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

lhungil:

Some important things to understand about this plugin.

• Ultimate (SEO) URLs will not modify the generated URL or respond to requests for any files or directories which physically exist.

• Ultimate (SEO) URLs does not modify the generated URLs for the Zen Cart "admin".

• Ultimate (SEO) URLs will only modify the generated URL on the "customer facing" for the specific pages entered in the configuration for "Enter pages to allow rewrite".

The Recover Cart Sales module only makes modifications (and adds files) to the "admin" side of Zen Cart. So if you are seeing any 301 redirect... This is unrelated to the current version of Ultimate (SEO) URLs.

Some places you can look: Review your installation of the "Recover Cart Sales" module. Make sure you have the latest version of "Ultimate (SEO) URLs" installed. Review any modifications made to core Zen Cart files. Review any custom redirects added to the .htaccess file in the web server's document root, the ZenCart installation folder, and the Zen Cart admin folder. Review any Zen Cart debug logs and your web server error logs.

Thanks for the clarifications. My mistake on the plugin, it's actually Autoresponder+, which does put one file in the store root to run via a cron job.

I checked the module installation and found no errors.
I removed all other code from the .htaccess file.

Still, the file is redirecting.

Oddly enough, I had created a custom landing page for one of the products, saved that in the root and that file does not redirect. Both have .php extensions, so that's not part of the problem.

When I turn the module off in the admin, it takes a few minutes before it takes effect, but it does go off and then the redirect problem stops. The file loads just as it should.

Other ideas or places to look?

Oh, no files in the /logs/ directory to look for clues.

jeking:

Thanks for the clarifications. My mistake on the plugin, it's actually Autoresponder+
Ahhh, quite a different plugin. Autoresponder+ was not created as a Zen Cart "page" (but it still calls includes/application_top.php which in turn loads core portions of Zen Cart including the "automatic redirect" code).

You have a couple options...

1. Disable "automatic redirects" (remember Zen Cart generates working canonicals).
2. Modify Autoresponder+ to be a Zen Cart "page" (can be easily excluded from the pages to be rewritten).
3. Modify the "automatic redirect" code to skip redirecting if the request matches "autoresponder.php".
4. Wait for the massive rewrite of this module (which includes changes to the automatic redirect code). There is no ETA at this time.

If you want to modify the "automatic redirect" code,
Starting at line 1320 of "/includes/classes/seo.url.php" change:

	function need_redirect() {
		$this->need_redirect = false;

		// If we are in the admin we should never redirect

to something like:

	function need_redirect() {
		$this->need_redirect = false;

		if($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI '] == 'autoresponder.php') return false;

		// If we are in the admin we should never redirect

lhungil:

Ahhh, quite a different plugin. Autoresponder+ was not created as a Zen Cart "page" (but it still calls includes/application_top.php which in turn loads core portions of Zen Cart including the "automatic redirect" code).

Ahhh, the source of the problem!

I opted for your option 3. There is a second file, a data feed for ShopMania, with the same problem. But it has the same symptoms...not a Zen Cart 'page' and was using includes/application_top.php.

I added the code (duplicating the line and using one file name on each line:
if($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI '] == 'file_name_one.php') return false;
if($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI '] == 'file-name-two.php') return false;

but it's still redirecting to the home page. Is the code as I added it correct?

jeking:

...
if($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI '] == 'file_name_one.php') return false;
Remove the extra space between URI and the apostrophe. Was a typo :)

Space removed, on both, but redirect still happening. I thought we had it that time.

Turns out all that was needed was a /.

if($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] == '/file_name_one.php') return false;

Did the trick

Thanks for the help. I would not have figured that out on my own.

Hi..

I have just upload the Ultimate SEO URL V2.212

It display the msg as following:
Internal Server Error

The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, [email protected] and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

Additionally, a 500 Internal Server Error error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.
##################################################################################################################################################################################################################___

Can you advice? I hope to have solution asap... :-(
Thank you.

lhungil:

Did you make sure the renamed files do NOT end with .php?

The error message is "Failed opening '/home2/seasonbr/public_html/trade/includes/classes/seo.url.php'". If PHP cannot load the file, it cannot instantiate the class contained in the file.

This error message indicates "Ultimate SEO URLs" was not properly installed. Based upon that error message I can see some files were not copied over. You really need to completely re-install "Ultimate SEO URLs" at this point, not just copy over files as you find they are missing. If you followed all the steps listed in the installation file (and are really using a clean installation of Zen Cart 1.5 using the installation scripts included with Zen Cart) you should not be seeing these kind of error messages.

Detailed Installation Steps
This list assumes you truly have a clean Zen Cart installation. No other plugins or modules installed. No other changes made. No extra php files. You installed Zen Cart using the instructions and installation scripts provided with Zen Cart not 3rd party ones. You just finished the installation and renamed your admin folder.

2. Determine which version of Zen Cart you installed. You still have not told us if you are using 1.5.0 or 1.5.1. These versions are not the same and have different files. So just saying 1.5 is not sufficient.

3. Download the latest version of "Ultimate SEO URLs" from http://www.zen-cart.com/downloads.php?do=file&id=132.

4. Unzip the archive to your local computer. Yes to your local computer. Make sure you are using a program to unzip the files which understands paths (directories). If your local computer is running Windows you can use the built in unzip utility. Otherwise look into a program such as 7-zip (free, opensource).

5. Open and read "LICENSE". Everyone using this module or modifications of this module are subject to the license agreement. If you do not agree you cannot use this module or modifications of this module.

6. Open and read "README_ENGLISH.txt". Yes you really should always read any document packaged with a module. This document contains the short form of these instructions suitable for anyone who understand Zen Cart to install this module.

