vBSEO Google/Yahoo Sitemap Generator for vBulletin 3.6.x, 3.5.x & 3.0.x

vBSEO Google/Yahoo Sitemap Generator - vBulletin 3.5.x
Download vB 3.8.x Compatible Version Here
Download vB 3.7.x Compatible Version Here
Download vB 3.6.x Compatible Version Here
Download vB 3.0.x Compatible Version Here

Note: Version 2.5 replaces all previous versions of the vBSEO Google/Yahoo Sitemap Generator, and now includes support for all the new URL types in vBulletin 3.8.x.

Overview
============================

Providing Google, Yahoo, Ask sitemaps is an essential step towards improving your forums.

The "vBSEO Google Sitemaps" plugin provides a solution that allows your forum to be indexed by the Google (and also Yahoo and Ask) search engines faster, more completely, more effectively, and with less bandwidth consumption.

The ultimate goal is to help you achieve more web traffic for your forum.

Originally Posted by Google's Description of GSM

https://services.google.com/inquiry/publishertools?hl=en_US
Google Sitemaps is an easy way for you to help improve your site?s representation in the Google index. It's a collaborative crawling system that enables you to communicate directly with Google. You get a smarter crawl because you can provide Google with specific information about all your web pages, such as when a page was last modified or how frequently it changes.

Note: This plugin is fully compliant with vBSEO 3.x version. The current version is vBSEO 3.2. However, if you are running vBSEO, please upgrade to vBSEO 3.2 or greater before installing.

Compatibility
============================

Fully compatible with:

• vBulletin 3.0.x, 3.5.x, 3.6.x, 3.7.x and 3.8.x
• vBulletin Blogs 1.0.x and 2.0.x *Optional
• vBSEO 2.x, 3.x *Optional

What does it do?

============================

• Auto-generates a Google XML sitemap for all of your specified forum URL types (including vBulletin Blog URLs).
• Auto-generates a Yahoo text sitemap for all of your specified forum URL types.
• Auto-notifies Google when a new sitemap is generated.
• Automatically sends you a summary of the sitemap generation via email each time it is created.
• Includes only publicly accessible forums and threads.
• Allows Google/Yahoo to find all of your forum URLs without having to spider the forum to find the links.
• Allows Google/Yahoo to find your forum URLs without having to account for query string and/or session ID information.
• Allows Google to give precedence to crawling your higher priority forum pages.
• Allows Google to give precedence to crawling your forum pages that change more frequently.
• Allows you to conserve bandwidth by more efficiently facilitating the crawling processes for GoogleBot and Yahoo Slurp.
• Is 100% compatible with the static CRUs (Content Relevant URLs) used by vBSEO-enabled forums.

How does it work?
============================

Whenever it is scheduled or invoked via the URL, this plugin will generate both the Google XML formatted and the Yahoo text formatted sitemaps. If you selected "Yes" to the Google auto-notification setting, Google will be notified each time the sitemap is generated. The Yahoo sitemap must be manually submitted to http://submit.search.yahoo.com/free/request/.

• Google Sitemap files are gzipped
• Forum and thread pages are listed with pagination (i.e. all pages for each forums/thread are included in the sitemap)
• Maximum Priority is set for Sticky threads.
• Optimization for sitemap generation on large forums.

Automated Reporting Tool
============================

The vBSEO Sitemap includes a report tool, allowing you to track your progress. To access your reports enter the following URL:

http://www.example.com/forums/vbseo_sitemap/

NOTE: Replace "http://www.example.com/forums/" with the full URL to your vB forum root.


You will be required to login by providing your "Sitemap Interface Access Password" from your vBSEO Sitemap settings in:

• vBulletin Admin CP (for 3.5.x/3.6.x/3.7.x/3.8.x users) OR
• vbseo_sitemap.php configuration file (for 3.0.x users) located in the vbseo_sitemap directory in your forum root.

