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Sitemap SEO


Jack_mcs

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Unfortunately I don't understand how it works, what I can do with it, etc. I started with a need for a website/cart and then discovered I needed addons like a sitemap that search engines like Google could use. It became apparent that a "sitemap" was necessary so I searched osc and found your contribution.

However, there is no instruction about what to do with it after the installation. As a newbie, I had difficulty with the installation but that seems to be complete. However, the only thing apparent is a listing that it exists in my administration section of osc. There is nothing else apparent.

I now need to find out what to do with it.

 

Sorry if this seems confusing to you, but from my point of view, it is also confusing.

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Unfortunately I don't understand how it works, what I can do with it, etc. I started with a need for a website/cart and then discovered I needed addons like a sitemap that search engines like Google could use. It became apparent that a "sitemap" was necessary so I searched osc and found your contribution.

However, there is no instruction about what to do with it after the installation. As a newbie, I had difficulty with the installation but that seems to be complete. However, the only thing apparent is a listing that it exists in my administration section of osc. There is nothing else apparent.

I now need to find out what to do with it.

 

Sorry if this seems confusing to you, but from my point of view, it is also confusing.

Here is what sitemaps.org claims is the correct sitemap example.

 

 

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">

<url>

<loc>http://www.example.com/</loc>

<lastmod>2005-01-01</lastmod>

<changefreq>monthly</changefreq>

<priority>0.8</priority>

</url>

<url>

<loc>http://www.example.com/catalog?item=12&desc=vacation_hawaii</loc>

<changefreq>weekly</changefreq>

</url>

<url>

<loc>http://www.example.com/catalog?item=73&desc=vacation_new_zealand</loc>

<lastmod>2004-12-23</lastmod>

<changefreq>weekly</changefreq>

</url>

<url>

<loc>http://www.example.com/catalog?item=74&desc=vacation_newfoundland</loc>

<lastmod>2004-12-23T18:00:15+00:00</lastmod>

<priority>0.3</priority>

</url>

<url>

<loc>http://www.example.com/catalog?item=83&desc=vacation_usa</loc>

<lastmod>2004-11-23</lastmod>

</url>

</urlset>

 

 

I assume there is some way to get mine to look like theirs?

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You're getting the sitemaps confused. This contribution adds a site map to your shop so your customers can quickly find their way around. It also provides the search engines with quick links which means your pages get indexed more quickly. If it is installed correctly, you can see it by going to http://YOUR_DOMAIN_NAME_HERE.sitemap.php.

 

The code you provided an example of is for the Google Sitemap. See here. That addon creates site maps of your site that the search engines use. Your customer won't have access to it.

 

Both of the above are useful for SEO purposes and you really should have them both installed for best results. I hope that clears it up for you.

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No problems so far regarding STS.

STS users can also template the sitemap page by creating a template called sitemap.php.html.

 

One issue that I am working out has to do with the Page Editor contribution (http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions,2841). Minor issues that have to do with that contribution and not Sitemap Seo. Page Editor creates links very similar to Page Manager but uses the pages_id instead of the pages_title.

 

 

This is not my experience with sitemap seo. I had to uninstall it since it removed my STS template on product and categories level, but it didn't touch the index.php.

 

Please advise...

 

Brian

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This is not my experience with sitemap seo. I had to uninstall it since it removed my STS template on product and categories level, but it didn't touch the index.php.

 

Please advise...

 

Brian

Sitemap SEO doesn't have the ability to remove anything. If it didn't work for you, then you either have installed incorrectly or there is something wrong with your STS installation. Bill would be in a better position to assist with that though. You may want to ask in the STS thread in case he doesn't see this post.

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Hi

 

Great tribute, but if I enabels "Display Products in Categories" my site goes from quick to VERY slow.

I guess it's because I have 12000 items in my shop (and more comming)

 

Can I somehow make it quicker? Or is the "Display Products in Categories" not that important at all?

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Great tribute, but if I enabels "Display Products in Categories" my site goes from quick to VERY slow.

I guess it's because I have 12000 items in my shop (and more comming)

 

Can I somehow make it quicker? Or is the "Display Products in Categories" not that important at all?

There's not much that can be done with that many products as far as speed. I suggest you also install All Producs SEO (see my signature). That will solve the problem of displaying the products for both your customers and the search engines.

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Thanks again you guys (and gals)! Your contribs are the best!

