Hi,

freeohio:

Conor,
This was timely, as I'm down to the last few items before replacing my legacy site with my new zencart site.

I'm glad you like the module! ;)

freeohio:

How do I specify an alternate url for the index page?

You can't currently "mask" the index page, if you'd like that functionality to be added please get in contact privately.

freeohio:

The legacy site was html, so I specified html/htm suffixes for the new site. Will that cause a problem (being that they are php?)

That's the beauty of "URI mapping", it is totally fine to do that!

freeohio:

We didn't have a shopping cart or an account function before, so I don't see any reason to translate those. Is that short-sighted?

No, there's no point in my opinion!

On a separate issues, the module only uses the URI mappings in links for the products, categories and EZ-pages, the "aliases"/"alternate uris" map to a particular page but the modules doesn't currently catch on to other Zen Cart pages and replace their links with any alternate URIs. That functionality could be added though.

freeohio:

Again, the whole idea is to maintain the excellent seo placement and not have broken links.

Thanks again for a great product!

You're very welcome!

All the best...

Conor
Ceon

Hi Conor,

I've started playing around with this mod and it looks really good. One thing I can't quite work out though... If I have a category URl that looks like...
/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=123
...and I map it to...
/some-keywords
...then if someone goes to the original URI I would expect it to do a 301 redirect to /some-keywords but it doesn't seem to do that. Am I missing something? Without the redirect search engines won't reindex the site properly.

Regards,
Christian.

This module does exactly what the name says: alias/mapping
So it wont redirect. I think Conor explained this before.

Hi Christian,

CJPinder:

Without the redirect search engines won't reindex the site properly.

Hmm, that's a good point!

I'll add full redirection for any current Zen Cart URIs to any mapping entered for them in the database.

I'll let you know when the new version is out, it will be soon!

All the best...

Conor
Ceon

conor:

I'll add full redirection for any current Zen Cart URIs to any mapping entered for them in the database.

Thanks Conor, that would be great.

One other thing... When testing the mod on a store that is in a subdirectory, e.g. www.example.com/store I'm having some trouble. If I manually enter a URI mapping for a category (e.g. /coffee) the link shows correctly in the store but it doesn't work. I think this is because the REQUEST_URI is coming through as /store/coffee which doesn't match the database entry.

If I use automatic generation of the category URI then it sets it to /store/coffee which then creates a link like www.example.com/store/store/coffee which looks wrong and doesn't work either :(

Am I doing something wrong?

Regards,
Christian.

Hi Christian,

CJPinder:

Thanks Conor, that would be great.

Working on the new version now.. this is going to be a change in the way the data is stored in the database and will allow full use of various types of redirect and full mapping of every page type Zen Cart offers (not just categories/products/ez-pages).

The code's quite easy but the changes really add so much to the module's capabilities so I'm glad I'm adding them (personal satisfaction/pride about the module's newfound capabilities and all that!) :)

Anyway... :)

CJPinder:

Am I doing something wrong?

You're using the "wrong" version, but that's my mistake, not yours!

There was a bug in versions 2.0.0 - 2.0.2 which caused all links to be prepended with the store's catalog directory setting.

I've fixed that in 2.0.3 - please download it. Upgrading takes about 20 seconds!

Sorry about the bug!

All the best...

Conor
Ceon

Hi JR,

freeohio:

How do I specify an alternate url for the index page?

conor:

You can't currently "mask" the index page, if you'd like that functionality to be added please get in contact privately.

YOU CAN NOW! :)

Version 3 has full support for this now. (Once you've read the docs you'll realise you can use "index" in a new database record).

conor:

On a separate issues, the module only uses the URI mappings in links for the products, categories and EZ-pages, the "aliases"/"alternate uris" map to a particular page but the modules doesn't currently catch on to other Zen Cart pages and replace their links with any alternate URIs. That functionality could be added though

IT HAS BEEN NOW! :)

Thought I'd let you know specifically before I posted the about the release, to save answering any questions!

All the best...

Conor
Ceon

Hi,

It gives me great pleasure to release a major new version of this module. I've listened to the comments on this thread and another one and took on board what people had to say. I've now added all the functionality I think people were looking for. :clap:

The major feature of the new version is that it changes the way the module works. Everything is now based on the idea of "Current" URI mappings.

