Ultimate SEO URLs Documentation - by Chemo

Welcome to Ultimate SEO URLs contribution documentation!

First, if you are upgrading please read the UPRGADE documentation.

What does this contribution do?

This congribution replaces the stock osCommerce method of creating URLs by passing the parameters (products_id, cPath, etc.) by creating static HTML file URLs.

In this release the cName method of URL generation has been DISCONTINUED. If you are hosted on a Windows server or otherwise need the cName method please use v2.0b

Requirements

osCommerce, CRE Loaded, Zen Cart, or any other osC based solution

>= PHP 4.3.0

Linux based server capable of mod_rewrite

...5 mintues to install the contribution

INSTALLATION - Clean install on sterile osCommerce MS-2.2

STEP #1 - Upload the class and update files

The class file seo.class.php should be uploaded to includes/classes/seo.class.php
The update file reset_seo_cache.php should be uploaded to admin/includes/reset_seo_cache.php

STEP #2 - Edit includes/application_top.php

Find this code:

Directly AFTER add this:

STEP #3 - Edit includes/functions/html_output.php

Find the tep_href_link() function:

////
// The HTML href link wrapper function
  function tep_href_link($page = '', $parameters = '', $connection = 'NONSSL', $add_session_id = true, $search_engine_safe = true) {
    global $request_type, $session_started, $SID;

if (!tep_not_null($page)) {
 die(' Error! Unable to determine the page link! ');
 }

if ($connection == 'NONSSL') {
 $link = HTTP_SERVER . DIR_WS_HTTP_CATALOG;
 } elseif ($connection == 'SSL') {
 if (ENABLE_SSL == true) {
 $link = HTTPS_SERVER . DIR_WS_HTTPS_CATALOG;
 } else {
 $link = HTTP_SERVER . DIR_WS_HTTP_CATALOG;
 }
 } else {
 die(' Error! Unable to determine connection method on a link! Known methods: NONSSL SSL ');
 }

if (tep_not_null($parameters)) {
      $link .= $page . '?' . tep_output_string($parameters);
      $separator = '&';
    } else {
      $link .= $page;
      $separator = '?';
    }

while ( (substr($link, -1) == '&') || (substr($link, -1) == '?') ) $link = substr($link, 0, -1);

// Add the session ID when moving from different HTTP and HTTPS servers, or when SID is defined
    if ( ($add_session_id == true) && ($session_started == true) && (SESSION_FORCE_COOKIE_USE == 'False') ) {
      if (tep_not_null($SID)) {
        $_sid = $SID;
      } elseif ( ( ($request_type == 'NONSSL') && ($connection == 'SSL') && (ENABLE_SSL == true) ) || ( ($request_type == 'SSL') && ($connection == 'NONSSL') ) ) {
        if (HTTP_COOKIE_DOMAIN != HTTPS_COOKIE_DOMAIN) {
          $_sid = tep_session_name() . '=' . tep_session_id();
        }
      }
    }

if ( (SEARCH_ENGINE_FRIENDLY_URLS == 'true') && ($search_engine_safe == true) ) {
      while (strstr($link, '&&')) $link = str_replace('&&', '&', $link);

$link = str_replace('?', '/', $link);
      $link = str_replace('&', '/', $link);
      $link = str_replace('=', '/', $link);

$separator = '?';
    }

if (isset($_sid)) {
      $link .= $separator . $_sid;
    }

return $link;
 }

And REPLACE with this function:

STEP #4 - Edit admin/categories.php

Find this code:

Directly AFTER add this:

STEP #5 - Edit admin/includes/functions/general.php

Add this code to the file just above the ending ?> tag:

STEP #6 - Edit .htaccess file (in your catalog directory)

If you don't have an .htaccess file in your catalog directory create one.

If your store is located in a DIRECTORY add this to the /*directory*/.htaccess file:

NOTE: you will have to edit the "directory" to match your directory name!

If your store is located in the root add this to the /.htaccess file:

STEP #7 - Test the installation

Call your store in your favorite broswer! The contribution should be functional out of the box and all database settings will be installed automatically on first page request. The contribution has an intelligent database installer that detects whether the proper settings are present and if not will install them.

You may need to clear your cache files to ensure that all URLs generated are fresh.

Click a few links and verify everything is functional. Test the add to cart and buy now buttons if you use them. Once you verify everything is working it's time to configure the contribution.

STEP #8 - Configuration

You will find a new setting group in your admin control panel under Configuration => SEO URLs

Enable SEO URLs?

Default Setting: true
This setting enables/disables the SEO URLs contribution globally.

Add cPath to product URLs? *NEW*

Default Setting: false
This setting enables/disables the option of adding the cPath parameter to the end of product pages.
Example: some-product-p-1.html?cPath=xx

Add category parent to begining of URLs? *NEW*

Default Setting: true
This setting enables/disables the option of adding the category parent to the beginning of category URLs. This was added to maintain backward compatibility with <= 2.0b releases.
Example: parent-category-p-1.html

Choose URL Rewrite Type

Default Setting: Rewrite
This setting selection of URL rewrite types. Currently, there is only the 1 type (Rewrite) but in the future there will be more.

Filter Short Words

Default Setting: true
This setting allows a store owner to filter short words which typically add no value. Don't set this too high!

Output W3C valid URLs (parameter string)? *NEW*

Default Setting: true
This setting allows a store owner to choose W3C valid URLs.

Enable SEO cache to save queries?

Default Setting: true
This setting enables/disables the query cache engine globally. If disabled each URL generated will take 1 query.

Enable product cache?

Default Setting: true
This setting enables/disables the option of using cache for the products.

Enable categories cache?

Default Setting: true
This setting enables/disables the option of using cache for the categories.

Enable manufacturers cache?

Default Setting: true
This setting enables/disables the option of using cache for the manufacturers.

Enable articles cache?

Default Setting: true
This setting enables/disables the option of using cache for the articles (if installed).

Enable information cache?

Default Setting: true
This setting enables/disables the option of using cache for the information pages (if installed).

Enable topics cache?

Default Setting: true
This setting enables/disables the option of using cache for the article topics (if installed).

Enable automatic redirects?

Default Setting: true
This setting enables/disables the automatic 301 header redirect logic. This sends a moved permanent header for all old URLs to the new ones. This setting is highly recommended for stores that have already been indexed by spiders.

Enter special character conversions

Default Setting: NULL
This setting allows a store owner to enter a list of special character conversions. Please note the format below.
FORMAT: char=>conv, char2=>conv2, char3=>conv3
NOTE: use a comma as the separator

Remove all non-alphanumeric characters?

Default Setting: false
This setting allows the store owner to remove all non-alphanumeric characters from the URL. This is highly effective and will result in some interesting URLs. For example, some-product-p-1.html will become someproduct-p-1.html

Reset SEO URLs Cache

Default Setting: false
This setting allows the store owner to clear the SEO cache manually.

OPTIONAL - Performance Monitoring and Assessment

In includes/application_bottom.php paste this code just after the opening PHP tag:

To activate the performance diagnostic code append ?profile=on to any URL which will save the setting to your session. Now you should see the performance profile data at the footer. You can browse the catalog and the output will be at the footer. This will allow you to quickly assess the performance of the homepage, category, and product pages. To turn it back off append ?profile=off to any URL.

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