Once you successfully login, you will be provided with a list of 'Useful Links'. Here are the 4 main links:

Show Reports List
The 'Show Reports List' link will display a report of each time your vBSEO Sitemap generator executed, including the (1) date, (2) run time, (3) total URLs included, and (4) and change in # of URLs included from the last generation.

Each vBSEO Sitemap generation record will include a (1) "View details" and (2) "Remove record" link. The "View Details" link shows more detailed information about the sitemap generated. The "Remove record" will permanently delete the record from your reports.

Show Sitemap Downloads Log
The 'Show Sitemap Downloads Log' link will display a report of each time your vBSEO Sitemap was downloaded by either a search engine (GoogleBot or Yahoo) or by another user agent (i.e. Web browser, etc.).

The report includes the (1) date, (2) name of sitemap file downloaded, (3) Bot, (4) IP address of the downloader, and the (5) User-agent.

Each vBSEO Sitemap download record will include a "Remove record" link which will permanently delete the record from your reports.

Run Sitemap Generator
The 'Run Sitemap Generator' link will automatically regenerate your Google and Yahoo sitemaps.

Your Forums Homepage
The 'Your Forums Homepage' link is a quick link back to your forum homepage.

Additional Links
Additional links to various other related SEO resources are also included.


Click "Install"
============================

Please click "Install" to show your support for this script.


Installation & Configuration for vB 3.5.x, 3.6.x, 3.7.x and 3.8.x as a Plugin
============================

Follow the installation/upgrade instructions provided in the docs/readme.html file.


Google Webmaster Accounts
============================

It is NOT required for you to have a Google Webmaster account to run the vBulletin Google Sitemaps plugin. If you decide to setup an account for testing purposes you can do so here:
http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/login?sourceid=gsm&subid=us-et-about2


Copyright & Licensing

============================

• vBSEO Google Sitemaps plugin is copyright protected by Crawlability Inc.
• You are free to download and install this plugin on any vBulletin forum for which you hold a valid vB license.
• Unauthorized distribution of any code and/or documentation, whole or in part, included here is strictly prohibited.
• In addition, the following copyright notice must be maintained.

vBSEO(TM) ? 2005-2009 Crawlability, Inc.


Revision History
============================

02/22/2009 - Version 2.5 Released

NEW FEATURE: Blog tags URLs are included.
NEW FEATURE: Social Group Discussion URLs are included.
NEW FEATURE: Smart Priority applied for the following URL types

1. Show Post
2. Member Profiles
3. Forum Display
4. Poll Results
5. Blog Entries
6. Member Profile Albums
7. Social Groups
8. Social Groups Discussions
9. Social Group Pictures
10. Tags
11. Blog Tags

UPDATE: Compatible with vBulletin 3.8.x. Includes the following updated settings:

1. Priority Range - Show Post
2. Priority Range - Member Profiles
3. Priority Range - Forum Display
4. Priority Range - Poll Results
5. Priority Range - Show Thread
6. Priority Range - Blog Entries
7. Priority Range - Member Profile Albums
8. Priority Range - Social Groups
9. Priority Range - Social Group Pictures
10. Priority Range - Tags

Fix: Social Group Discussion database error is fixed.

Upgrade Instructions
============================

(1) Follow the installation/upgrade instructions provided in the docs/readme.html file.

(2) For versions of vBulletin 3.6.x only: Open "Schedule Manager" in the vBulletin Admin Control Panel (admincp); Remove existing scheduled task for Sitemap Generator if you have one.
Note: The new task will be automatically setup when you import the XML product file.

Other vBSEO Plugins

============================

• vBSEO - vBulletin Search Engine Optimization
  
• vBSEO Conditional Signatures for vBulletin

vBSEO Affiliate Program
============================

We welcome you to join the vBSEO Affiliate Program.

[Pottsy]

Kall,

Cloudrunner's way is the only way I have got this to work, and is the way the .htaccess is written to work. Google doesn't seem to mind either.

