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

[jdingman]

Awesome, thanks bhuwan!!!

[Bhuwan]

Until tyler can update the zip file ....

Here is how to fix the problem..
edit XML file DIRECTLY _OR_ edit the hook titled global_start

Search for:

FROM post AS " . TABLE_PREFIX . "post JOIN " . TABLE_PREFIX . "thread AS t ON(t.threadid=post.threadid) JOIN " . TABLE_PREFIX . "forum as f ON(f.forumid=t.forumid)

Replace it with

FROM " . TABLE_PREFIX . "post AS post JOIN " . TABLE_PREFIX . "thread AS t ON(t.threadid=post.threadid) JOIN " . TABLE_PREFIX . "forum as f ON(f.forumid=t.forumid)

[jdingman]

that worked like a charm, thanks again!!

[Bhuwan]

Originally Posted by jdingman

that worked like a charm, thanks again!!

Glad it works! Let me know if everything else works good!

[xStylezx]

Originally Posted by DementedMindz

personally i think if thats what you want to do then this aint for you... why wouldnt you want your linked seoed? thas what gets me :surprised:

you must be completely misunderstanding me because i find the way im speaking of to be more efficient SEO wise as you eliminate those extra letters (.html)from the url.as to my understanding with that forward slash on the end of the .html wouldnt Spiders/Bots just treat the link more of a like a directory/hierarchy type url instead of an actual .html url such as the threads(because the threads dont have the trailing slash).I just think the .html is a waste in the url once you get rid of the "forumdisplay.phpf?f=" and add the forums name in the url,and throw the forward slash behind that,you got a clean perfectly spiderable url.With the trailing forward slash i just am failing to see the need to put .html prior to that.Im not trying to butt heads or anything,just explaining where im coming from.

Take a look at this url from a phpbb board of mine that is pretty SEO friendly.

http://seorecruit.com/archived-topics-vf16.htm

If you go to the seorecruit.com forum home you will see that all the links to my forums are in a .htm format with no trailing forward slash.Now,i understand if there is a need to have the forward slash,but if so then why not just omit the .html.I know its possible as the new RC2 has the option of getting rid of the .html,but this also eliminates it in the thread urls,where id prefer to have it.

[moftary]

I have to agree with xStylezx. From SEO and WWW standards points of view, links should be /forum_name/ and /forum_name/thread.htm

I would consider this as a "feature request"

[Bhuwan]

Originally Posted by xStylezx

you must be completely misunderstanding me because i find the way im speaking of to be more efficient SEO wise as you eliminate those extra letters (.html)from the url.as to my understanding with that forward slash on the end of the .html wouldnt Spiders/Bots just treat the link more of a like a directory/hierarchy type url instead of an actual .html url such as the threads(because the threads dont have the trailing slash).I just think the .html is a waste in the url once you get rid of the "forumdisplay.phpf?f=" and add the forums name in the url,and throw the forward slash behind that,you got a clean perfectly spiderable url.With the trailing forward slash i just am failing to see the need to put .html prior to that.Im not trying to butt heads or anything,just explaining where im coming from.

Take a look at this url from a phpbb board of mine that is pretty SEO friendly.

http://seorecruit.com/archived-topics-vf16.htm

If you go to the seorecruit.com forum home you will see that all the links to my forums are in a .htm format with no trailing forward slash.Now,i understand if there is a need to have the forward slash,but if so then why not just omit the .html.I know its possible as the new RC2 has the option of getting rid of the .html,but this also eliminates it in the thread urls,where id prefer to have it.

So i n short, your looking for the option of having different extensions for each option (showthread, member, forumdispaly, printthread, showpost) as opposed to having a universal option that covers everything?

[xStylezx]

Originally Posted by moftary

I have to agree with xStylezx. From SEO and WWW standards points of view, links should be /forum_name/ and /forum_name/thread.htm

I would consider this as a "feature request"

awesome,thats exactly what i was talking about

[xStylezx]

Originally Posted by Bhuwan

So i n short, your looking for the option of having different extensions for each option (showthread, member, forumdispaly, printthread, showpost) as opposed to having a universal option that covers everything?

Well that would work.Im really just looking to make the url like this

/forum-name/

instead of

/f-forum-name.html/

or this way would be acceptable too

/f-forum-name.html

As far as the thread urls,i think they are rewritten perfectly.I would just like to be able to configure how forum urls are rewritten,or in the least if i can figure out how to hack it for what im lookin for

[derekivey]

Thanks Tyler & Bhuwan! I think I'm going to install this on my live site now.

Derek