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

I was checking my log folder today just out of curiosity ..... and saw like 30-40 files like this one ....

[22-Jan-2013 15:44:35] PHP Warning: htmlspecialchars() [<a href='function.htmlspecialchars'>function.htmlspecialchars</a>]: Invalid multibyte sequence in argument in /public_html/store/includes/classes/seo.url.php on line 184

When I upload new products, I use plain text, actually I copy and paste from the good old Notepad. Not sure where the Special Characters are coming from ..... ? :dontgetit

Is this plug-in needed?

Do search engines really have problems list and optimize for PHP coded URLs?

Rony:

They modify same functions at few places ...
If you do a check to see what exactly is different between Zen Cart 1.5.1's stock "html_output.php" and the 1.5.1 pre merged version of the same file included with "Ultimate SEO URLs", you will notice the only line which differs is changing the function name in the original "zen_href_link" to "original_zen_href_link" and adding a replacement function for "zen_href_link". There are no other changes made by "Ultimate SEO URLs".

Keep in mind the files from "CSS3 Buttons" are for version 1.5.0 of Zen Cart and you may need to merge the file distributed with "CSS3 Buttons" with the original from Zen Cart 1.5.1. This may account for the differences you are noting...

Rony:

Here is another little thing that causing a little trouble ....
For 2 of our products .... The URL's generated are like this ....
Does anyone know how to fix these blank spaces ?
The last step before any character data is saved for use in a URI is to run a filter (over every product, category, mfg, etc name) replacing all "spaces" with a "-". This replacement should not allow a space to be in any generated URI's unless something is not installed correctly or the character is not really a space...

US-ASCII, ISO-LATIN-1, and UTF8 represent the space character with decimal 32... so if you are using any of those encoding (Zen Cart 1.5.1 uses UTF8 by default) this replacement should always work. If you are using a different character encoding you may run into issues.

Rony:

I was checking my log folder today just out of curiosity ..... and saw like 30-40 files like this one .... PHP Warning: htmlspecialchars() ...
Most of the times I have seen that message it is related to a character encoding mismatch... So character data being sent to the htmlspecialchars function not matching the specified character encoding. The character data is pulled from the database... and the encoding used is the one specified in Zen Cart (usually UTF-8 in a clean install of 1.5.1). I've seen this crop up sometimes with character set mismatches between the database and Zen Cart settings (typically with a mass import or upgrade).

You specified this was a new "clean" install of Zen Cart... How did you enter the product data (name, price, etc)? Please provide details including any tools or editors used as this may help us help you.

Kevin205:

Is this plug-in needed?
Depends upon your business goal. This plugin is more about adding "human readable" text (keywords) to the URL than specifically SEO.

You can read online about why having human readable words in a URL may be beneficial. You can also read (in many SEO discussions and websites) why having keywords in a URL may be beneficial for listings in a search engine.

So to keep the answer short: No you do not need this plugin... But then the same answer can be given for any and all plugins. My advice? Look at your business goals and make a decision - "human readable text with ids" or just "ids".

lhungil:

You specified this was a new "clean" install of Zen Cart... How did you enter the product data (name, price, etc)? Please provide details including any tools or editors used as this may help us help you.
For example: Did you use an editor such as CKEditor? What character encoding do you have the database and Zen Cart set to use? Notepad by default uses ANSI not UTF-8... US-English Word uses Windows-1252. So copy / paste may cause some problems unless you save the file to UTF-8 first. Have you tried saving to UTF-8?

Did I mention how much fun working with different character sets and character encoding can be? Especially for applications used worldwide? If you have any mixed character encoding in the database it may take awhile to update them all to one encoding (I'd recommend UTF-8)...

lhungil:

Depends upon your business goal. This plugin is more about adding "human readable" text (keywords) to the URL than specifically SEO.

You can read online about why having human readable words in a URL may be beneficial. You can also read (in many SEO discussions and websites) why having keywords in a URL may be beneficial for listings in a search engine.

So to keep the answer short: No you do not need this plugin... But then the same answer can be given for any and all plugins. My advice? Look at your business goals and make a decision - "human readable text with ids" or just "ids".

Now it make sense. I totally agree with you.

And since I know how hard it is to code, I just wanted to say, Thank you.

You are welcome.

And this is a reminder to all those who helped create, update, maintain, debug, provide feedback, comment on the forums, and provide help to other Zen Cart users. Your time and work is appreciated, and we all say thankee-sai!

lhungil:

For example: Did you use an editor such as CKEditor? What character encoding do you have the database and Zen Cart set to use? Notepad by default uses ANSI not UTF-8... US-English Word uses Windows-1252. So copy / paste may cause some problems unless you save the file to UTF-8 first. Have you tried saving to UTF-8?

