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

[topcat24]

I am updating site to 1.5.1 (in a testsite) and have also updated the Ultimate SEO from 2.110 to 2.212 and the only change that I cannot replicate is before on our site we have the setting Add category parent to begining of URLs? as true which writes the categories as subdirectories as well but on the new version the parent directory is not added eg it was http://www.oddballs.co.uk/special-de...1771_1799.html but now it goes to http://www.oddballs.co.uk/unicycle-d...1771_1799.html and the parent is removed (with setting on original), and the product is just produced on its own eg http://www.oddballs.co.uk/indy-train...al-p-3227.html.
I cannot reproduce these exactly as the option changing the format from original to parent will leave the product having its own page as before it would be http://www.oddballs.co.uk/indy-train...al-p-3227.html but leaving the option changed to parent makes the product http://www.oddballs.co.uk/unicycle-d...al-p-3227.html
So is it possible to reproduce this as before or will it best to change to original and then the old links with go to the new ones

[lhungil]

... the only change that I cannot replicate is before on our site we have the setting Add category parent to begining of URLs? as true which writes the categories as subdirectories as well ...

The "Add category parent to beginning of URLs?" option in Ultimate (SEO) URLs NEVER enabled categories as directories (as far as I know - I've checked 2.108, 2.109, and 2.110). Versions > 2.150 do include an additional option to use categories as directories (called "Categories as directories").

Are you sure you had an unmodified version of Ultimate (SEO) URLs 2.110 installed (not a different URL plugin such as Simple SEO URLs installed)? If you had something else (or a modified version) installed... You can either use one of the formats supported by Ultimate (SEO) URLs and change over to new URLs (using the canonical and 301 redirects)... Or you can look at CEON URI Mapping (allows you to specify by hand each and every URL on a per category / product basis)...

... So is it possible to reproduce this as before or will it best to change to original and then the old links with go to the new ones ...

In version 2.110, enabling "Add category parent to beginning of URLs?" simply added the immediate parent categories name (if any) to the name of the product and the name of the category. So they looked like:
"/parent-category-name-selected-category-name-c-1_4.html" and "/parent-category-name-selected-product-name-p-2.html".

in the above examples "parent-category-name" is the parent category's name, "selected-category-name" is the selected category's name, and "selected-product-name" is the selected product's name.

This can be duplicated exactly in the current version of Ultimate (SEO) URLs by setting "Categories as directories" to "none / disabled", "Format of rewritten URLs" to "parent / enable parent", and "Rewritten URLs end with" to ".html".

If you want to change the behavior so categories will be used as directories you can set "Categories as directories" to "short" or "full".

... I am updating site to 1.5.1 (in a testsite) and have also updated Ultimate (SEO) URLs ... from 2.110 to 2.212 ...

Did you completely remove both the file changes and database changes (including related configuration settings) for the plugin previously installed on Zen Cart 1.3? Before attempting to install the latest version of Ultimate (SEO) URLs on Zen Cart 1.5.1?

P.S. I am working on version 3.x of this module... The code changes will remove 99.9% of the original code base (and include numerous performance enhancements, changed options, and a new underlying engine)... Any suggestions for improvement are welcome!

[topcat24]

Looking though the files it seems that ours was modified version of 2.110 as it does do its own rewrites on the categories / products

The new version is working exactly as it is supposed to do all I was wondering is it possible to have a Hybrid option in the Format of rewritten URLS
Categories: parent-category-name-c-34 (as Parent option)
Products: product-name-p-54 (as Original option)

As this is what our site is replicating. If not then I will have to choose either Original or Product option and then the old links will be re-written to the new ones anyway

The only thing that I didn't do was to remove the files (didn't bother as when the installation occurred it told me the 3 files to delete from the old version that was not used anymore + the new autoloader) and a database removal. The new version is working well without doing these

[a_berezin]

Hi lhungil,

P.S. I am working on version 3.x of this module... The code changes will remove 99.9% of the original code base (and include numerous performance enhancements, changed options, and a new underlying engine)... Any suggestions for improvement are welcome!

Wow! Pleasant news!
Then I'll quit own development and forward to the Ultimate URLs v.3.
Ready to participate in development and debugging.

[lhungil]

Looking though the files it seems that ours was modified version of 2.110... I was wondering is it possible to have a Hybrid option in the Format of rewritten URLS
Categories: parent-category-name-c-34 (as Parent option)
Products: product-name-p-54 (as Original option)

You could modify the code... Take a peak at the function "get_product_name()" in the class file. This is what pulls the product name from the database. You can probably comment out the two blocks which deal with the 'parent' format (before the comment "//Add the category"). This should disable the parent category from being added to the product.

