buildingblocks:

On the live site the USU version is not identified. I didn't install it so can say for sure which version. The file admin/includes/reset_seo_cache.php ...
Just for future reference (and readers) the version of older copies of Ultimate URLs downloaded from zen-cart.com can usually be identified by reviewing the file "/includes/classes/seo.url.php" and "/includes/classes/seo.install.php".

The header posted does not the match the one in the versions of Ultimate SEO URLs available on zen-cart.com.

/*=======================================================================*\
|| #################### //-- SCRIPT INFO --// ########################## ||
|| #	Script name: admin/includes/seo_cache_reset.php
|| #	Contribution: Ultimate SEO URLs v2.1
|| #	Version: 2.0
|| #	Date: 30 January 2005
|| # ------------------------------------------------------------------ # ||
|| #################### //-- COPYRIGHT INFO --// ######################## ||
|| #	Copyright (C) 2005 Bobby Easland								# ||
|| #	Internet moniker: Chemo											# ||	
|| #	Contact: [email protected]									# ||
|| #	Commercial Site: http://gigabyte-hosting.com/					# ||
|| #	GPL Dev Server: http://mesoimpact.com/							# ||

Appears the version previously installed may not have been specifically for Zen Cart or downloaded from an alternative source (and may contain other modifications). You may wish to double check all URLs on the site (and check through all of the configuration settings for Ultimate URLs).

buildingblocks:

... This is the one that worked for me, \s+=> ...
Glad it worked for you!

Interesting (and maybe a little amusing in retrospect), we have seen at least one server where double escaping was required (for example "\\s+=>"). Took way too long for us to identify the cause. Eventually saw a screen shot of the configuration page not showing the correct value and a screen shot of the PHP configuration (and groaned loudly when we noted a much older version of PHP and "magic quotes" enabled).

Just for future reference (and readers) the version of older copies of Ultimate URLs downloaded from zen-cart.com can usually be identified by reviewing the file "/includes/classes/seo.url.php" and "/includes/classes/seo.install.php".

ok, /includes/classes/seo.url.php has this

Ultimate SEO URLs For Zen Cart, version 2.150 / JardaR

Weird, I'll have to look at the stock code for 2.150 (2.200 was a branch off 2.109). Thank You for the information!

lhungil:

IMHO the best approach for an e-commerce website in regards to the customer experience would be to

Thank you for your very informative response and your recommendations. I've numerous redirects and rewrites in htaccess already and all are working well. Indeed, under normal circumstances I would not redirect an old product to a new product. But after reviewing the pros and cons (specific to Google policy/algorithm) as far as I understand them, in the short term it appears a redirect is the way to go. I've already disabled the old product in Zen Cart. Once I see enough external links to the new URL, I'll kill the redirect.

Thanks again for your most excellent response. I bow in appreciation.

Couldn't edit my above post.

Not sure why I was thinking redirect, when rewrite was clearly the way to go.

Implemented your recommendation #1, and works just as desired, for both the stock URL and for the SEO URL.

Thanks again for the assist!

Woodymon:

Thank you for your very informative response and your recommendations. I've numerous redirects and rewrites in htaccess already and all are working well. Indeed, under normal circumstances I would not redirect an old product to a new product. But after reviewing the pros and cons (specific to Google policy/algorithm) as far as I understand them, in the short term it appears a redirect is the way to go. I've already disabled the old product in Zen Cart. Once I see enough external links to the new URL, I'll kill the redirect.

Thanks again for your most excellent response. I bow in appreciation.

Woodymon:

Thank you for your very informative response and your recommendations. ...
Woodymon:

... Implemented your recommendation #1, and works just as desired, for both the stock URL and for the SEO URL. ...
You are welcome. Glad the provided example worked in your server environment!

buildingblocks:

... Ultimate SEO URLs For Zen Cart, version 2.150 / JardaR
Ahh, found it (now that I have switched from my phone to my notebook). You are right, in versions prior to 2.200 if "Remove all non-alphanumeric characters?" was enabled whitespace was stripped (and the whitespace to dash code was still called, just never did anything). Of course if the filter was not enabled (default setting), whitespace was not stripped (and the whitespace was replaced with a dash).

Versions >= 2.200 perform detection and add support for the Unicode Character Set (not just ASCII) and do not strip whitespace when the alpha-numeric filter is enabled (letting the later code block replace whitespace with a dash). As previously noted, this results in easier to read URLs (and historically search engines treat a dash as a word boundary).

With the use of canonicals (present in modern versions of Zen Cart and Zen Cart templates), the major search engines will not penalize for the content being accessible from both the older URLs (words mashed together) and the new URLs (now containing a "-" between words). So not a big concern, but for those expecting the exact same behavior as previous versions, adding a PCRE filter will be necessary.

Thank You for catching this change, if I find some time I'll add a note to the installer or in the readme.

