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--- admin_menu:addons:seo:general_settings:start [2009/01/15 20:14]
jonyo
+++ admin_menu:addons:seo:general_settings:start [2014/09/25 16:55] (current)
@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 This is the general settings page for the SEO addon settings.
+<tip c n>Note:
+This feature does not create files within the system.  It only rewrites the urls used by the system following the instructions in the htaccess file so that they do not appear like dynamic website urls which contain a lot of data within the query string of the url.  By "moving" the data passed within the query string into the url itself it is believed that the urls produced are much more "human readable" and descriptive to search engines.</tip>
 ===== SEO Configuration =====
@@ Line 13: / Line 16: @@
 === Updates requiring .htaccess Changes ===
-So far, there are 2 updates that require changes to the .htaccess file in order to take advantage of new features.
+So far, there are 3 updates that require changes to the .htaccess file in order to take advantage of new features.
+<tip c n>**Note:**  We now recommend that you re-generate the .htaccess file any time the SEO addon needs to be updated.  The versions listed below are the "main" versions that changes to the .htaccess file were required, but it does not list every single version that requires the .htaccess to be updated.  Also if any other addons "use" SEO URL's, such as the Storefront addon, the .htaccess may need to be updated for changes from those addons.  The best practice is any time the SEO addon is updated, go ahead and re-generate the .htaccess contents.</tip>
-== SEO 1.0.* > 2.0.* ==
+== SEO 2.0.0 ==
 When you update from SEO 1.0.0 (used for Geo 3.1.9 and earlier versions) to SEO 2.0.0 or higher:  The first time you attempt to access the SEO settings, it will inform you that proceeding will require changes to your .htaccess and will make it start using the newer format for URL's.  Before that, it will still re-write URL's in the same way that was done in SEO 1.0 so that your existing URL's will not suddenly "break" when you update.
-== SEO 2.0.* > 2.1.* ==
+== SEO 2.1.0 ==
 In SEO version 2.0.*, the titles that are used in the URL (such as the Category title or listing title) used underscores "_" for the word separator.  Starting in SEO 2.1.0 and up, it now uses dashes "-" to separate words, since this is [[http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=76329|Google's recommended word separator]]((And who are we to argue with Google?)).
@@ Line 29: / Line 34: @@
   "-" instead.
+== SEO 2.3.0 ==
+The title in the URL can now have more than just alpha-numeric characters, such as punctuation and similar.  The change was actually done to allow it to work with languages that use non-Latin characters, such as Arabic.  These changes however, require that the .htaccess file is re-generated.
 ==== Re-Write URLs ====
@@ Line 35: / Line 43: @@
 ==== Apply All Settings ====
-TODO: Finish documenting the rest of the settings on this page.
+Changing the URL settings will not have an effect on your site, until you click the "Apply All Settings" button.  This is to give you time to set up your URLs how you want them, and in the mean time the links won't be broken on your site.
+Click the button, then it will display a warning.  If you are sure you want to apply the settings, click "Yes".  Then it will display the new generated .htaccess contents.  You will need to copy/paste the generated contents to your .htaccess file and upload the changes.  Failure to do this can result in broken links.
+<tip c w>**Warning:** When you click "Apply All Settings", you need to copy/paste the new .htaccess contents to your .htaccess file and upload the changes.  If you don't do this, it will result in **broken links** on your site!</tip>
+==== Select All ====
+If there are new .htaccess contents being displayed, click this button to select the contents of the .htaccess file.  You would then copy (CTRL+C in Windows) the text and paste into your .htaccess file.
+===== Customize Re-Written URLs =====
+This will list all of the different types of URL that can be re-written, along with a link to edit the configuration of any of the different types.  Underneith each one it will list an example of what the URL might look like, note that this will display the //live// settings, so if you've made changes to a URL it will not be reflected here (or on the site) until you click on the [[#Apply All Settings]] button.
+<tip c w>**Warning:** The URL Configuration is able to be changed for every different type of URL, but is meant to be changed when you are first setting up your site.  It will **not create re-directs from "old" configurations to "new" configurations**.  If you wish to change a URL configuration and need the //old// configuration URL to re-direct to the //new// configuration URL, you will need to manually create such a re-direct in your .htaccess file.
+Note that this only applies to changes to the URL configurations (for instance, changing "category" to "cat" or removing it altogether from the category URL's configuration).  Some things **do** automatically redirect and will be documented on this page, for example if you have the [[#Force SEO URLs]] turned on and you re-name a category.
+</tip>
 ===== Titles in Re-Written URLs =====
 Note: Changing any settings in this section **does not** require re-generating the .htaccess file.