Full Historical URI Mapping has been added so all previous links still work when new ones are used or "old" ones are "deleted" - these "old" URIs now redirect to the "current" URI.

There's also full redirection from current dynamic Zen Cart URIs to the URI mapping for the Zen Cart page in question, so Search Engines will know to start converting their links to your pages to their new "redirected" links.

There's too much to say here, check out the feature list!

From the Revision History:

[UPDATED] Completely new database structure implemented.

[ADDED] Idea of “Current” static URI made central concept behind handling of URIs in module. All admin URI functionality now inserts/updates mappings for the “Current” URI only.

[UPDATED] Ability to “delete” URI mappings removed. Instead, any “old” URI mappings are marked as no longer being current.

[ADDED] Historical URI mapping support added. “Deleted” URI mappings still point towards their original subject, by redirecting the user to the “Current” URI for the subject. URI mappings being updated don't have their old URI mappings retained; however, they can be added [back in] to the database manually if necessary.

[ADDED] Support for all Zen Cart pages added to the database, the module's code and its modifications to the zen_href_link function. Any Zen Cart page can now have a static URI, which will be linked to instead of the standard Zen Cart dynamic URI!

[ADDED] Automatic redirection of dynamic URIs to their current, active URI mapping added to URI Mapping. Any attempt to use a dynamic URI for a page which has a current static URI will result in the user being redirected to the current (static) URI.

[ADDED] Ability to specify the HTTP Status Code to be used for the redirection to an alternative URI added. Allows controlling of exact type of redirection (temporary/permanent etc.).

[ADDED] Support for pages related to the product info pages added. Reviews and Tell-A-Friend sections are now automatically made “subsections” of the product's main info page, by appending some specific URI parts to the product info page's static URI. These specific URI parts are defined in the admin languages file.

[UPDATED] Dynamic query string variable is no longer appended to static URI links for subcategories or links to product info pages (for those which aren't a link to a linked product). Results in cleaner, “nicer” URIs!

[BUGFIX] Missing filename definitions added for several product types. Links to products of these types now correctly use any static URI defined for the product.

[UPDATED] Documentation updated with information about new functionality and the methodology behind the new way the module works.

Upgrading is easy for sites which haven't modified the respective core files (for any other module except this one), just a simple matter of copying the files across and then going to the Config Utility - it'll automatically update your existing database table and data to the new format.

Download 3.0.0 Now!

Any and all feedback would be appreciated, this was a major upgrade.

Enjoy!

All the best...

Conor
Ceon

Hi,

I'm very sorry to say that a major bug was found in version 3.0.0 of the Ceon URI Mapping module.

3.0.0 doesn't work at all with search engines, only humans:

[BUGFIX] The standard Zen Cart initsystem initialises the languages system at one of the later stages, meaning that the language ID is set too late in the initsystem process for this module to work correctly when a non-human visits the site. The languages init code is now run in the URI Mapping initsystem script to fix this (major) problem.

Please download 3.0.1 now.. it is available on our site and now in the ZC downloads area also.. only two files need updating:

admin/ceon_uri_mapping_config.php

includes/init_includes/init_ceon_uri_mapping.php

If you then go to Ceon URI Mapping Config in the admin it'll upgrade your version number to the official 3.0.1.

Please accept our most sincere apologies for the bug. Thankfully it's very quick and easy to update and the software should work perfectly now.

(Thanks go to Christian for finding and reporting the bug!).

All the best...

Conor
Ceon

Hi,

Please note that the previous post applies to 3.0.0 but that ALL USERS OF 2.0.X MUST UPGRADE ALSO!

Otherwise search engines only see one language version of the site.

Plus 2.0.x is now officially NOT SUPPORTED!

Upgrading from 2.0.x to 3.0.x only takes a minute or two for sites which haven't modified the applicable core admin files for any module other than Ceon URI Mapping.

All the best...

Conor
Ceon

I just installed this module (3.0.1) on 1.3.8a and it works 100% fine, thanks Conor. Uploaded the core files, uploaded the version specific files, looked under 'modules' and voila.

The htaccess I populated with your supplied example, no problems on my Plesk server.

Total time: a couple of minutes - the uploading will take the most time, it really is that simple.