I have the latest version of Ultimate SEO and Zen Cart 1.5.4, but coming from my previous 2.210 I get a glitch. I am likely overlooking something, but I searched this thread and could not find it specifically mentioned. When a user is in a category and clicks on an item in that category it merely redirects them back to the category, not the product. Under 2.210 it would redirect to the product URL like yoursite.com/product-name-p-91.html. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

faithofgod:

I have the latest version of Ultimate SEO and Zen Cart 1.5.4, but coming from my previous 2.210 I get a glitch. ...
Please verify: all of the files were uploaded to the correct location, the new .htaccess file was installed and edited per contained instructions, all of the paths in both configure.php files are correct, and the installer was completed successfully. After verifying (easiest way is to walk through the installation again one step at a time), reset your browser cache and the Ultimate URLs cache.

What settings do you have configured for "Admin" -> "Configuration" -> "My Store" -> "Missing Page Check"? What are the contents of both of your "configure.php" files (obscure the db password and admin folder name if present)? What is the full contents of the .htaccess file in the store root (and any .htaccess files in parent folders)? What is the URL of a website were we can observe the behavior (can PM - but hard for people reading the forums to help without being able to observe the behavior - including full requests and responses between the web server and web browser)? What other modifications have been made to the store?

Please do not just copy / paste the contents of files, instead use a CODE block. This can be done by clicking the "#" in the editor when replying. Example: ```
[CODE]pasted contents of file[/CODE]

lhungil:

Please verify: all of the files were uploaded to the correct location, the new .htaccess file was installed and edited per contained instructions, all of the paths in both configure.php files are correct, and the installer was completed successfully. After verifying (easiest way is to walk through the installation again one step at a time), reset your browser cache and the Ultimate URLs cache.

What settings do you have configured for "Admin" -> "Configuration" -> "My Store" -> "Missing Page Check"? What are the contents of both of your "configure.php" files (obscure the db password and admin folder name if present)? What is the full contents of the .htaccess file in the store root (and any .htaccess files in parent folders)? What is the URL of a website were we can observe the behavior (can PM - but hard for people reading the forums to help without being able to observe the behavior - including full requests and responses between the web server and web browser)? What other modifications have been made to the store?

Please do not just copy / paste the contents of files, instead use a CODE block. This can be done by clicking the "#" in the editor when replying. Example: ```
[CODE]pasted contents of file[/CODE]

Thank you for your response.

The .htaccess file is the default one that comes with Ultimate SEO, with the only change being that the shop is changed from /shop/ to /.

"Admin" -> "Configuration" -> "My Store" -> "Missing Page Check" is set to on.

I tried running the uninstaller and commenting out the install in the file, but it does not seem to remove everything from the database. Is there specific tables that need to be deleted that I can do manually to try from scratch?

I really appreciate the help.

============================================================
===== URL Generation Log Started 2015-Aug-29T00:22:19
============================================================
Real URI:      index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=50
Request URI:   /product-name-p-50.html
Canonical URI: 

============================================================
===== Redirect Check Requested.
============================================================
Params from $_GET: products_id=50

Request sent to href_link('product_info', 'products_id=50', 'NONSSL', false, true, false, true)
Parsing Parameters for product_info
array (
  0 => 'products_id=50',
)
Generated URL: http://www.websitename.com/product-name-p-50.html
NO REDIRECT: Alternative URI matched the requested URI.

============================================================
===== Generated Alternative URLs
============================================================


Request sent to href_link('product_info', 'products_id=50', 'NONSSL', false, false, true, true)
Parsing Parameters for product_info
array (
  0 => 'products_id=50',
)
Generated URL: http://www.websitename.com/product_info.html?products_id=50

Request sent to href_link('index', '', 'NONSSL', true, false, true, true)
Generated URL: http://www.websitename.com/

Request sent to href_link('index', 'cPath=1', 'NONSSL', true, false, true, true)
Parsing Parameters for index
array (
  0 => 'cPath=1',
)
Generated URL: http://www.websitename.com/product-name-c-1.html

Request sent to href_link('_info', 'cPath=1&products_id=50', 'NONSSL', true, false, true, true)
Page was not in the list of pages to rewrite, URI not generated!

The above is an example of the error log.

faithofgod:

... I tried running the uninstaller and commenting out the install in the file, but it does not seem to remove everything from the database. Is there specific tables that need to be deleted that I can do manually to try from scratch? ...
What version of Ultimate URLs are you trying to install? The current version does not require any "commenting out of the install in the file". The current version also removes stuff from previous versions during installation and when uninstalled will remove stuff from the current version. Please make sure you use and reference the readme supplied with the current version of Ultimate URLs.

I am unable to duplicate the behavior you are experiencing with a clean install of Zen Cart 1.5.4 and the latest version of Ultimate URLs. So the question is: "How is your store different"? Unless you are willing to supply the other information requested it will be difficult for us to attempt to help you further via the Zen Cart forums.