 ==== Convert Accents ====
@@ Line 50: / Line 75: @@
 **Setting Enabled:**\\
-<nowiki>www.example.com</nowiki>/categorias/83/cuestiones-importantes/anuncios/423/D**o**nde-est**a**-el-ba**n**o.html
+<nowiki>www.example.com</nowiki>/categorias/83/cuestiones-importantes/anuncios/423/¿D**o**nde-est**a**-el-ba**n**o.html
 **Setting Disabled:**\\
-<nowiki>www.example.com/categorias/83/cuestiones-importantes/anuncios/423/Dnde-est-el-bao.html</nowiki>
+<nowiki>www.example.com</nowiki>/categorias/83/cuestiones-importantes/anuncios/423/¿D**ó**nde-est**á**-el-ba**ñ**o.html
 <tip c w>Only turn this setting on if you need it!  It will cause the software to have to do a lot of extra work if you turn this on when it is not needed.</tip>
-=== Compatibility Warning ===
+=== Charset Compatibility Warning ===
 This setting is known to work with the following charsets:
@@ Line 73: / Line 98: @@
 The SEO addon can include titles in the URL, for example the category name if viewing a category, or the listing title if viewing a certain listing.  When it does this however, it must "clean up" the title so that it is suitable for using in an URL.  It needs to replace spaces, and any characters that are not alpha-numeric.
-When the character **&** is found in a title, it will be converted to whatever you set this setting to.  The default is to convert it to **_and_**.
+When the character **&** is found in a title, it will be converted to whatever you set this setting to.  The default is to convert it to **-and-**.
 Here's an example of how the setting would affect the URL:
-Replace & with:  **_ampersand_**\\
+Replace & with:  **-ampersand-**\\
 Category Name: **DVDs & Movies**\\
-Name in URL: **DVDs_ampersand_Movies**
+Name in URL: **DVDs-ampersand-Movies**
 ===== Advanced Settings =====
@@ Line 106: / Line 131: @@
 ==== Force SEO URLs ====
-Turning this on will force a 301 permanent redirect from an //incorrect// URL to the //correct// URL.
+Simply put, turning this on will force a 301 permanent redirect from an //incorrect// URL to the //correct// URL.
 Changing this setting **does not** require re-generating the .htaccess file.
-See the following examples of some URL's that would result in a 301 redirect to the new or correct re-written URL:
+<tip c w>  **Warning:** Turning this on can cause problems on some servers, or if certain settings are not set correctly in your admin.  See [[#Server Compatibility Warning]] below for more info.
+</tip>
+To clarify what we mean by redirecting from an //incorrect// URL to a //correct// URL, see the following examples of some URL's that would result in a 301 redirect to the new or correct re-written URL.
 All the following URL examples use a URL for a listing with the following criteria:
@@ Line 132: / Line 160: @@
 Use this to help prevent duplicate pages with the same content, which can have a negative effect on search engine rankings.  We recommend turning this feature on, as long as your site does not have any problems when it is turned on.
-<tip c w>Warning: Turning this feature on can cause problems if your URL settings are not set correctly, and there can also be problems for rare server configurations.  If you turn the feature on, make sure that it does not cause "endless redirects" when you visit a re-written URL.  If you do, turn the feature back off.
+=== Server Compatibility Warning ===
+The [[#Force SEO URLs]] feature relies on 3 things to work:
+  * [[admin_menu/site_setup/general_settings/start#Site URL]] set in your admin, for NON-SSL pages.
+  * [[admin_menu/site_setup/general_settings/start#Secure SSL Site URL]] set in your admin, for SSL pages.
+  * **_SERVER[REQUEST_URI]** as reported by the server.  If you have the above 2 admin settings set correctly and still have problems with turning on [[#Force SEO URLs]], most likely your server is not reporting **REQUEST_URI** the standard way (or possibly not at all).
+Since it relies on the above 3 things to detect whether the current URL is //correct// or not, if any of them are not working properly, it can **break** the site to turn on [[#Force SEO URLs]].  If you turn the feature on, make sure that it does not cause //endless redirects// or cause it to redirect to the wrong URL, when you visit a re-written URL.  It is rare, but if you do experience any problems, turn the feature back off immediately if your site is live, until you are able to determine cause.
+**Technical details:**
+  * If the [[admin_menu/site_setup/general_settings/start#Site URL]] or [[admin_menu/site_setup/general_settings/start#Secure SSL Site URL]] is set incorrectly, it can re-direct to the wrong place or cause //endless redirects//, or any number of different problems depending on what you have those settings set to, so be sure they are set correctly according to the linked help page.
+  * If your server //improperly// reports the **REQUEST_URI** of the page, it can cause "endless redirects".
+  * If your server //does not// report the **REQUEST_URI** at all, the force SEO URL feature will simply have no effect when turned on.
+===== Extra Page Urls =====
-**Technical details:** If your server //improperly// reports the **REQUEST_URI** of the page, it can potentially cause "endless redirects".  If your server does not report the "REQUEST_URI" at all, the force SEO URL feature will simply have no effect when turned on.  If the [[admin_menu/site_setup/general_settings/start#Site URL]] or [[admin_menu/site_setup/general_settings/start#Secure SSL Site URL]] is set incorrectly, it can re-direct to the wrong place or cause "endless redirects", or any number of different problems depending on what you have those settings set to, so be sure they are set correctly according to the linked help page.</tip>
+This support wiki article has been [[startup_tutorial_and_checklist:usability_configuration:seo:seo_rewrite_extra_pages|moved here]]

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