amazing mod I must say.. wonder why i did not noticed it before.

I have few questions:-

1. Why is that .htaccess in forum dir required, i mean what does it actually do ? Is it just for pointing to sitemap file that is in the data dir from site root ? Can't google download sitemaps from inside directories coz I see in Webmaster tools that we can add from inside dirs as well.

Example: sitemap.xml
Example: directory/other_sitemap.xml

2. Right after generating sitemap, is it submitted to Google instantly ? I see in my webmaster tools that it still says, "You have not submitted any Sitemaps".

3. Is it okay to set "Generate Yahoo-Compatible Text Sitemap" to NO. Is it as important as google's ?

4. I have included group.php, album.php and tags.php, yet I see this in report details everytime I generate sitemap:-
Album URLs 0 (-)
Social Group URLs 0 (-)
Tag URLs 0 (-)

Also, I checked in sitemap_1.xml manually, there aren't any url's of either of those 3.

5. In the Sitemap Downloads Log, I see only Google and MSN downloaded my sitemap and not others. Does it take some time ?

6. If I'd like to index other custom vbpage URL's (i.e. not default vbulletin's), how do I do it with this mod and not manually ? Do I need to create a custom addon for that ?

Thank you so much.

You do not upload the htaccess folder, instead just the .htaccess file in it to your forums root.

Toupsx,

did you generate sitemap?


veenuisthebest,

1. it is required that Google finds sitemap in the topmost folder of the site (forum).

2. Google, is "pinged", but it cannot submit sitemap to your google webmaster account, you should do that manually.

3. Yes, it's not required for Google. Earlier text sitemap was used for Yahoo submission, but now Yahoo supports xml sitemap as well.

4. Do you have any groups/albums publically accessible on your forum?

5. Yes, it might take time. You can submit sitemap to Yahoo here: https://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/mysites

6. You can either create an add-on (similar to ones includes in "addons/" folder) or manually insert all URLs in "extra-urls.txt" file and they will be included in sitemap as well.

Yes, its auto-generated over 15 times now, and I manually tried several times. (installed this a while ago didn't know that the links weren't working =\

1. Okay
2. Does "pinging successful" means that sitemap has been successfully submitted to the respective SE's servers ?
3. Okay
4. Yes, i have the groups/albums enabled for guests.
5. Okay
6. So this means that we can index static url's with extra-urls.txt and for dynamic urls we need to create an addon, right ?
7. In the email I get "Live.com Ping" as well but it does not display in Report details in the admincp.

Edit: Think I found a bug. I have 9 static URL's listed in "extra-urls.txt". Then I generated a sitemap. FINE ! All 9 are loaded in the sitemap. But the scheduled task that ran at 2 am did not caught those URL's and gave a -9. Then I manually ran generator and got a +9. Seems scheduled task ain't checking "extra-urls.txt"

Thank You !

Thanks! That worked :)

Install went fine, but when I try to point google to it it comes back with errors:
Do you need to pick a specific type when you add it to google? I tried the following link: http://www.sitename.com/forum/vbseo_sitemap

I installed it carefully
when I go to the sitemap link
http://100fm6.com/vb/sitemap_index.xml.gz
problem solved

THe URL is wrong. Go to vBSEO Sitemap Reports and give Your Google Sitemap Index URL:

This is probably because you do not have the .htaccess in the forums root with the required contents. Read the installation manual.

Hi vBSEO,

I have uploaded everything to the tee (I hope). and when I enter the adress: http://www.yoursite.com/vB-root/vbseo_sitemap/ (with my address entered :)) I get what is showing in the attachment below.

I also did your test to see if my mod_rewrite is able. It re-directed me back to Google homepage - so no problems there.

Your help would be very much appreciated.

PS. I pretty new to this, but am 99% certain all files have been uploaded correctly. I am running 3.6.8 Patch Level 2.

Many Thanks,
Welshy2008.