You were right, it was the encoding problem. I was saving everything in *ANSI * (default Notepad format) not UTF-8. As soon as I switched to UTF-8, everything is working great. Thanks for your advise. Really appreciate it.

Regarding merging CSS3-Buttons with Ultimate-SEO, I guess I should wait until an expert merges it, I am not very good in PHP, and don't want to mess-up my working and earning shopping-cart. :smile:

Hi,
1.3.9h

yesterday I loaded Ultimate SEO URLS v2.110 onto a site and today I had a warning email from Google in WMT saying that I had excessive NO FOLLOW errors - 200+ in fact - ALL in this exact format:
index.php?currency=CAD&main_page=index&index_php%3Fmain_page=product_info&products_id=528&sort=3a&page=9 ... ALL exactly the same except for id number. All 301 re-directs.

Is there a fix for this - please?

cheers,
Mike

shags38:

Hi,
1.3.9h

yesterday I loaded Ultimate SEO URLS v2.110 onto a site and today
Any reason you loaded an old version instead of the latest (2.212)?

shags38:

I had a warning email from Google in WMT saying that I had excessive NO FOLLOW errors - 200+ in fact
Interesting. This plugin does not add any "nofollow" or "noindex" tags to your website (not in links or the header). Did they say "nofollow" or "redirect"? Excessive "redirect" would make more sense... If you are positive it is "nofollow" read the next paragraph. Otherwise skip ahead.

I have heard rumors in the SEO world in regards to addition penalties being applied for "over optimization"... And "nofollow" used on internal links in the past has been abused to manipulate page ranking... You might want to check and make sure you are not using this attribute on a large number of links.

shags38:

ALL in this exact format:
index.php?currency=CAD&main_page=index&index_php%3Fmain_page=product_info&products_id=528&sort=3a&page=9 ...
Strange. I see an attempt at two main_page query terms for two different pages (index = category / main, product_info = product page). This URI does not match the ones generated by Zen Cart or the ones generated by the "Ultimate SEO URLs" plugin.

After browsing your website for about 15 minutes I did not see any links like these on your website... Where is Google seeing these? External links? Sitemap? Etc? You will want to find where these links are coming from and correct them if possible.

While you could add a RewriteCond / RewriteRule to your web server config to match these bad links and correct them, it is almost always better to find and fix any broken links at the source.

shags38:

ALL exactly the same except for id number. All 301 re-directs.
Yes, the old versions automatically used a 301 redirect from the Zen Cart URIs to the ones generated by "Ultimate SEO URLs". They also had issues with "index.php?" appearing twice in the same URI (which should never happen - and could indicate something broken in a template or other add-on).

Automatic 301 redirects are optional in the current version (additional canonical link support has been added). Keep in mind changing a URL using a 301 redirect does incur a minor initial penalty to page rank in most search engines if the page is already ranking.

lhungil,

many thanks indeed for your detailed response - very much appreciated.

Firstly I loaded 2.110 because I had it in my hard drive from previous installations, I now have SEO urls on seven sites - have learned a lesson, always check to see if newer versions are available. Where I have loaded the plugin from scratch I have had no problems at all - it is only with 2 sites where I have loaded it after using normal Zencart dynamic urls - this situation happened a number of times in the past with another site but I didn't do anything about it other than click 'fixed' in WMT.

I have downloaded 2.212 and read the readme.txt So where do I turn off Zencart SQL Cache to be able to run this new version on 1.3.9h replacing the old version? and how would I recognize the files in the database to delete? what files would they be?
If you are running a version of this plugin prior to version 2.150 it is recommended you uninstall the old
version of the plugin > including all database entries prior to installing this version.

I haven't yet upgraded to v1.5 as when I read the instructions just after it was released I found it too complicated - I must try it again I know but I heed to keep the site working efficiently until I do :smile:

cheers,
Mike

shags38:

Firstly I loaded 2.110 because I had it in my hard drive from previous installations
smiles Glad it was not because of a broken / missing feature or installation problems :)

Less than 30% of the code from legacy versions is still present and the legacy code has some known issues with newer versions of MySQL and PHP. For the most part I am only providing support for the updated versions.

If you install version 2.212, make sure you look at this patch and the first post in this thread.

shags38:

I have downloaded 2.212 and read the readme.txt So where do I turn off Zencart SQL Cache.
By default the SQL Cache is not enabled. You can check the setting of "SQL_CACHE_METHOD" in your "configure.php" files.

