Simple SEO URL (OLD version) [support thread]

[mydanilo]

I think it does not hurt too much to have /index/ and then also /product_info/ in the url. It is just not pretty nor as short as it could be.

If I look at my top ranking competitors with commercial carts, I see only short precise url's, no unnecessary stuff. I think the shorter the better for human and SE.

I understand if you don't want to make more code changes ( I assume you talk about code in your mod, not the core). I am just trying to give you feedback that would make this mod par with what is out there for other leading carts.

[jeking]

I think it does not hurt too much to have /index/ and then also /product_info/ in the url. It is just not pretty nor as short as it could be.

If I look at my top ranking competitors with commercial carts, I see only short precise url's, no unnecessary stuff. I think the shorter the better for human and SE.

I hate to be a 'me too' post but that's my thought exactly. The shorter the better.

[mydanilo]

Glad I am not the only one nit picking! I am not a coder but my focus is to improve my sites with SEO in mind.

Q to yellow1912:
So far I just used Ultimate SEO on one site and this just recently. Can you tell me in a nut shell what the main differences are at this stage between Ultimate SEO and Simple SEO?

What are the biggest draw backs (problems) of using Ultimate SEO and what prompted you to start Simple SEO instead of updating and working on Ultimate SEO?

Many functionalities I proposed match what I already get with Ultimate SEO. It looks like the look of the url's and the options in admin are going to be very similar. I am sure there are big differences under the hood that I don't see.

[yellow1912]

Glad I am not the only one nit picking! I am not a coder but my focus is to improve my sites with SEO in mind.

Q to yellow1912:
So far I just used Ultimate SEO on one site and this just recently. Can you tell me in a nut shell what the main differences are at this stage between Ultimate SEO and Simple SEO?

What are the biggest draw backs (problems) of using Ultimate SEO and what prompted you to start Simple SEO instead of updating and working on Ultimate SEO?

Many functionalities I proposed match what I already get with Ultimate SEO. It looks like the look of the url's and the options in admin are going to be very similar. I am sure there are big differences under the hood that I don't see.

First of all, I must clearly state that I do NOT intend to code this module as a replacement for any existing SEO module, it's an alternative. If you are using any other module and you like it, dont switch.

I dont know why you say the link style of this module and ultimate seo are no different, because they are.

I dont want to say simple seo url is superior than ultimate seo, because that is simply NOT true.
But I can list the reasons why I coded my own module:
1. Ultimate SEO has long been abandoned by its author, i dont want to use a module that has no support.
2. The first time and the only time i installed that module, it broke on me. it caused so many problems with my payment module (which was google checkout), it's probably me doing something stupid.
Also, it automatically re-install itself, removing it is like removing the adsware from your IE, it's a pain.
3. It doesnt seem to redirect when the names of product/category in the link are wrong. Doesnt seem to work with ezpages....
But it may have many advantages over this module, one of which is that it is a matured module (developed, tested and used for a while)

Again, it's your own judgment call, use the one you like and feel comfortable with.

Now go back to the "index" thing, I dont really see how shorten a few characters from the string make any difference. The overhead for that (checking links and such) is significant, and then there is a chance it would break for links of the other add-on modules.

This module, is commented quite well however, it was intended for users with good knowledge of coding to tweak the links the way they want (which has been done).

[yellow1912]

I have updated the styling of zenid to use
?zenid=ajda0910iepoopqwe
instead of /zenid/ajda0910iepoopqwe

Latest update can be found here
https://svn.rubikintegration.com/zen...s/init_ssu.php

Demo link: http://demo.rubikintegration.com/zencart/

[mydanilo]

Thank you yellow...

I am not saying that the url's are built the same way, that is beyond my judgment.
After your answers and after you moved the -c-1 stuff to the end, I found they will or can look in the end very similar to what Ultimate produces. Difference remaining is the removal of /index/ thing. Other than that, they would look pretty much the way I get them with Ultimate SEO. This is a good thing, not bad.

No problem if you don't want to change your code for excluding it. Was just a wish list thing.

I see your point that you don't want this to replace other SEO mods but for may here at the forum (I believe) you represent hope on the horizon for offering a alternative (for some it will be hopefully THE replacement solution).

Ultimate SEO as you said is known for breaking many installs and mods. Magic SEO is not open source . So that leaves us with Simple SEO! My hopes and thanks are great for this to succeed.

And...if it is not breaking any peoples carts as Ultimate SEO does, Simple SEO is superior after all. Just my thoughts.

[yellow1912]

It's not like I insist on not removing "index", but it's just that i haven't found a good way that will prevent all mishaps when we do that.
Lets me take an example:
For now, the module recognizes a a string is a cpath by scanning if that string contains a cpath indentifier (for example: "-c-"). It will always ignore the first element which is the main_page in your normal query string.

One of the ways to remove "index" would be: i will scan if the first string has a category identifier, if yes then i will just say this is the "index" page.

What will happen, if we have a custom (define) page that has the category identifier in its name?
for example:
this-is-a-c-custom-page/.......
ouch, ssu will think that is an "index" page and the cPath is "custom-page".

I know this is rare case, but I want to avoid those cases, waiting for someone to shed some light on me.

BTW, I fixed a bug found with the currency form. Surprisingly no-one found it.

[yellow1912]

Beta 1.1 is now available on svn and demo, several things were fixed:
1. product_info links usually contain cPath, but even if the cPath was wrong ZenCart does nothing about it. SSU now addresses this problem, make sure that the cPath must be correct (or it will redirect to the correct one).
(on a side note, magic seo does have this feature, while ultimate seo doesnt seem to include the cpath in the link at all, which can result in unexpected effect)

2. Make sure that the old links redirected correctly to the new one.

3. Minor code re-write to improve performance.

In the next version I'll look into caching and see if we can take advantage of it to minimize performance penalty.

@mydanilo: you say that on your site short links are ranked higher, can you give me some examples? Regards