vB Easy Archive FINAL - Search Engine Spiderable Hack! Get your posts listed @ google

-- If you've installed this hack, please click here! -- If you want to upgrade to vBulletin 3, look here: https://vborg.vbsupport.ru/showthread.php?t=65703

[high]HOW GOOD DOES THIS HACK WORK??? >>> [/high]Over 29,000 pages spidered since January 1st!!!!!!! Visit http://www3.google.com/search?hl=en&...e+SkuZZy+Xenon to see all the pages this script has helped get spidered into google!

Sub-Forums have been added!

Final Version Released - February 10th

I added sub-forums in this final version, one of the most requested features to be added... but, sad to say... this will be the final version. I never got a chance to add some of the cool features I said, but I feel this archive has served it's purpose and hopefully will continue to do so for all the die hard users who stick with vb 2.2.9. I decided to make this the final version because vb3 is coming out soon and I think this archive is the best archive currently out. Sure, there are more flashy ones, but this one gets the job done and gets results. Hopefully this hack will live on for a while.
Edit by Xenon: Whenever there is a problem, i'll take a look at it, and perhaps add a feature or two

About this hack

This hack will help get all your threads listed in google and other search engines and get your threads easily spidered! It works by creating an archive and turning all your posts into .html format. It doesn't actually create the .html files though, but google thinks they are real! It uses mod_Rewrite. If you don't have mod_Rewrite, you can't use the scripts (sorry).

What does it do?

The purpose of this hack are to get your keywords from your forums listed in google and get people visiting them! Since these are all pure text and don't use tables or excess font tags, they are very friendly on bandwidth! This will display all your files in a nice text format that google will absolutely love! Visit the online demo below to see it in action!

Online Demos

To view a demo of this script, visit some of the "live" demos at the following sites:

http://www.destee.com/forums/archives
http://www.thrillnetwork.com/boards/archive/
http://www.truecountry.com/forums/history/
http://www.strategy-forum.de/easy_archive/index.php
http://www.pimprig.com/forums/archive/
http://www.jokersrewards.com/forum/history/
http://board.midibuddy.net/archive2/
http://x-mencomics.com/xfan/forums/archive/
http://www.macfora.com/forums/archive/
http://www.rcgroups.com/archive/
http://www.codewebs.com/forums/archive/
http://www.lcdmod.com/forums/archive/
http://www.source-forums.org/vB/archive/
http://www.subduck.com/history/
http://www.thesistersthree.com/archive/
http://www.a51forums.com/archive/
http://www.yes-its-free.com/easyarchive/
http://www.wcgateway.com/forums/archive
http://www.toyotaimportsforum.co.uk/forum/archive/
http://www.prisontalk.com/forums/archive/
http://www.gamesites200.com/archive/
http://www.allthingsmoto.com/archive
http://www.2spoemas.com/foros/archive/
http://www.mysticwicks.com/archive/

Requirements

Apache
vBulletin 2.x
mod_mime installed
.htaccess
5 minutes of your time...


Known Problems/Confusion

Mod_mime - You will NEED mod_mime to run these scripts. Mod_mime is a free module which enables a directive called "ForceType". This allows you to use the .htaccess file included to force your files into php mode, which allows simple URL's, without .php in them. If you can see the front page of your archive, but get an error page when you click on any links then this is your problem. To fix it, you will need to install mod_mime, or ask your host to do it. It's a FREE module. For more information, visit http://httpd.apache.org/docs/mod/mod_mime.html

Private forums - Private forums are NOT shown and they will NOT be spidered. Some people say the private forums show up, that is because you are logged in as the admin and the archive uses permissions. So anyone who has permission to view the private forums on your forums, will beable to view them on the archives also. But if you log out of your account OR log into an account that doesn't have access to them, then you won't beable to view them

Credits

Biggest credit goes to Xenon who originally coded the scripts. He is the man! Also thanks to everyone who tested it out for me and kept bugging me about releasing it (when I was too lazy to).