[kenfuzed]

After reading 60 of the 90+ pages here I gave up! Can someone help me with the file created for Yahoo? I was able to get the file for Google and see it at
http://biker-talk.com/forum/sitemap_index.xml.gz
so I know that the .htaccess is set correctly. However I can see the file created for Yahoo. I've tried looking for both /forum/sitemap.txt.gz and also up a level. I can however see it under /forum/vbseo_sitemap/data/ via FTP.

Anyone know why I can't see/access the file for Yahoo under the forum directory, while I can access the file used for Google?

BTW, I'm running vB 3.6.4 and not running any of the other vBseo or any other addon product.

[Cloudrunner]

Originally Posted by kall

You are actually supposed to create the sitemap for the topmost level.. ie, root, rather than /forums/. The .htaccess does the magic part, and google sees the files as being in root, rather than /forums/vbseo_sitemap/data/.

Google then knows that is the sitemap to update, as it comes from that domain. (To the best of my knowledge).

Unfortunately the way this system was coded it can only be run from the subfolder.

)O( Cloudrunner )O(

[Cloudrunner]

Alright folks, here it is. The definative [HOWTO] on getting this to work with vBeulltin 3.6.4 with vBAdvanced CMPS installed and the root directory instead of /forum/. This is step by step from modification to installation to notifying Google and Yahoo. I hope this helps some folks out.

1. Ignore the installation instructions given in the archive as it will not work for you very well if you are running vBAdvanced CMPS!
2. In your /vbseo_sitemap/ directory edit the file "index.php".
   • Find the following code:

     define('VBSEO_SMDIR', dirname(__FILE__));

     Add below it the following code and modify it to your server's forum location:

     define('DIR', '/home/yourwebsite/public_html/forum');

     Then find the following code:

     chdir('../');

     Replace it with this:

     chdir(DIR);

   • Save and close "index.php".
3. In your /vbseo_sitemap/ directory edit the file "vbseo_sitemap.php".
   • Find the following code:

     define('DIR', dirname(__FILE__).'/../');

     Replace it with the following code and modify it to your server's forum location:

     define('DIR', '/home/yourwebsite/public_html/forum');

     Then find the following code:

     chdir(dirname(__FILE__).'/../');

     and replace it with this:

     chdir(DIR);

   • Save and close "vbseo_sitemap.php".
4. In your /vbseo_sitemap/ directory edit the file "vbseo_sitemap_functions.php".
   • Find the following code around line 466:

     'url'=>$vbseo_vars['bburl'] . '/' .$sm_filename,

     and replace it with this:

     'url'=>$vboptions['homeurl'] . '/' .$sm_filename,

     making sure to have the 'homeurl' defined in your vBulletin Admincp->Options->Sitename / URL / Contact details->Homepage URL as your root directory, ie.: http://www.your-site.com
   • Save and close "vbseo_sitemap_functions.php".
5. In your /vbseo_sitemap/addons/ directory edit the file "vbseo_sm_vba.php":
   • Find the following code:

     $vba_url = $vbseo_vars['bburl'].'/';

     Replace that with the following:

     $vba_url = '';