The main reason I do not recommend using "Ultimate SEO URLs" with the SQL Cache enabled under Zen Cart 1.3 is the plugin will utilize the SQL Cache (if enabled). Doesn't sound like a bad thing.... But there were some minor issues (the last time I tested) with the results returned by the database abstraction layer (when the SQL Cache is enabled) in the Zen Cart 1.3 & 1.5 branches. These minor issues become major when the cache was used for every URI generated on a page ;)

I've included a pre-release of the database abstraction layer (including fixes) from the Zen Cart 1.6 branch which can be used on Zen Cart 1.5 branch and takes care of the issues. I have not tested the changes merged into the Zen Cart 1.3 branch (they might work, or they might break things).

The query_cache add-on (compared to the Zen Cart SQL Cache) typically provides a greater performance enhancement in most situations (but not all). If you were using the Zen Cart SQL Cache, I would highly recommend the query_cache add-on by data-diggers. This awesome add-on is included with Zen Cart 1.5.1 out-of-box.

shags38:

replacing the old version? and how would I recognize the files in the database to delete? what files would they be?
Three parts of the legacy versions of "Ultimate SEO URLs" you should remove.

1. The configuration. There was a function included in the old version to remove any configuration settings in the database and also the seo_cache table. This should be run first. I cannot remember how to call the function, but you can take a look in the seo.url.install.php... and then run those SQL Queries in the uninstall function against the database.
2. The files. Any files you added or changed to install the old version.
   On versions newer than 2.150 you should always use the included uninstall instructions! Do not use the above instructions!

shags38:

I haven't yet upgraded to v1.5 as when I read the instructions just after it was released I found it too complicated - I must try it again I know but I heed to keep the site working efficiently until I do :smile:
Completely understandable. Best wishes when you get time to undertake the adventure!

I found it less intimidating once I understood you could skip all the overwrite and merge. When I do an upgrade now I just install a new clean copy (setup script)... Then copy the old db over the new db... then run the setup script again ONLY updating the database... After that it's just pick a template, add necessary plugins, and make any needed changes. Plus this process allows you to retain your old working installation - just to be on the safe side.

I have download the 2.212 and install successfully. all page run perfect. but the the Categories have some errors.
when I set the Categories as directories to short or full. the categories url rewrite to http://www.site.com/categories-c-1/, not http://www.site.com/categories-c-1.html. and then my site can't load the template. becaue the base url become to http://www.site.com/categories-c-1/ not the default url: http://www.site.com/
who can help me?

The behavior you describe is how the option "Categories as directories" works. It turns all categories into "directories".

When you say "can't load the template", do you mean "external resources (such as css, js, and image files) are not loading"? If so, there is a very good chance your template is using "page relative" links instead of "site relative" links.

So basically you have three main options: A) fix your template, B) use a template which can handle "directories" in the URL, C) turn off "Categories as directories".

There are a number of different ways to fix your template to work correctly with "directories" in the URL. Here are two:
1) Do what the default template shipped with Zen Cart does. Include the following snippet on every page in the HTML head: <base href="http://mysite.com/">. This tells browsers to pre-pend the "base href" to all relative links. While this will fix the problem, some website scrapers (such as those used by Facebook) do not currently read this HTML element.

2) Correct the behavior of your template to use "site relative" links instead of "page relative" links. This can be done by pre-pending every link to external resources with the website root. Zen Cart stores the website root in two constants: DIR_WS_CATALOG and DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG.

lhungil:

The behavior you describe is how the option "Categories as directories" works. It turns all categories into "directories".

When you say "can't load the template", do you mean "external resources (such as css, js, and image files) are not loading"? If so, there is a very good chance your template is using "page relative" links instead of "site relative" links.

So basically you have three main options: A) fix your template, B) use a template which can handle "directories" in the URL, C) turn off "Categories as directories".

There are a number of different ways to fix your template to work correctly with "directories" in the URL. Here are two:
1) Do what the default template shipped with Zen Cart does. Include the following snippet on every page in the HTML head: <base href="http://mysite.com/">. This tells browsers to pre-pend the "base href" to all relative links. While this will fix the problem, some website scrapers (such as those used by Facebook) do not currently read this HTML element.