7. Now you remember when I said is was important to know what version of Zen Cart you have installed, right? Here is where you use the version information. Go to the instructions for copying files to your Zen Cart installation. When you are done come back here and continue.

8. Open your web browser. Go to the administrative side of your Zen Cart installation. Now login with your administrative user.

9. Go to "configuration" -> "Ultimate SEO URLs". Change the settings to match your needs and wants.

10. Edit the example .htaccess file in this thread to match your settings and environment. Make sure you actually read the instructions in the .htaccess file before and during editing. Once done editing, upload the .htaccess file to your Zen Cart installation folder.

Copying files to a clean Zen Cart 1.5.0 installation
First and foremost always use a proper upload tool such as WinSCP. Do not use an online "file manager" or "dreamweaver". If any changed files have been changed by another plugin or template you install, your Zen Cart installation is NOT clean and you will have to "merge" the changes instead of following these steps.

2. Copy the files (including directory paths) from "new_files_150/includes" and "new_files_150_English/includes" to your Zen Cart installation under "/includes".

3. Copy the files (including directory paths) from "new_files_150/your_admin_folder" and "new_files_150_English/your_admin_folder" to your Zen Cart installation under your admin folder (assuming you followed the instructions for installing Zen Cart and renamed the admin folder).

4. Overwrite the files (including directory paths) from "affected_files_150/includes" to your Zen Cart installation under "/includes".

5. Overwrite the files (including directory paths) from "affected_files_150/your_admin_folder" to your Zen Cart installation under your admin folder.

6. Overwrite the file from "affected_files_150/index.php" to your Zen Cart installation.

7. Now return to where you left off in the first list.

Copying files to a clean Zen Cart 1.5.1 installation
First and foremost always use a proper upload tool such as WinSCP. Do not use an online "file manager" or "dreamweaver". If any changed files have been changed by another plugin or template you install, your Zen Cart installation is NOT clean and you will have to "merge" the changes instead of following these steps.

2. Copy the files (including directory paths) from "new_files_151/includes" and "new_files_151_English/includes" to your Zen Cart installation under "/includes".

3. Copy the files (including directory paths) from "new_files_151/your_admin_folder" and "new_files_151_English/your_admin_folder" to your Zen Cart installation under your admin folder (assuming you followed the instructions for installing Zen Cart and renamed the admin folder).

4. Overwrite the files (including directory paths) from "affected_files_151/includes" to your Zen Cart installation under "/includes".

5. Overwrite the files (including directory paths) from "affected_files_151/your_admin_folder" to your Zen Cart installation under your admin folder.

6. Overwrite the file from "affected_files_151/index.php" to your Zen Cart installation.

7. Now return to where you left off in the first list.

Still having problems
If after following all these instructions you still cannot get this plugin working I would highly recommend you hire a developer familiar with Zen Cart to install and configure your site for you. Installation of this plugin is relatively straight forward and very similar to installing any other Zen Cart module / plugin.

Installing more than one plugin / module often involves using a tool such as WinMerge or Beyond Compare to "merge" the changes made by each plugin. If your "template developer" changed core Zen Cart files you will need to do a merge of any files both modified, not just replace the files. If you are not familiar with PHP, MySQL, and Zen Cart this can be a daunting task.

Orkid:

...
It display the msg as following:
Internal Server Error

The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, [email protected] and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.
...
Please Answer the following:
Version of Zen Cart?
Version of Ultimate (SEO) URLs? 2.212
Copy of .htaccess file?
Copy of server error log?
Copy of any Zen Cart debug file(s)?

Typically "HTTP/500 Internal Server Error (or Internal Application Error), indicates a SERVER ERROR (either Apache/IIS, PHP, or another server module). This is a generic error telling you the Web Server itself encountered a fatal error in one of the Web Server's modules. Typical causes are: misconfiguration of the webserver, misconfiguration of directives in the .htaccess file, or the webserver not allowing a directive in the .htaccess. There should be a "log" for server side errors (unless disabled by your hosting provider).

lhungil:

You can read more about the different defines in Zen Cat's configure.php. DIR_WS_CATALOG is the "folder" or "directory" where you installed Zen Cart relative to the Web Server's document root (or in other words what shows up following the domain name in your web browser's address bar). Note DIR_WS_CATALOG should start and end with a slash (/).

So if you have define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/'), then use either use: "RewriteBase /" or "#RewriteBase /".
If you have define('DIR_WS_CATALOG', '/shop/'), then use: "RewriteBase /shop/".

Hi, I found TWI error, same as my error, following yours and TWI.. then, just finally solve it.. thanks a lot to you and twi...
Happy to hv SEO Urls on my website now.. :smile:

Thank You for reporting by following the instructions in step 3 of the readme and inside the .htaccess file you were able to get up and running.

P.S. The name of this plugin is not SEO Urls.
Please use the either the full name: Ultimate (SEO) URLs or the short name: Ultimate URLs to avoid confusion.
Thank You!

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-deals-unicycle-deals-c-1771_1799.html but now it goes to http://www.oddballs.co.uk/unicycle-deals-c-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-trainer-20-unicycle-and-book-deal-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-trainer-20-unicycle-and-book-deal-p-3227.html but leaving the option changed to parent makes the product http://www.oddballs.co.uk/unicycle-deals-indy-trainer-20-unicycle-and-book-deal-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

topcat24:

... 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)...

topcat24:

... 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".

topcat24:

... 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!

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

Hi lhungil,

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.

topcat24:

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.

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.

Okkwebmedia:

...

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.

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.

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

RiverCity:

... 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.