One question though: I think I've found how to link the contact_us page etc in the database, but what do I put in the "associated_db_id" column for it (same for my about_us, privacy etc pages)?

Looking forward to the URI manager...

Once again, thanks Conor.

If I'm trying to unblock my /gallery and /blog directories, does the following look correct for the .htaccess file:

Don't rewrite gallery and blog directories

RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !/gallery.* [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !/blog.* [NC]

If this is correct, it's not working. What am I doing wrong?

sean046:

If I'm trying to unblock my /gallery and /blog directories...

Sorted. I'd restarted Apache but hadn't cleared my cache, oops, my bad. Working 100% again.

Hi Sean,

Glad you like the module! ;)

sean046:

what do I put in the "associated_db_id" column for it (same for my about_us, privacy etc pages)?

You don't put anything in that column, it's only used by product, category and EZ-Page pages.

So that's you sorted! :)

All the best...

Conor
Ceon

Thanks Conor.

Any idea when the URI Mappings Manager will be available? I know that it will be (well, I'm sure that it will be) a commercial module, but it is related to the module in question.

Hi,

A few minor bugs have been found and fixed. Upgrading isn't necessary if things are working for you as it is but it's still a good idea. It shouldn't take very long.

From the Revision History:

[BUGFIX] Format specifier for seconds part of date component was the wrong case, causing an illegal time to be generated. This caused an SQL error in stricter versions of MySQL.
[BUGFIX] Documentation regarding example rewrite rules updated to include a rule exclusion for the editors directory. Without this exclusion only the standard Zen Cart text editor could be used in the admin!
[UPDATED] Code added to init script to set the value of $PHP_SELF in certain circumstances, to prevent the rewrite rules interfering with the zen_href_link function in some very particular cases.

As you can see, these are all very minor fixes, the module is maturing well. Hopefully these will be the last issues to be found!

3.0.2 is now available in the downloads area.

All the best...

Conor
Ceon

Hello Conor:smile: Please be gentle, I have just registered and am very new to all this having only done XHTML sites before with the odd php search facility:rolleyes:. Well done with this SEO module, it looks good but I am having a problem and am not sure if it is my server or Zen cart config. :cry:
This is what I am using....
Zencart version 1.3.8a
CEON 3.0.1 (I know there is a newer version but I only downloaded this yesterday!)
MySQL 4.1.22-standard
Linux server 2.6.18-92.ei5PAE.
PHP version 4.4.7.
Apache/2.2.9
I am experimenting on the same server as my live xhtml site, so I am nervous about messing it up as it provides my income.

I have installed Zencart in https://www.mywebsite.co.uk/shop and I created a .htaccess file as per your example and adjusted the paths accordingly.
The .htaccess commands seem to work because I had to prevent my current search.php from being overwritten and also allow *.html pages to work. However the Zencart pages when converted to static URLs are not found on the server... I get the following message...
"Not Found The requested URL /shop/Accessories/Measuring-Tools/1.5-Metre-Tape-Measure-8124 was not found on this server.
Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request."

If I turn the URI Mapping off or remove the static URL name in the product category, the page in question comes up as an ID page as you would expect shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=86_90&products_id=203
If it is turned on the correct URL that I want appears in the address bar but cannot be found.

I also moved the .htaccess file from the current root of the site to my php shop root but the problem remains.
Is this a problem with my Server, Zencart or Me?:dontgetit

Thanks

Pete:cheers:

Having the same problem is there a fix for this?

Can this mod be used for just the ez pages and still use Ultimate SEO URLs?

Hi, installed this mod succesfuly. Although the very good instructions may look complicated, I managed to install this in minutes, even a noob like me :P The products I added or modified had the "new" url. Great!

Two questions;
1 Looking at "Who's online", all the customers are looking at the images folder in my template. When I follow the link I end up on the home page. Before installing this mod I could follow the link and see what they were actually looking at. Now only pop-up images have the standard url. Is this "normal" or do I have to change settings?
The site works 100% ok because I still get orders...

2 Do I understand correctly that I have to save every product again to change the url? Not that it's a big problem, it will only take some time.

Although I only installed it to get better results for search-engines, it also looks much better in the url adress. There's a understandable adress instead of some long code.

Again, great module! Thank you very much.