[Okkwebmedia]

Hi,

How can I redirect the following link "mysite.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index" to "mysite.com/shop/products_all.html" .

I've already tried "Redirect 301 /shop/ http://mysite.com/shop/products_all.html" and Redirect 301 /shop/index.php?main_page=indexhttp://mysite.com/shop/products_all.html but it's not working.

I've installed the Ultimate SEO modul and it's working well.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[lhungil]

...

How can I redirect the following link "mysite.com/shop/index.php?main_page=index" to "mysite.com/shop/products_all.html" .

I've already tried "Redirect 301 /shop/ http://mysite.com/shop/products_all.html" and Redirect 301 /shop/index.php?main_page=indexhttp://mysite.com/shop/products_all.html but it's not working.
...

One cannot use the Apache "Redirect" directive to handle redirecting based upon query terms (or the lack of query terms). One must instead use Apache "RewriteCond" and "RewriteRule" directives to match based upon the query terms (stuff after the ? in the URL).

But before you go researching how to use redirect a URL containing query terms... There are a few things you may want to ponder... What business purpose does redirecting the website root to the "all products" page serve? How does adding an unnecessary 301 redirect impact the site? (in terms of complexity, performance, and maintenance? In terms of page load time? In terms of SEO?) Why not just adjust Zen Cart's landing page to match your needs?

Just for anyone else reading this thread later... Having Ultimate (SEO) URLs installed has no impact on the answer to this question. The answer is specific to the Apache web server and any website being hosted on an Apache web server. The Apache documentation for mod_alias and mod_rewrite contain more information on directives specific to redirecting and rewriting URLs.

[Okkwebmedia]

Thanks for your advice.
I know it's not a good solution, but I couldn't set up the dinamic filter on the home page however this modul is working fine on the All products page and that's why I've thought to try it with redirection.

[RiverCity]

Hello, I haven't used this plugin before so I'm not familiar with it. I have a clean zencart insall with a template and the only other plugin so far is the MSRP. My question is, I am only using the dedicated IP at this time as I will not be moving my domain until after I finish getting this site ready. Would it matter if I installed this plugin while still using the dedicated IP or would it be better to wait until after I have pointed the domain name to it?

Thanks for any suggestions,

Jim

[lhungil]

... My question is, I am only using the dedicated IP at this time as I will not be moving my domain until after I finish getting this site ready. Would it matter if I installed this plugin while still using the dedicated IP or would it be better to wait until after I have pointed the domain name to it? ...

The server name being an IP versus a domain name should not affect this module directly... However some Zen Cart users have reported issues in general when not using a domain name (unrelated to this plugin)... There are some ways to tell just your computer to assign a name to a specific IP address to avoid using an IP address directly... Are you testing on a "local" environment (WampServer, Xampp, Mamp, etc)? Or are you testing on a hosted server (with internet access)?

If you decide to use Ultimate (SEO) URLs, keep in mind the category and product "titles" are placed in the URLs (and typically used in h1 tags by most themes). You will want to make sure these "titles" reflect accurately what you want visitors (and SEs) to see. You can use filters to manually "change" what is placed in the URLs - but it takes a bit of work at this time - so best to think about this early in the process.

General Advice (website development and testing)
My advice when it comes to installing, configuring, customizing, modifying, and / or preparing any content for the internet: First set up the software (or updates) in a "development" or "testing" location (not indexed by Search Engines - or - viewable to the general public). Once you have the site (or changes) ready for general consumption (and of course tested), then migrate (copy) the changes to the live website / location (and re-test).

General Advice (some potential impacts of changing URLs)
As your website does not sound to already be "well established" on Search Engines (SEs)... This is a good time for you to pick your URL scheme (always better to avoid ever needing a 301 redirect). If you plan at launch to use Ultimate (SEO) URLs, I would install the plugin on a "development" copy of your Zen Cart installation. This will let you see the direct impact of your "titles" and also play around with filters (such as having USU convert " in titles to in / inch / inches in URLs).

One can install Ultimate URLs at a later date (or disable the module if installed). Ultimate URLs will automatically handle adding a "canonical" page reference for search engines (unless your theme disables this head tag). This allows search engines to access your pages at either the standard Zen Cart URLs or the URLs generated by this plugin. The "canonical" head tag also lets SEs know the two pages should be treated as the same page (most SEs will also combines the two pages in the search engine index and treats them as one URL).

Ultimate URLs does also have an option to enable "automatic redirects" to issue 301s to aid in switching from the stock Zen Cart URLs (will tell the SEs to use the new URLs as the main URL and send visitors to only the new URL). But keep in mind (at the time this was written) most SEO experts agree well established URLs in Search Engines may take a 1-3% hit if a 301 redirect is issued.