I'm glad you like the module. It currently has a few bugs in it but I hope to have them all fixed shortly.

The only feature I would ask for would be something that recursively goes through your site and auto-assigns the URI

That requires more changes to the core code that I'm comfortable releasing as a "module" so I'm developing a Mappings Manager to do that very thing.

even though I have a small shop, I have many hundreds of products (and do all of my product editing with Easy Populate).

That's not a small shop! :)

My site is HyosungSource.com. I use a shared hosting on hostmonster - so my site sits in the subdirectory /hyosungsource/. This is the directory where I added the .htaccess changes.

The obvious answer is to have your host set up the store directory better or, if they won't then to use a better host.. no Zen Cart store should use a low level hosting package.. it would be worth spending $5 a month on something better!

I don't want it to have the "hyosungsource" repeated. What I am trying to get it to is

www.hyosungsource.com/GT250/air-filter.

You really should use a host that doesn't require your shop to be in a subdirectory named /hyosungsource - why can't you name it "store" or "shop"?

I know it may seem like a minor thing, but it affects a few other things elsewhere.

I think it's quite a major thing!

Any idea why it is doing this?

Yes, the auto-generation is designed to use the full DIR_WS_CATALOG path.. for most stores this is usually "/" or "/shop", both of which make sense.

Is it something I have to work out with my hosting provider

That would be the best solution.

or can I do it in the config for Ceon URI?

No, you can change the value of DIR_WS_CATALOG in the admin/includes/configure.php file to '/'.. you would probably need to change it back afterwards as otherwise any links to a page in the catalog which are generated in the admin (for example, those used in e-mails sent form the admin - coupon codes/gift certificates etc.) would have the wrong base path ('/' instead of '/hyosungsource').

Alternatively you can edit each URI mapping to remove the /hyosungsource - you don't have to use auto-generation, you can choose whatever URI you want (the primary purpose of the module in the first place).

So first thing is to see if you can get the /hyosungsource/ changed to '/' or '/shop/'. If not, you'll have to use one of the other two solutions presented above. As no-one else has asked for the ability to choose a different base path for the auto-generation this isn't a feature I'd be prepared to take the time to add to the module.

All the best...

Conor
ceon

[nsanford]

Hi,
Is this mod compatible with the Multisite module?
TIA

[conor]

Hi,

Hi,
Is this mod compatible with the Multisite module?
TIA

I'm afraid I don't know. I don't see why not. However, from my experience the multisite module is a very poor solution to managing multiple sites, anyone I've seen using it has had all kinds of problems. That's just my experience though. At Ceon we have our own multiple site software (which lets each site can have its own custom overrides, in a similar fashion to the way Zen Cart allows language defines and templates to have overrides) so I'm afraid we've no need nor desire to test anything with the multisite module.

Try it and see.. just make sure you take the standard recommended steps - i.e. have backups!

All the best...

Conor
ceon

[nsanford]

Hi Connor,
Thanks for your response. I personally am not keen to use the multisite mod as it seems very confusing and I just know it's going to cause problems in the long run...

However, my client insists on having one administration for two stores on two separate domains, so I will have to make do.

At Ceon we have our own multiple site software

Are you selling this software? Or was it just a passing comment?

Thanks again!

[conor]

Hi,

Are you selling this software? Or was it just a passing comment?

Oh, sorry, no, didn't mean to give that impression! It was indeed a passing comment. The current version of the software we have built is a bit too specific and customised for it to be of general use to people. The next version could be very useful indeed but that's a different story altogether and is at least 6 months off! It's hopefully going to be an open-source project though. I wouldn't say to "wait around" on it though, the 6 months is just a guestimate and you know how software development plans go! ;-)

Anyway, more interesting post coming up...

All the best...

Conor
ceon

[conor]

Hi,

It gives me great pleasure to release an updated version of the module. I hope this fixes all the bugs that have been reported thus far.

The following doesn't seem to have been mentioned clearly enough before so it's being mentioned here again...

Please Note: This module does not automatically add mappings for existing Categories/Products/Manufacturers/EZ-Pages - if the site has existing Categories/Products/Manufacturers/EZ-Pages, they'll continue to use the standard Zen Cart dynamic URIs, until a URI has been entered or auto-generated for them, by editing the respective Category/Product/Manufacturer/EZ-Page in the admin.

This means going in and editing every Category/Product/Manufacturer/EZ-Page for which a static URI mapping is desired.

For this reason the module is aimed towards new and small stores. Or larger stores which just want to add mappings for particular parts of their site (special offers, EZ-Pages etc.) - something which is very useful for adding easy to read and remember URIs to advertisements for the site.


Version 3.2.3 includes numerous fixes for small bugs found in the module, ALL users should upgrade.