 

I'm using SEO Sitemap, Ultimate SEO URLS, and Header Tags SEO. IT WORKS PERFECTLY!

 

I have one question reguarding Sitemap SEO. I have other external links like the one to our phpbb3. How can I add the missing important links to my sitemap? I really hope thats not a dumb question? :blush:

 

Other than that, is there anything else I can do (or install) have to make my site more seo ready?

 

Thanks again! Dont know what I'd do without ya...

 

T

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No, this contribution only deals with pages on the site. I may hadd that as an option at some point. For now, you could edit te sitemap.php file and add the code for the other links. They wouldn't be controllable via admin but they probably wouldn't change enough to matter.

 

There are othe SEO related contributions. See my addons for them.

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Hi, Im a newbie and have only just started trying to update my website and add contribution so please forgive me if what I ask sounds stupid. I have just finished installing this and all seems to be well with one exception. When I click on the site map link in the information box it brings up the page but the headings are missing. The products in the shop are there and other pages, just no headings. I've installed Header Tags SEO if that makes any difference. let me know if you want a link so you can see what I mean.... thanks Jayne

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When I click on the site map link in the information box it brings up the page but the headings are missing. The products in the shop are there and other pages, just no headings.

From the instructions

- Change the settings in admin->Sitemap SEO->Settings Control.

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From the instructions

Thanks Jack I have changed the settings now but when I enable articles manage or any of the other 2 i get an error message. The message for Articles Manager is

 

1146 - Table 'thershop_osc1.TABLE_ARTICLES' doesn't exist

 

select a.articles_id, ad.articles_name from TABLE_ARTICLES a left join TABLE_ARTICLES_DESCRIPTION ad on ad.articles_id = a.articles_id where a.articles_status = '1' and ad.language_id = '1'

 

[TEP STOP]

 

Also, I just noticed that the the site map page doesn't show the onformation text I changed in the sitemap.php file I uploaded.

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Sorry Jack, I worked out the missing text bit.. I just did as you said and added it in the sub heading text in Setting Controls.

 

Just need to know what to do about the Page Manager, Info Pages & Articles Manager now. Do I need to upload other contributions? Thanks Jayne

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Sorry Jack, I worked out the missing text bit.. I just did as you said and added it in the sub heading text in Setting Controls.

 

Just need to know what to do about the Page Manager, Info Pages & Articles Manager now. Do I need to upload other contributions? Thanks Jayne

The options in Sitemap SEO for those contributions is just to allow it to know to look for them. You have to install them for that to work.

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Hi Jack,

google is hitting pages with cPath=0_ I have tracked this down to the "Related Categories" on the product page which if you follow the links gives for instance cPath=0_49&products_id=123 . I can call this page but as it's not following the correct path (cPath=31_49&products_id=123) and the breadcrumb is incorrect (missing). So I'm going to have search engines following incorrect links and be unable to get google off those pages as they'll always get a 200 :(

 

I'm using V1.7 and have HTC and Sams prevent duplicates with canonical urls.

I'm feeling lucky today......maybe someone will answer my post!

I do try and answer a simple post when I can just to give something back.

------------------------------------------------

PM me? - I'm not for hire

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Hi Jack,

google is hitting pages with cPath=0_ I have tracked this down to the "Related Categories" on the product page which if you follow the links gives for instance cPath=0_49&products_id=123 . I can call this page but as it's not following the correct path (cPath=31_49&products_id=123) and the breadcrumb is incorrect (missing). So I'm going to have search engines following incorrect links and be unable to get google off those pages as they'll always get a 200 :(

 

I'm using V1.7 and have HTC and Sams prevent duplicates with canonical urls.

I'm not seeing the 0_49 type of problem but I do see _49, which is not correct. I hadn't seen it before because Ultimate SEO would rewrite that correctly. The following may fix it. In includes/classes/category_tree.php and category_tree_no_products.php, find this line

$category_link = $p_category_link . '_' . $category_id;

and change it to

$category_link = (tep_not_null($p_category_link) ? $p_category_link . '_' . $category_id : $category_id);

 

Also, I'm not familiar with the canonical contribution you mentioned but it is probably causing duplicate canonical meta tags in pages Header Tags uses due to that option in Header Tags. I suggest you turn that option off in Header Tags to avoid that. You should check the final page to be sure, of course.

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I'm not seeing the 0_49 type of problem but I do see _49, which is not correct.

 

_49 occured when you click on a related category from a product page , 0_49 occured in the url when you then clicked a product in the _49 category.