Agreement

By using these scripts & installing them, you agree to leave the small (virtually unnoticable) copyright text and links at the bottom of all pages. You also agree to leave jelsoft's copyright there as well. You can modify the scripts much as you want, but this portion must remain intact (links must stay) and visible. This is all we ask

Download Final

To install, just download the file below and open the "_readme.txt" file. All is explained there. Installation should only take a couple of minutes. If you have problems with this script, post them in this thread and I will try and get around to answering them.

[Velocd]

Heh, do as NTLDR said above also, removing chdir(".."); in topic and forum, since both files are located in the same directory anyway where config.php exists (meaning there shouldn't be a reason to switch directories). This will give you a blank page if not fixed..

[SkuZZy]

Originally posted by X-Fan
Just installed this, and it works great! However, it's including private forums and the threads therein, and I'd prefer they not be archived. Is there any way to prevent this?

Also, how is it possible to have the archive pages display the standard site header and footer?

Private forums are only shown to people who have access to view them. Try logging out of your account on the forums and then see if the private forums show up. The archive uses the same permissions system as your forums. As far as your header/footers, there isn't really a simple 1 click way to do your headers/footers the same as your forums. Just go to your forums source and copy the header/footer directory from the source of your forums. But I wouldn't make the archive too intensive. Part of the good thing about the archive is, it takes not alot of bandwidth. If you add images and alot of hits come in from google, then your bandwidth will go way up!

[SkuZZy]

Originally posted by Velocd
Heh, do as NTLDR said above also, removing chdir(".."); in topic and forum, since both files are located in the same directory anyway where config.php exists (meaning there shouldn't be a reason to switch directories). This will give you a blank page if not fixed..

I released a 2.1 that fixes this small problems. The chdir is unneeded, as long as all files are put into the same directory. For those having the blank pages problem, download the newest version (2.1) updated in thread

[Travis641]

Works now! =) Good work.

[X-Fan]

Originally posted by SkuZZy
Private forums are only shown to people who have access to view them.

Will they be spidered?

And will Google spider the archive page, or the original thread? Preferred they archive the original thread as my site is primarily a news and reviews site.

[SkuZZy]

Originally posted by X-Fan


Will they be spidered?

And will Google spider the archive page, or the original thread? Preferred they archive the original thread as my site is primarily a news and reviews site.

Google will spider the archive page, but NOT the private forums. They will get an error saying they don't have access. As far as them spidering the original thread, there is no way to get them to spider the original thread unless you use a hack like fastforward's hack of filburt's hack, but they can be a bit messy. This one is good, because there is a link provided at the top of all pages "Click here to view the original thread" and people can click on it.

[SkuZZy]

If anyone installs this hack successfully, please post your URL here so I can add it to the demo's list. Of course if you don't want it added to the demos list, that's ok

[w596]

Originally posted by SkuZZy
If anyone installs this hack successfully, please post your URL here so I can add it to the demo's list. Of course if you don't want it added to the demos list, that's ok

Here's one for ya.

http://www.truecountry.com/forums/history/index.php

[X-Fan]

Originally posted by SkuZZy
Google will spider the archive page, but NOT the private forums. They will get an error saying they don't have access.

Will it spider the titles of the threads? If so, I'd rather the archive hack didn't touch private forums at all.

As far as them spidering the original thread, there is no way to get them to spider the original thread unless you use a hack like fastforward's hack of filburt's hack, but they can be a bit messy.

Messy is fine so long as it successfully spiders the original thread.

This one is good, because there is a link provided at the top of all pages "Click here to view the original thread" and people can click on it.

Yes, but experience has taught me that people online are inherently lazy, and 9 times out of 10 won't click the link. Is there any way for the archive hack to at least display any html code in the threads its archiving so that images will show up (in their correct places in the thread) as it's a security concern for me to have URLs displayed as text instead of as the links they're meant to be.

[X-Fan]

Originally posted by w596
Here's one for ya.

http://www.truecountry.com/forums/history/index.php

Hey cool - how'd you get it formatted like that?