vRewrite - SEOed URLs for vBulletin

About

vRewrite is an advance but simple system to rewrite vB's URLs. The rewrite system uses preg_match_all and str_replace to rewrite the URLs. It will rewrite any URLs that are dynamic ex: showthread.php?t= to /the-forum/title-of-the-forum-id.html. Why? SEs (Search Engines) rate results based on filename. Not only that, but most SEs give a "boost" to static URLs (what we do here) versus dynamic URLs. vRewrite accomplishes both of this, for all URLs that a search engine (or a guest) will see.

Installation

Please download vRewrite.zip and read install.html for more information on how to install it.

Requirements

vRewrite assumes that you are using Apache with the mod_rewrite module enabled, and running vBulletin 3.5.x. However, if you ask for support here on IIS' module or on vBulletin 3.0.x - I will be more then happy to assist you.

Contributions

I would like to thank Chroder and Cole for assisting me release vRewrite. I could not have released it if it wasn't for them.

I would like to thank the following people/boards for helping beta test vRewrite and making it a better product.

Gaming Ultimate, BP Gaming, NBS Designz Cyclez, Hosting-Talk and Forum University.

Copyright

I've spent many hours working and perfecting vRewrite. The only thing I ask you to do is if you use it, please keep the link back. If you wish to put it in your style instead, simply remove or comment out that line. However, if you use vRewrite you MUST link back. That is the only thing I ask.

Known Issues

There are no known issues with the latest release (1.0).

Support / Issues

If you have any problems or discover a bug please post here in this thread. I have also included my email in the install.html email for one-on-one support. The only thing I ask you is please do not post this email address publicly - it is my personal email.

Changelog

1.5 Release - vRewrite 1.5 has become stable, and all users under 1.5 RC3 and 1.0 need to upgrade. Support for 1.0 will no longer be offered, and you will be told simply to upgrade. Please continue to keep all bug and feature suggestions on the bug tracker at:

http://www.techhelpforum.com/vrewrite

1.1 Release - Several bug fixes, and a few new features. Details here.

03/26/06 - Updated the thread to reflect vRewrite 1.5 Beta links. vRewrite files has NOT changed.

03/11/06 - Updated the thread to take advantage of vB.org's new prefix feature. vRewrite itself has NOT changed.

1.0 Release (02/19/06) - I have released the much awaited 1.0. This is the first stable release of vRewrite. All users now should be safe installing vRewrite. For more information, and how to upgrade, please see here.

1.0 Preview (01/12/06) - I have released a preview version of 1.0. This is the final version before 1.0 is considered stable. I believe everything should work in this new preview, but one bug (see known issues). Please see here for more information and how to upgrade.

01/05/06 - Updated ZIP to include a fix for boards running a table prefix. You do not need to upgrade unless you previously had SQL errors. You can upgrade by importing the product and choose "Allow Overwrite".

Donations

Any donations are very much appreciated! I do this out of my free time and work many hours on it - all for free. Anything to help is always very welcomed

If you use vRewrite, please click Install. This helps you keep track of additional upgrades and shows to me that you care about vRewrite


You may not post vRewrite ZIP or any files contained in the ZIP on any website. You may not also post any support requests/give support on any website other then this one, without my permission. If you do so, you will get a DMCA for copyright infringement. I do not want this spread to pirated users. Please stop piracy and do not share the source outside of this thread and vB.org/com. Thanks.

Support will only be obtained at:
https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/forumdisplay.php?f=182

[croportal]

yes immortal i think that you correct with new posts thing because this is duplicate content

sorry for my bad english

[Dean C]

Technically, that is false. If you use newposts, and rewrites, SEs will flag this as double content, and removes the entire purpose of a SEO hack other then better indexing. Once a SE thinks you have double content, it is not the best thing especially for many many occurrences. So that is not true, and I would appreciate it if you stop giving out false information in my thread.

Well I'd disagree entirely. The (lastpost link) showthread.php?t=x&goto=newpost serves a function. Upon clicking it, it redirects you to another page. So adding a rewrite for this page only serves a purpose for consistency. Lastpost IS duplicate content because it's showing the same content @ two different URLs. It should definately have rel="nofollow" added to it, and rewriting it is pointless, as all it does is redirect to another page.

Competition bittin' at your ankles there a bit Dean?

All competition is good competition Besides, I'll be recommending people don't migrate from yours to mine (until I make a compatible way for users to migrate without getting a) duplicate content and b) URL inconsistencies)

[Immortal]

Originally Posted by Dean C

Well I'd disagree entirely. The (lastpost link) showthread.php?t=x&goto=newpost serves a function. Upon clicking it, it redirects you to another page. So adding a rewrite for this page only serves a purpose for consistency. Lastpost IS duplicate content because it's showing the same content @ two different URLs. It should definately have rel="nofollow" added to it, and rewriting it is pointless, as all it does is redirect to another page.

You would never want to add a nofollow link on a redirect, now that is just madness. Not only is it removing your showthread URL, but the new post. Now that is just insanity, and I would never recommend that in a million years as that will severely hurt your forum.