2) Correct the behavior of your template to use "site relative" links instead of "page relative" links. This can be done by pre-pending every link to external resources with the website root. Zen Cart stores the website root in two constants: DIR_WS_CATALOG and DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG.

thank you very much, now the template is loaded ok, but the categories url rewrite to http://www.site.com/categories-c-1/, not http://www.site.com/categories-c-1.html. there are no ".html". the product info page is ok, it can rewrite to http://www.site.com/categories-c-1/products-p-1.html.
and if I turn off the Categories as directories, then the categories url can be rewrite to http://www.site.com/categories-c-1.html, but the products info url rewrite to http://www.site.com/products-p-1.html?cPath=1. how can I rewrite the categories url to http://www.site.com/categories-c-1.html, products url to http://www.site.com/categories-c-1/products-p-1.html

That is not a currently supported option for many valid reasons (including performance, end user accessibility, and usability considerations). I suppose you could "modify" the code to do what you want... But I will not support the changes.

What business goal are you trying to accomplish by changing the behavior of "Categories as directories"?

Hello,

i'm currently using 1.3.9h and trying to upload the Ultimate SEO module.

i've added the SagePay module only, and I host using United Hosting.

However, i'm having a little problem with Ultimate SEO module upload, namely that:

a) I can't seem to get the .htaccess to successful run after i've changed the RewriteBase line - coming up with a Server 500 Error.

b) I also don't fully understand what the next steps are to configuring it through the admin panel afterwards. Do you have to change http://www.mywebsite.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=91_177_619&products_id=936 inoto http://www.mywebsite.com/flowers/roses

Or will it automatically detect and change?

Your help is appreciated, as i've hit a brick wall... :blink:

christospur:

a) I can't seem to get the .htaccess to successful run after i've changed the RewriteBase line - coming up with a Server 500 Error.
Check your server's error logs. They should show the source of the internal server error (HTTP 500).

Assuming you have installed the latest version from this website (2.212) and your hosting provider is running Apache2... The most common causes I have seen of "500" errors after adding the .htaccess rules are:

1) Server not supporting enabling of symbolic link following in a .htaccess file "Options +FollowSymLinks". Most servers who disable changing this option will have it enabled. If the server error log shows this as the issue, try removing this line.

2) An incorrect RewriteBase (or .htaccess file in the wrong location). The .htaccess file should be in Zen Cart's root installation folder. So if you installed Zen Cart at /var/www/zencart then the .htaccess file should be at /var/www/zencart/.htaccess.

The RewriteBase needs to be the web path to your Zen Cart installation. So if your Zen Cart web root is "http://somedomain.com/zen_cart/1.5.1" then the rewrite base would be "/zen_cart/1.5.1". If it is "http://somedomain.com/" then the rewrite base should be either removed (it is not needed) or set to "/".

3) Server not supporting mod_rewrite. This is very rare and you would need to talk with your hosting provider to have then enable the use of mod_rewrite.

christospur:

I also don't fully understand what the next steps are to configuring it through the admin panel afterwards.
The configuration in the admin interface allows you to enable/disable features, choose which Zen Cart pages to rewrite, and "customize" (chose the format of) the automatically generated URIs.

Thank you so much for the update however when I uploaded all of the necessary files I am coming up with this error message. I have looked on the forum and cant find anything that pertains to my situation. This is the fatal error message that I am receiving when logging into Admin

Fatal error: Call to undefined function zen_draw_admin_box() in /home/kiefer/public_html/admin/includes/boxes/catalog_dhtml.php on line 44

Thanks in advance!

ka1ber:

... Fatal error: Call to undefined function zen_draw_admin_box() in /home/kiefer/public_html/admin/includes/boxes/catalog_dhtml.php on line 44...
If you are running Zen Cart 1.3.9h, I am going to venture you copied / merged files from "1_affected_files_150" and / or "1_affected_files_151" into your Zen Cart 1.3.9h installation. As per the step #1 in the readme, you use the files in "1_affected_files_139h" and "1_affected_files_139h\your_admin_folder" for Zen Cart 1.3.9h. You should not use the files in "1_affected_files_150" or "1_affected_files_151" for Zen Cart 1.3.9h. If this is the case you will need to replace "/admin/functions/general.php" and "/includes/classes/db/mysql/query_factory.php" with the originals from 1.3.9h.

If you are running Zen Cart 1.5, I am going to venture you updated from Zen Cart 1.3 and missed some things during the update. The "zen_draw_admin_box" function is not a part of Zen Cart 1.5. If this is the case you will need to redo the Zen Cart upgrade and fix any changes which were missed.

If you are running a different version of Zen Cart... I would recommend you upgrade to a newer version as soon as possible. The current version of "Ultimate SEO URLs" is not supported on older versions of Zen Cart.

note: "zen_draw_admin_box" is a Zen Cart 1.3.x function defined in "/admin/functions/general.php". Ultimate SEO URLs does not update or replace "/admin/functions/general.php" for Zen Cart 1.3.9h.