xoRewriteModule is a Hack -- not a module -- for XOOPS 2.0.x and 2.3.x that allows for somewhat more readable URLs, and may help increase your search engine rankings (disputed to a degree). As hacks go, this one is pretty easy because you really aren't touching core code except for one line in one file (header.php). However, you do need to know what you are doing in .htaccess with the mod_rewrite apache module and have some basic intermediate skills with XOOPS. I recently did this on my sites, and it went very well.
The notes below are the XOOPS-forum-ified version of my notes (limited in formatting features). You may find it easier to visit
my notes on the xoRewriteModule, (what I've posted here with any future updates), but I always try to contribute my knowledge back here on X.o to be easily found here.
Latest Version:
1.00 |
Website (DuGruis)
Requires: Apache mod_rewrite module (as well as XOOPS, of course)
InstallationThese instructions are for XOOPS 2.3.X (last done for 2.3.3), but generally should work for 2.0.x as well based on what I've read and researched. Not too bad overall, but still a hack. You should be an intermediate XOOPS user to pull this one off.
Clean InstallI started with
the instructions by HowToDude. However, I ran into some problems here and there, so I had a bit of research. Below is the modified version of that article with other captured research integrated. Without numerous postings, I wouldn't have pulled this off as easily as I did. Some other links I used:
URL ChangerUpgradeHaven't had to yet, but likely you just need to copy the updated files and see if there are any changes to the code. Always test before deploying on a production server, of course.
Rewrite URLs in XOOPS with xoRewriteModule (Howtodude.NET)Before you start:
- Backup your website!
-
check if you have an Apache webserver with mod_rewrite enabled (required)
-
Download the module. Upload the directories/files in the unpacked xoRewrite directory to the XOOPS root.
Installation and ConfigurationFor each module, you will need to follow these instructions. Note that 'newmoddir' is the new directory name and 'oldmoddir' is the existing directory name for the module being changed.
Recognize New UrlsFirst, you must allow recognition of the new URLs. This is done in your .htaccess file (create one if it doesn't exist). Include (or merge) the following lines into your root .htaccess file:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^newmoddir1/(.*)$ /modules/oldmoddir1/$1 [QSA,L]
RewriteRule ^newmoddir2/(.*)$ /modules/oldmoddir2/$1 [QSA,L]
create a similar 2nd (or 3rd) line for each module (but don't duplicate the first line).
Rewrite URLsNext, make XOOPS rewrite the new URLs using the xoRewriteModule smarty plug-in. Edit your /header.php file, find this line (about line 67):
$xoopsTpl =& $xoTheme->template;
modify it like so:
$xoopsTpl =& $xoTheme->template;
//xoRewritemodule
$xoopsTpl->load_filter('output', 'xoRewriteModule');
Note: The HowToDude.net article suggested inserting at a location near the top, but in XOOPS 2.3.3, this caused a blank page, so per another post I added the lines just before the end of the file (just before the closing ?> ), but then I had problems with the cache. Then I noticed that one of the lines in the HowToDude article already existed, so I modified it as I noted and it seems to work properly.
Plug-In ConfigurationLastly, you must edit the smarty plug-in configuration file to specify which modules the plug-in should rewrite URLs for. Edit /configs/xoRewriteModule.ini.php, and for each module, include a line like this:
[xoRewriteModule]
oldmoddir="newmoddir"
For example, assume you only want to rewrite the URLs of the module "tag" (from /modules/tag/ to /tags/). Change:
[xoRewriteModule]
news="actualite"
newbb="forum"
wfdownloads="telechargement"
smartpartner="partenaires"
sitemap="plandusite"
formulaire="contact"
rss="filrss"
extgallery="galerie"
to:
[xoRewriteModule]
tag="tags"
* news="actualite"
* newbb="forum"
* wfdownloads="telechargement"
* smartpartner="partenaires"
* sitemap="plandusite"
* formulaire="contact"
* rss="filrss"
* extgallery="galerie"
The line
tag="tags" defines the new URL of the tag module, and the asterisk comments out the other modules not affected. Edit this file as desired for new modules.
Check WorkingEvery thing should be working now. The URLs are rewritten and the internal links in XOOPS refer to the new, rewritten URLs.
Redirect Old Pages with PHPHowever, the old URLs are still working as well and these probably remain indexed by search engines. To avoid duplicate content (and thus reduced rankings), you need to redirect these to their new location via 301-redirects (signaling browsers/search engines that files have moved permanently). Unfortunately, you can't do this in .htaccess as you will create an infinite loop, thus you must do this in the php code -- for each module (and for each file call you want to redirect). And this is where the real hack occurs. You don't have to do this if it's a new site, though, since those legacy links aren't indexed anywhere.
Generic Example Code:
if (strpos(getenv('REQUEST_URI'), '/modules/moddirname/') === 0) {
$oldurl = getenv('REQUEST_URI');
$newurl = str_replace("modules/moddirname", "newmodulename", $oldurl);
header("HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently");
header("Location: $newurl");
}
As an example, for the tag module, add the following code to /modules/tag/header.php (right at the top below the comments):
if (strpos(getenv('REQUEST_URI'), '/modules/tag/') === 0) {
$oldurl = getenv('REQUEST_URI');
$newurl = str_replace("modules/tag", "tags", $oldurl);
header("HTTP/1.1 301 Moved Permanently");
header("Location: $newurl");
}
You will need to do something similar for each module (and depending upon the module, potentially in several files for each module). Realize that header location commands MUST come before any other output.
That's it: your URLs are rewritten and your old pages are redirected to the new ones.
XOOPS Start ModuleIf your XOOPS site starts on a single module, then you'll likely want to also include this in your .htaccess file. I haven't tested it, but found it in another post.
# To deal with XOOPS redirecting to module as startup
# (only if not doing the 301 moved permanently above)
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/.+/
RewriteRule ^$ /modules/startmoddir/ [L]
# to include root index.(php|html|htm) files
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/.+/
RewriteRule ^(index(.php|.html|.htm))?$ /modules/startmoddir/ [L]
Errors / Defects / ModificationsA few things I found while implementing this:
Plugin ErrorI found a posting about an error in the Smart Plugin code. Fix these lines in the plug-in (change /modules/ to modules/):
$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] = str_replace( $value , 'modules/'.$key , @$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] ) ;
$_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'] = str_replace( $value , 'modules/'.$key , @$_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'] ) ;
Other SolutionsI looked at other solutions, too, of course. Based on some reviews, posts, write-ups and a seemingly lack of documentation and the appearance of abandonment (hard to find the official release), I haven't pursued implementing them. Also, I'm not sure they are actually any better than the xoRewriteModule. From what I understand, first was Reynaldo's ShortURLs and then sim_suin's Simplified URLs (based on ShortURLs). From what I've read, both have problems. xoRewrite works pretty well, and is the proper solution using Smarty IMHO. Links for Simplified URLs:
Simplified URLs |
Simplified URLsInterestingly there is a SEO hack for CBB (aka newbb) 3.08:
SEO Hack for CBB |
SEO Hack for CBB. This also appears adaptable to other modules fairly easily. Might be worth trying. I did read that it had problems with xLanguage, but has code for MultiLanguage.
Good luck!