In order to properly fix newpost, you need to rewrite the URL itself, and then the function. This will help SEs better navigate and will never end up on showthread.php itself. I would never suggest you not rewriting newpost - as SEs will just flag that as double content and will remove your site or penalize it if it occurs many times.

Originally Posted by Dean C

Besides, I'll be recommending people don't migrate from yours to mine (until I make a compatible way for users to migrate without getting a) duplicate content and b) URL inconsistencies)

You don't seem to worried about duplicate content if you don't worry about newpost at all. And there will be no URL inconsistencies if the proper 404 page is used correctly, and with the brilliance of Google Sitemaps - switching URLs is as easy as snap of a thumb. It is safe to change URLs every once in awhile, any respectable SEO expert will tell you that, if done properly. Even in the first place, meaning majority of URLs is rewritten.

[Dean C]

Originally Posted by Immortal

You would never want to add a nofollow link on a redirect, now that is just madness. Not only is it removing your showthread URL, but the new post. Now that is just insanity, and I would never recommend that in a million years as that will severely hurt your forum.

In order to properly fix newpost, you need to rewrite the URL itself, and then the function. This will help SEs better navigate and will never end up on showthread.php itself. I would never suggest you not rewriting newpost - as SEs will just flag that as double content and will remove your site or penalize it if it occurs many times.

It is not removing any URL; threads are indexed by the spider going into the forum and then entering threads etc. The only forseeable reason for rewriting the lastpost/newpost links in the lastpost column, as I've said already, is for consistency. This is why I have added rel=nofollow to the lastpost links, because even if you rewrite it, it's two different URLs as the search engine will end up at two URLs for the thread, showthread.php?p=x and yourthreadurl.html.

[Dean C]

An example:

http://www.hosting-talk.com/links-an...9-newpost.html

is redirected to:

http://www.hosting-talk.com/showthre...?p=681#post681

But the content is also available on this page:
http://www.hosting-talk.com/announce...ctory-669.html

[Immortal]

Originally Posted by Dean C

It is not removing any URL; threads are indexed by the spider going into the forum and then entering threads etc. The only forseeable reason for rewriting the lastpost/newpost links in the lastpost column, as I've said already, is for consistency. This is why I have added rel=nofollow to the lastpost links, because even if you rewrite it, it's two different URLs as the search engine will end up at two URLs for the thread, showthread.php?p=x and yourthreadurl.html.

If you are adding nofollow to the last post/new post, it is. As soon as a SE comes across a nofollow, it will stop. Meaning, that won't exist, only by forumdisplay, similar etc. But it will not be found by last post/new post. And as I've said before, that is why you rewrite the function so it will not end up at showthread.php?p=id#postpostid.

As I've said before, and I'll say it again, please stop posting false information in my thread.

[Immortal]

Originally Posted by Dean C

An example:

http://www.hosting-talk.com/links-an...9-newpost.html

is redirected to:

http://www.hosting-talk.com/showthre...?p=681#post681

But the content is also available on this page:
http://www.hosting-talk.com/announce...ctory-669.html

And that is the only bug that is preventing it from me releasing it as stable. If you are using showthread.php it defeats any SEO rewrite advantages. Ask any known SEO expert.

This is not a place to discuss such things, as this is a support thread for vRewrite, I appreciate it if you post it in the correct forum and not in my thread.

Originally Posted by Danny.VBT

...Please do not bring up any other similiar modifications or anything else for that matter, it is not fair to the author and anyone else looking for valuable content concerning the hack. If you feel you need to discuss a hack or multiple hacks, you can do so maturely in an independent thread in the General Modifications Forum.

[Dean C]

Originally Posted by Immortal

If you are adding nofollow to the last post/new post, it is. As soon as a SE comes across a nofollow, it will stop. Meaning, that won't exist, only by forumdisplay, similar etc. But it will not be found by last post/new post. And as I've said before, that is why you rewrite the function so it will not end up at showthread.php?p=id#postpostid.

As I've said before, and I'll say it again, please stop posting false information in my thread.

There is only one person posting false information here, and that is you

<a href="link1.php?goto=1" rel="nofollow">a</a>
<a href="link1.php">b</a>

Out of those two links b will be entered. Search engines don't remember rel="nofollow". If you have two identical anchors on a page, one with rel="nofollow", it'll still enter the one without rel="nofollow" on it. And in fact, your modification does redirect to showthread.php?p=id#postpostid, as illustrated in the post before yours. So in essence, you're rewriting a link which internally redirects to showthread.php?t=x&goto=neworlastpost and then externall redirects to showthread.php?p=id#postpostid, which is completely pointless.

Edit: - I'm not talking about my modification at the moment, I'm discussing the reasoning behind why lastpost/newpost has no necessity to be rewritten.

[Dean C]

Originally Posted by Immortal

And that is the only bug that is preventing it from me releasing it as stable. If you are using showthread.php it defeats any SEO rewrite advantages. Ask any known SEO expert.

The idea behind adding rel="nofollow" to the showthread links which serve a function, is that they never get indexed.

[bold]

Alright, quit flirting you two.