The changes are as follows:

[ADDED] Ability to exclude specific files added to ensure 100% compatibility with third party modules that have files which load up the Zen Cart system directly so they can process payment callbacks etc. To ensure that these files aren't adversely affected by the URI Mapping module, they should be excluded from being processed by the module by entering the file names in the configuration utility.

[UPDATED] Default URI Mapping is now added to map the dynamic URI for the store's home page (index.php?main_page=index) to its base static URI (e.g. / or /shop etc.) - avoids possible duplicated content issues with search engines.

[UPDATED] Extra checks added to minimise the number of situations in which the cPath query string parameter is appended to static URIs for products. The links to a product page for a product with a static URI are no longer checked against the cPath value for the global environment but are checked against the value the link function is called with. This should result in more matches and therefore the removal of the cPath variable more frequently, giving cleaner URIs.

[BUGFIX] A 404 page was being incorrectly displayed when the store's base URI was accessed with a query string appended. The index page is now displayed as expected.

[BUGFIX] Pagination, sorting and filtering functionality wasn't working when browsing by manufacturer as the module was clearing the query string parameters used to control this functionality.

[BUGFIX] Fixed a problem wherein an endless redirection loop could occur if a static URI used the main_page query string parameter.

[ADDED] Information about new Excluded Files functionality added to the documentation.


Upgrading is very easy, it should only take a few minutes for any stores which haven't modified the core files the module uses (except for a previous version of this module).


You can download the new version now from our website.

It has also been submitted to the downloads area and should be available there soon.

Hopefully that's all the bugs found. Enjoy!

All the best...

Conor
ceon

[sjk1000]

Hi All
Sorry, I'm baffled by this a little. I've installed 3.2.3 and I'm happy that the new and core files have been correctly added and updated. I'm also aware that each category now need 'updating' which I've tried to do and failed. ie the rewritten url gives a 404

What I'm puzzled with is the .htaccess file. An .htaccess file appears only in my www.mywebsite.com/includes/ directory rather than www.mywebsite.com in which zencart is installed. This includes directory has an index.html rather than index.php and the .htaccess file looks like the below. Where am I going wrong? I should also say that if I place a copy of the htaccess file in www.mywebsite.com (which does have an index.php) and disable the one in the includes directory I get a 403 error.
Feels like I'm barking up random trees without knowing what i'm looking for...rrrrrrr : )
Any help is very much appreciated.
Thanks, Steve

# $Id: .htaccess 1105 2005-04-04 22:05:35Z birdbrain $
#
# This is used with Apache WebServers
# The following blocks direct HTTP requests in this directory recursively
#
# For this to work, you must include the parameter 'Limit' to the AllowOverride configuration
#
# Example:
#
#<Directory "/usr/local/apache/htdocs">
#  AllowOverride Limit
#
# 'All' with also work. (This configuration is in your apache/conf/httpd.conf file)
#
# This does not affect PHP include/require functions
#
# Example: http://server/catalog/includes/application_top.php will not work

<Files *.php>
Order Deny,Allow
Deny from all
</Files>

#add the following to protect against people discovering what version your spiders.txt file is
  <Files *.txt>
   Order Deny,Allow
   Deny from all
  </Files>

RewriteEngine On

# Don't rewrite any URIs ending with a file extension (ending with .[xxxx])
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !\.[a-zA-Z]{2,4}$
# Don't rewrite admin directory
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/myrenamedadmin.* [NC]
# Don't rewrite editors directory
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/editors.* [NC]
# Don't rewrite cPanel directories
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !/cpanel.* [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !/frontend.* [NC]
# Handle all other URIs using Zen Cart (index.php)
RewriteRule (.*) index.php?%{QUERY_STRING} [L]

[conor]

Hi Steve,

Place the .htaccess file in your root directory without the following lines:

<Files *.php>
Order Deny,Allow
Deny from all
</Files>

#add the following to protect against people discovering what version your spiders.txt file is
  <Files *.txt>
   Order Deny,Allow
   Deny from all
  </Files>

They block any access to your site (403 Forbidden).

All the best...

Conor
ceon

[sjk1000]

That's got it. Thanks a lot Conor. Just dropped you enough for a pint and a bag of pork scratchings through the Ceon manual card donation. Will get a copy of your SagePay module in a week or so when the bank's woken up too. Keep up the great work.
Steve

[conor]

Hi Steve,

That's got it. Thanks a lot Conor. Just dropped you enough for a pint and a bag of pork scratchings

Thanks very much indeed, that's the first donation in months and I'm very grateful for your generosity! I'll really enjoy that pint - I'm glad you like the software! ;)

All the best...

Conor
ceon