As a reminder here is what we need to know:

1. What is the URL of a website were we can observe the behavior?
2. What are the full contents of "/includes/configure.php" (obscure the db password)?
3. What are the full contents of "/your_admin_folder/includes/configure.php" (obscure the db password and admin folder name if present)?
4. What are the full contents of the .htaccess file at "/user/abc5/"?
5. What are the full contents of the .htaccess file at "/user/abc5/public_html/"?
6. What are the full contents of the .htaccess file at "/user/abc5/public_html/shop/"?
7. What other modifications have been made to the store?
8. What version of PHP is being used for Zen Cart ("admin" -> "version")?
9. What process was used to upgrade Zen Cart to 1.5.4?
10. When you change to the stock "classic" Zen Cart template, does the issue continue?
11. What "Product Type" is being used for products in your store ("Product - General", "Document - General", "Product - Free Shipping", etc)?

faithofgod:

============================================================
===== URL Generation Log Started 2015-Aug-29T00:22:19

Real URI: index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=50
Request URI: /product-name-p-50.html
Canonical URI:

============================================================
===== Redirect Check Requested.

Params from $_GET: products_id=50

Request sent to href_link('product_info', 'products_id=50', 'NONSSL', false, true, false, true)
Parsing Parameters for product_info
array (
0 => 'products_id=50',
)
Generated URL: http://www.websitename.com/product-name-p-50.html
[B]NO REDIRECT:[/B] Alternative URI matched the requested URI.

...

Request sent to href_link('_info', 'cPath=1&products_id=50', 'NONSSL', true, false, true, true) ...

> ...
Thank You for supplying an example copy of the **Ultimate URLs debug log**. The above log shows Ultimate URLs working correctly (and not issuing a 301 redirect). It also shows some code on your site passing an invalid Zen Cart page name (_info) to Ultimate URLs (which is correctly ignored by Ultimate URLs and passed back to Zen Cart to handle). Based upon the limited information provided so far, the problem is more likely with a server configuration (such as not quite correct directives in a .htaccess file) or with other modifications to Zen Cart 1.5.4 present on your site (such as the theme templates or product types).

A client with an existing store has requested that USU be installed on his site. Once installed and enabled, will USU perform a 301-redirect from the "old style" links to the new, USU-style, ones? I'm concerned that this change might adversely affect his products' rankings and I don't want him to get dinged for any duplicate content.

If you enable "automatic redirects" it will perform 301s. If not enabled, it still will correctly use canonicals with the configured URIs (to avoid duplicate content penalties among other reasons).

Perfect, thanks for the detailed answer!

I just installed this plugin on our test site, www4. carmo.nl. It's been updated to zen-cart 1.5.4 before installing this plugin.
Most of the plugin does work for me, but I found that if I select another language while on the homepage, I get a Not found. The requested URL /index was not found on this server.
The link it goes to is www4. carmo.nl/index?language=fr (or one of the other languages we have on our site).

If I select another language whilst on any other page, the page loads in the selected language, just like I expect it to do.

The .htaccess file is in the root of the site.
The version of Ultimate URLs is 2.215
Enable alternate URLs is true
Generate cPath parameters is auto
Alternate URLs end with is empty (no text here)
Enable SEO cache to save queries is true
Format of alternative URLs is parent
Display categories as directories is off
All the enable ... cache are true
Remove problematic characters is punctuation
Filter rules is empty
Filter short words is 0
Enable automatic redirects is false

It happens both with the original setting for Limit alternate URLS to the following pages and with this being empty.

Is there something I did wrong or a setting I should change? It would be great if people could choose another language on our homepage.

Forgot to add this to my post (the one above this one):

No info in the debug logs, the ones in /logs/ the ones in /logs/ultimate_urls/ after saying in the admin interface I want the ultimate urls debug logs turned on, and also nothing in the regular error logs elsewhere on the server.

Siem:

Forgot to add this to my post (the one above this one):

No info in the debug logs, the ones in /logs/ the ones in /logs/ultimate_urls/ after saying in the admin interface I want the ultimate urls debug logs turned on, and also nothing in the regular error logs elsewhere on the server.

Just fo verification, how does the line read in your includes/confgure.php fle that has DIR_FS_LOGS defined in it?

It looks like there are "typos" in your header, see

<!-- Language Container -->
                           	<div class="language-switcher">
                               	<label>Language : </label>
								 
 <a href="http://www4.carmo.nl/index?language=en">en</a><a href="http://www4.carmo.nl/index?language=fr">fr</a><a href="http://www4.carmo.nl/index?language=sp">sp</a>    		                </div>
                            <!-- Language Container ends -->

which should be

<!-- Language Container -->
                           	<div class="language-switcher">
                               	<label>Language : </label>
								 
 <a href="http://www4.carmo.nl/index[B].php[/B]?language=en">en</a><a href="http://www4.carmo.nl/index[B].php[/B]?language=fr">fr</a><a href="http://www4.carmo.nl/index[B].php[/B]?language=sp">sp</a>    		                </div>
                            <!-- Language Container ends -->

Not an issue with USU.

mc12345678:

Just fo verification, how does the line read in your includes/confgure.php fle that has DIR_FS_LOGS defined in it?

It says:
define('DIR_FS_LOGS', '/var/www/edify/logs');

Lat9:
When I use a backup of the site, made just before installing this plugin, the links work correctly and do have a .php in it. Only when I use this plugin does the link generated for the language buttons make it without .php in it.
Maybe you're right and there is another reason why the buttons have an incorrect link in them with this plugin, but I don't know yet why the links are correct without the plugin.

Thanks for trying to help