     .
   • Save and close "vbseo_sm_vba.php".
6. Upload your .htaccess file to your webroot directory.
   • /home/yoursite/public_html/.htaccess
7. Upload the now modified vbseo_sitemap directory to your webroot directory.
   • /home/yoursite/public_html/vbseo_sitemap/
8. CHMOD your /vbseo_sitemap/data/ directory to 777.
9. Import the product xml that came with this modification by going to AdminCP->Plugins & Products->Manage Products->[Add/Import Product].
10. Go to your AdminCP->Options page and select vBSEO Google/Yahoo Sitemap Generator and fill out the options according to the instructions for the modification.
    • Make sure to put vbseo_sm_vba.php in the Addons Generator Modules section or your vBAdvanced pages will not be included in the sitemap.
    • Save your Options.
11. Create a new vB Cron Job by going to AdminCP->Scheduled Tasks->Add New Scheduled Task and input the following settings (See Attachment 1):
    • Varname: sitemaps
    • Title: vBSEO - Create Google/Yahoo Sitemap
    • Description: Creates a sitemap for google sitemaps.
    • Log Phrase: vBSEO - Create Google/Yahoo Sitemap
    • Day of the Week: *
    • Day of the Month: *
    • Hour: 2
    • Minute: 0
    • Active: Yes
    • Log Entries: Yes
    • Filename: ../vbseo_sitemap/vbseo_sitemap.php
    • Product: vBSEO :: Sitemap Generator
    • vBulletin Default: No
12. Run this new scheduled task for the first time. There should not be any errors listed.
13. Once your scheduled task has run successfully it is now time to submit your sitemap(s) to Google.
    • Login to https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/siteoverview
    • Create a new site listing for your web-root (http://www.your-site.com) if you have not done so already and get it verified.
    • Click the link "Manage *yoursite*"
    • Click "Sitemaps"
    • Click "Add a Sitemap"
    • Select "Add General Web Sitemap"
    • In the resulting input box put the path to your new sitemap xml index document.
      • http://www.yoursite.com/sitemap_index.xml.gz
        • You MUST use this address otherwise it will not work right.
    • Click "Add Web Sitemap"
    • In a few minutes (It may take as long as an hour to get the spider to your site and have google check your files) Google will spider the file and then check and parse it. Check back to https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/siteoverview to make sure no errors occured in the parsing of the files.

I am still waiting to make sure that the yahoo portion of this is working. When it comes back good I'll post specifics on it as well.

Again, These are the steps I took to get it working with my 3.6.4 and vBAdvanced CMPS. I'm certain there are other methods, but this seemed the easiest for me, and if it helps to alleviate issues for only one more person then I am happy.

Namaste
)O( Cloudrunner )O(

[kenfuzed]

Great description! While I already loaded this sitemap gen to my standalone forum, I will be loading vB CMPS soon and this will cut back on the headaches.

Looking forward to hearing if this fixes the Yahoo problem (no output file) I've experienced.

Ken

[Cloudrunner]

Shoot me a pm boss, I'm not sure where the issue may lie, but perhaps I can help with that.

[kenfuzed]

I ran the task again and here is the log:

Generate Sitemap
[homepage] [0s (+0)]
[SECTION START] forumdisplay [0s (+0)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 6, total threads: 224, pages: 12 [0s (+0)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 5, total threads: 490, pages: 25 [0s (+0)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 12, total threads: 58, pages: 3 [0s (+0)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 3, total threads: 1673, pages: 84 [0s (+0)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 9, total threads: 57, pages: 3 [0s (+0)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 13, total threads: 5, pages: 1 [0s (+0)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 7, total threads: 17, pages: 1 [0s (+0)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 11, total threads: 27, pages: 2 [0s (+0)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 14, total threads: 26, pages: 2 [0s (+0)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 15, total threads: 1, pages: 1 [0s (+0)]
[SECTION START] showthread [0s (+0)]
[archive homepage] [2s (+2)]
[SECTION START] forumdisplay archived [2s (+0)]
[SECTION START] showthread archived [2s (+0)]
[create sitemap file] filename: sitemap_1.xml.gz, number of urls: 20000 [3s (+0)]
[create sitemap in text format] part #2 [3s (+0)]
[create sitemap file] filename: sitemap_2.xml.gz, number of urls: 960 [3s (+0)]
[create sitemap in text format] part #3 [3s (+0)]
[create sitemap index] filename: sitemap_index.xml.gz, number of sitemaps: 2 [3s (+0)]

Done

I don't see the txt file being created for Yahoo.

[Cloudrunner]

I got yer PM boss, yer .htaccess is messed up, I sent you a fix. give it a shot and we'll fix it there .

The txt file doesn't look to be being created, double check your options and make sure that you have the yahoo .txt option set to yes, then implement the changes I gave you in the PM.

[kenfuzed]

Got your PM, revisions partially worked. Still don't see the txt file being logged but it is being created

Reply PM sent... I think this is close to being resolved now, thanks!

[Snake]

I have a question. Do I have to submit my sitemaps daily to Google/Yahoo or it does that automatically?