Administrative and Maintenance Tools - vBSEO Google/Yahoo Sitemap Generator

vBulletin Google Sitemaps by vBSEO v.2.5 - vBulletin 3.7.x
Download vB 3.8.x Compatible Version Here
Download vB 3.6.x Compatible Version Here
Download vB 3.5.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.

[kyle1745]

If I clear the directory I still get the error. I do have a question since I did install the full version of VBSEO after having sitemap installed. Do I need to modify the VBSEO htaccess?

If I clear all of the files and rerun the generator it makes it all the way to the end then I get this:

[create sitemap file] filename: sitemap_32.xml.gz, number of urls: 18528 [5,460.9Kb mem used] [163s (+0s)]
[create sitemap in text format] part #33 [5,460.9Kb mem used] [163s (+0s)]
[create sitemap index] filename: sitemap_index.xml.gz, number of sitemaps: 32 [5,470.2Kb mem used] [163s (+0s)]

Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 33554432 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 38703067 bytes) in /sitedir/forum/vbseo_sitemap/vbseo_sitemap_functions.php on line 1298

[veenuisthebest]

Originally Posted by kyle1745

If I clear the directory I still get the error. I do have a question since I did install the full version of VBSEO after having sitemap installed. Do I need to modify the VBSEO htaccess?

If I clear all of the files and rerun the generator it makes it all the way to the end then I get this:

[create sitemap file] filename: sitemap_32.xml.gz, number of urls: 18528 [5,460.9Kb mem used] [163s (+0s)]
[create sitemap in text format] part #33 [5,460.9Kb mem used] [163s (+0s)]
[create sitemap index] filename: sitemap_index.xml.gz, number of sitemaps: 32 [5,470.2Kb mem used] [163s (+0s)]

Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 33554432 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 38703067 bytes) in /sitedir/forum/vbseo_sitemap/vbseo_sitemap_functions.php on line 1298

no vbseo's .htaccess is already modified for vbSEO and Sitemap generator both. so you just need to upload the .htaccess that came with vBSEO package.

try disabling Generate Yahoo-Compatible Text Sitemap in vBSEO sitemap settings.

[ugr|dual]

I installed this version with vb 3.73pl1.

Starting the cron job manually for the first time gave me a memory allocation error with over 1 gig wanted by the script.

I then cleared the data directory from *.gz and started again - worked.

However, the cron job is doing very strange things.

Let's say I have 48 sitemaps in data with #48 being below my limit of 50000 URLs. It then just adds a #49 with URLs from vbseo_sm_vba.php - no forum URLs added or changed, which is not correct.

So I set up a batch clearing the directory from *.gz prior to the cron job - same behaviour, but now I just have that #49, the index (correct with all files) and a Yahoo list (also only few URLs) in there.

Having the cron job run a second time does exactly the same again. I have to clear the directory manually, login and run the job. That's the only way everything is ok.

Any hints on this one?

I am a vbseo owner but do not use it currently, not installed.

[Adam H]

I get this error when looking for the sitemap

Not Found
The requested URL /sitemap_index.xml.gz was not found on this server.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

I have installed it all correctly on my other forums but this one seems to be a pain and not working, ive run the sitemap generator and it looks ok :

[homepage] [2,827.3Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[SECTION START] forumdisplay [2,827.5Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 4, total threads: 0, pages: 1 [2,827.6Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 12, total threads: 90, pages: 5 [2,827.9Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 39, total threads: 75, pages: 4 [2,828.5Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 15, total threads: 35, pages: 2 [2,829.0Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 16, total threads: 60, pages: 3 [2,829.3Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 37, total threads: 16, pages: 1 [2,829.8Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 32, total threads: 17, pages: 1 [2,830.0Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 43, total threads: 50, pages: 3 [2,830.3Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 9, total threads: 0, pages: 1 [2,830.7Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 33, total threads: 68, pages: 4 [2,831.0Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 34, total threads: 75, pages: 4 [2,831.4Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 42, total threads: 19, pages: 1 [2,831.9Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 41, total threads: 18, pages: 1 [2,832.1Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 36, total threads: 18, pages: 1 [2,832.2Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 44, total threads: 2, pages: 1 [2,832.6Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 10, total threads: 0, pages: 1 [2,832.7Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 18, total threads: 25, pages: 2 [2,832.8Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 6, total threads: 0, pages: 1 [2,833.0Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 20, total threads: 53, pages: 3 [2,833.0Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 21, total threads: 38, pages: 2 [2,833.3Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 22, total threads: 113, pages: 6 [2,833.5Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 23, total threads: 97, pages: 5 [2,834.0Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 35, total threads: 20, pages: 1 [2,834.4Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 7, total threads: 0, pages: 1 [2,834.5Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 25, total threads: 3, pages: 1 [2,834.6Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 26, total threads: 8, pages: 1 [2,834.7Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 27, total threads: 17, pages: 1 [2,834.8Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 28, total threads: 21, pages: 2 [2,834.9Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 29, total threads: 1, pages: 1 [2,835.4Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 8, total threads: 0, pages: 1 [2,835.6Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 30, total threads: 10, pages: 1 [2,835.8Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 31, total threads: 6, pages: 1 [2,836.0Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 40, total threads: 3, pages: 1 [2,836.5Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 5, total threads: 0, pages: 1 [2,836.7Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 17, total threads: 8, pages: 1 [2,837.0Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 19, total threads: 8, pages: 1 [2,837.3Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 24, total threads: 4, pages: 1 [2,837.6Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 3, total threads: 0, pages: 1 [2,837.9Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 13, total threads: 4, pages: 1 [2,838.2Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 14, total threads: 30, pages: 2 [2,838.5Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[forumdisplay] forum_id: 38, total threads: 29, pages: 2 [2,839.1Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[SECTION START] showthread [2,839.7Kb mem used] [0s (+0s)]
[archive homepage] [3,367.7Kb mem used] [1s (+1s)]
[SECTION START] forumdisplay archived [3,368.7Kb mem used] [1s (+0s)]
[SECTION START] showthread archived [3,392.0Kb mem used] [1s (+0s)]
[SECTION START] member [2,856.9Kb mem used] [2s (+0s)]
[SECTION START] polls [3,306.5Kb mem used] [2s (+0s)]
[SECTION START] blogs [3,306.5Kb mem used] [2s (+0s)]
[SECTION START] albums [3,307.2Kb mem used] [2s (+0s)]
[SECTION START] groups [3,307.3Kb mem used] [2s (+0s)]
[SECTION START] tags [3,307.2Kb mem used] [2s (+0s)]
[create sitemap file] filename: sitemap_1.xml.gz, number of urls: 15855 [2,834.2Kb mem used] [2s (+0s)]
[create sitemap in text format] part #2 [2,834.1Kb mem used] [2s (+0s)]
[create sitemap index] filename: sitemap_index.xml.gz, number of sitemaps: 1 [2,836.5Kb mem used] [2s (+0s)]
Sitemap has been created. Click here to return [2,836.6Kb mem used] [7s (+5s)]