 

 

In includes/classes/category_tree.php and category_tree_no_products.php, find this line
$category_link = $p_category_link . '_' . $category_id;

and change it to

$category_link = (tep_not_null($p_category_link) ? $p_category_link . '_' . $category_id : $category_id);

 

This code removed the _49 & 0_49 issue (thank you) to give cPath=49 but is maybe still not quite right?

 

For instance I have this (without using the sitemap options):

Hair & Body Products (Parent Category) (cPath=31)

Shampoo (Child Category) (cPath=31_49)

Normal Hair Shampoo (product) (cPath=31_49&products_id=123)

 

Using the Related Categories links I get:

Shampoo (Parent Category) (cPath=49)

Normal Hair Shampoo (product) (cPath=49&products_id=123)

and the category menu in column_left isn't highlighted with the active category (as it isn't really a parent category and is hidden beneath cPath=31).

 

It doesn't quite follow the correct path and I'm wonder how google will analyze that? Maybe it makes the child category appear as a parent moving the content closer to route but I don't list the url cPath=49&products_id=123 other than if it's active in your sitemap option. Wouldn't it create extra issues with duplicate content (if we're not dealing with that)?

 

 

Also, I'm not familiar with the canonical contribution you mentioned but it is probably causing duplicate canonical meta tags in pages Header Tags uses due to that option in Header Tags. I suggest you turn that option off in Header Tags to avoid that. You should check the final page to be sure, of course.
Sams mod works fine with HTC so that's not an issue.

 

I'm happy to try some other tweaks.

Cheers

I'm feeling lucky today......maybe someone will answer my post!

I do try and answer a simple post when I can just to give something back.

------------------------------------------------

PM me? - I'm not for hire

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Jack,

it's also showing products that are inactive? OOPS.

I'm feeling lucky today......maybe someone will answer my post!

I do try and answer a simple post when I can just to give something back.

------------------------------------------------

PM me? - I'm not for hire

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It doesn't quite follow the correct path and I'm wonder how google will analyze that? Maybe it makes the child category appear as a parent moving the content closer to route but I don't list the url cPath=49&products_id=123 other than if it's active in your sitemap option. Wouldn't it create extra issues with duplicate content (if we're not dealing with that)?

I don't think it will cause a problem with google. I'll put this on the list to look at.

 

Sams mod works fine with HTC so that's not an issue.

I didn't mean to imply it didn't. What I meant was that they both may create canonical meta tags in the same page.

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I didn't mean to imply it didn't. What I meant was that they both may create canonical meta tags in the same page.

 

No probs - The canonical code is in the inc/htc file so fairly sure it's ok although I did initially think it was that mod that was creating the cPath 0_49 issue. I wasn't aware htc was creating canonicals (I'm not using HT SEO/ Kiss MT remember). Anyway, don't think we need to worry there.

 

 

RE the inactive products issue - where could that be coming from , any ideas? It happens when you click the Related Products link within the product page which shows all the other products in the category. This isn't replicated in the sitemap.php

 

Also, in the sitemap page if you display products under manufacturers, if a product is in more than one category it is listed twice under the manufacturer.

Edited by tigergirl

I'm feeling lucky today......maybe someone will answer my post!

I do try and answer a simple post when I can just to give something back.

------------------------------------------------

PM me? - I'm not for hire

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Wasn't sure whether to post here or header tags controller topic but it seems to be an issue with the catalogue/sitemap.php from this module so here goes.

 

I can add the page sitemap.php and the 3 definitions in admin for header tags controller but they refuse to be displayed on the view source and it's using the default tags - only on this page and no others.

 

Anyone else got that problem?

I'm feeling lucky today......maybe someone will answer my post!

I do try and answer a simple post when I can just to give something back.

------------------------------------------------

PM me? - I'm not for hire

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- go to admin and login

- click on Sitemap SEO in the left column

- click on Page Control in the left column

- scroll to the bottom of the page and click update after verifying all of your languages are displayed

- click on Box Control in the left column

- select any box from the dropdown in the Boxes Individual Control section

- click update once that box loads

- click on Settings Control in the left column

- Fill in the various headings for all languages in use

- go to the configuration group

- click on Sitemap SEO

- change the settings to what you want

 

Jack

 

I just installed this contrib and it is producting the site map but I can't find the area in the admin to adjust page, box or setting controls. I do have the settings in the configuration group. What did I miss?

 

thanks

Sue

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