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

[Snake]

I doubt it.
Yes, that's possible by editing the .htaccess of your site.
I believe so, yeah. And I would like to know how do I do that?

[Yorixz]

Can't answer your other questions but "Is this working with Non-English boards ?" -> I bet so, wouldn't know what's different exept for the names of topics/forums? Or do you mean a non-english forum as Hebrew or so?

[COBRAws]

Hope this makes more progress, I dont like the idea of paying more than an owned license of vB to vbSEO and just for 1 year, plus having a text add on every page :S

Gonna install when it comes to final, or close to final.

[cclaerhout]

Can you explain us how to modify the .htaccess file when vB is not at the root.
For example : www.mysite.com/forum

An exemple will be great

[Cole2026]

Originally Posted by Aftermath

Just tested and installed the hack on my test board and guess what? I'm facing a mySQL error... :disappointed:

Hmm, looks like Tyler forgot to add Table Prefixes. I'm at school right now, so can't do anything, but I'll alert him when I get home.

[Datacenter1.com]

Looks like is working without problems in my spanish board !!!

http://www.webhostingforo.com

Nice hack

Thank you

[Snake]

Originally Posted by Cole2026

Hmm, looks like Tyler forgot to add Table Prefixes. I'm at school right now, so can't do anything, but I'll alert him when I get home.

Cool, I'll be waiting for you then.

[Immortal]

Originally Posted by Datacenter1.com

Is this hack work with non english (spanish) boards?

It should, but it will strip out some of the non-English characters in the thread/forum titles. But I can't see why it would pose a problem. If someone wants to confirm it works with their board, that'd be fantastic.

For everyone who wants to see a live demo of vRewrite, I've updated my post here to reflect that. Hosting Talk is not ran by myself but a friend of mine - I'm not sure if he has upgraded since yesterday's beta - I'll check and ask.

Originally Posted by Aftermath

Just tested and installed the hack on my test board and guess what? I'm facing a mySQL error...

Originally Posted by Cole2026

Hmm, looks like Tyler forgot to add Table Prefixes. I'm at school right now, so can't do anything, but I'll alert him when I get home.

Thanks for letting me know. I did indeed forget to add it, sorry. I'll try and release an update very shortly to fix this issue.

Originally Posted by Lizard King

Is it possible to change rewrite from f-forumname-40.html to forumname/ or any other combination ?

Not currently, but I do hope to add it very soon.

Originally Posted by Lizard King

Can we add custom rewrite rules for example , vbadvanced cmps , arcade , geek article and review system ?

You can do it yourself - I'll try and release a tutorial and intergrate some extra features to help make it easier in the next release (1.0). But, if you want to try and make it easier on yourself, you can always contact the author and ask to release an addon compatible with vRewrite. I'll try and get the tutorial up soon for y'all

Originally Posted by COBRAws

Hope this makes more progress, I dont like the idea of paying more than an owned license of vB to vbSEO and just for 1 year, plus having a text add on every page :S

Gonna install when it comes to final, or close to final.

I will do my best to help you and others. I'm doing this all for free and with a day job it can be tricky. But I'm hoping that shouldn't cause any issues.

Originally Posted by cclaerhout

Can you explain us how to modify the .htaccess file when vB is not at the root.
For example : www.mysite.com/forum

An exemple will be great

Using /forum as an example, your .htaccess file should read:

RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /forum
RewriteRule ^f-(.*)-(.*).html forumdisplay.php?f=$2 [L]
RewriteRule ^u-(.*)-(.*).html member.php?u=$2 [L]
RewriteRule ^(.*)-(.*)-newpost.html showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=$2 [L]
RewriteRule ^(.*)/t-(.*)-(.*)-page-(.*).html showthread.php?t=$3&page=$4 [L]
RewriteRule ^(.*)/t-(.*)-(.*).html showthread.php?t=$3 [L]
RewriteRule ^markread.html forumdisplay.php?do=markread [L]
RewriteRule ^(.*)/p-(.*)-(.*).html#(.*) showthread.php?p=$3#post$4 [L]
RewriteRule ^print-(.*)-(.*).html printthread.php?t=$2 [L]
RewriteRule ^sendtofriend-(.*)-(.*).html sendmessage.php?do=sendtofriend&t=$2 [L]
RewriteRule ^search-(.*).html search.php?do=$1 [L]
RewriteRule ^(.*)-(.*)/newthread.php newthread.php?do=newthread&f=$2[L]
RewriteRule ^(.*)/newpostnoquote-(.*).php newreply.php?do=newreply&noquote=1&p=$2[L]
RewriteRule ^(.*)/newpost-(.*).php newreply.php?do=newreply&p=$2[L]
RewriteRule ^p-(.*).html showpost.php?p=$1&postcount=$1 [L]

Thanks everyone for their feedback so far. I'm hoping to make vRewrite much of a success

[Snake]

Originally Posted by Immortal

Thanks for letting me know. I did indeed forget to add it, sorry. I'll try and release an update very shortly to fix this issue.

Alright, I'm waiting for you. I can't wait to get this hack working on my forums. :devious:

Also can you add the rewrite URLs for member profiles too?

(ie: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/member.php?u=80490 changes to https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/member/aftermath.html)

That would be sweet!

[Immortal]

Originally Posted by Aftermath

Alright, I'm waiting for you. I can't wait to get this hack working on my forums. :devious:

Also can you add the rewrite URLs for member profiles too?

(ie: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/member.php?u=80490 changes to https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/member/aftermath.html)

That would be sweet!

Should already do that now

Ex: http://www.hosting-talk.com/u-test-user-6.html