But still not working please help

Im running on Godaddy hosting, i know its not the best but i know it works as my other sites work fine.

[pranaysanghavi]

It says, Your Google Sitemap Index URL: http://www.officechai.com/forum/sitemap_index.xml.gz

• but when i open filezilla, and go to this path, /public_html/forum, i dont see that xml.gz file. if i dont find it, how will google? but yes, i can see a similar file in /public_html/forum/vbseo_sitemap/data
• what is the path I should give to google? It says, You have recently submitted one or more Sitemaps for this site. Processing Sitemaps may take some time. Check again later to see if pages from your Sitemaps are included in Google's index. and the file path I filled int that text box is forum/sitemap_index.xml.gz
• moreover google only accepts xml format, what is that xml.gz format? Do i have to convert it before submitting to google?
  

Which step is correct and which is incorrect; how should i rectify the incorrect one. thanks for the product, and your time to us.

[Adam H]

Originally Posted by pranaysanghavi

It says, Your Google Sitemap Index URL: http://www.officechai.com/forum/sitemap_index.xml.gz

• but when i open filezilla, and go to this path, /public_html/forum, i dont see that xml.gz file. if i dont find it, how will google? but yes, i can see a similar file in /public_html/forum/vbseo_sitemap/data
• what is the path I should give to google? It says, You have recently submitted one or more Sitemaps for this site. Processing Sitemaps may take some time. Check again later to see if pages from your Sitemaps are included in Google's index. and the file path I filled int that text box is forum/sitemap_index.xml.gz
• moreover google only accepts xml format, what is that xml.gz format? Do i have to convert it before submitting to google?
  

Which step is correct and which is incorrect; how should i rectify the incorrect one. thanks for the product, and your time to us.

I believe its like a ghost file generated by the script, if you click on the URL it shows the site map is there, thats what google will see.

Google accept .gz too

[kyle1745]

This worked but how do I correct the yahoo sitemaps?

Thanks for the help,

Originally Posted by veenuisthebest

no vbseo's .htaccess is already modified for vbSEO and Sitemap generator both. so you just need to upload the .htaccess that came with vBSEO package.

try disabling Generate Yahoo-Compatible Text Sitemap in vBSEO sitemap settings.

[veenuisthebest]

Originally Posted by kyle1745

This worked but how do I correct the yahoo sitemaps?

Thanks for the help,

You do not need to *correct* any yahoo sitemaps. They do not accept .txt files anymore, so the same index.xml.gz would work fine for Yahoo

[PWO81]

I just installed the VBSEO sitemap and I followed the directions perfect. But when I go to access my Sitemap reports (I go to http://www.mysite.com/Forum/vbseo_sitemap) I get this error message:

Internal Server Error

The server encountered an internal error or misconfiguration and was unable to complete your request.

Please contact the server administrator, webmaster@mysite.com and inform them of the time the error occurred, and anything you might have done that may have caused the error.

More information about this error may be available in the server error log.

Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.


I installed everything where it needed to be installed. I see VBseo in my control panel and I can see the settings. But when I click on reports I get that same error message. Is it because any reports havent been made yet since its scheduled to run at 2am?

Would anyone know whats wrong?

[Adam H]

Sorry But Bump for my post too, still not working