Google XML Sitemap SEO

[Jack_mcs 962]

SEO 5 and Ultimate SEO are different addons so I don't understand your post of the history file.

[Jack_mcs 962]

Oh, you are right. I don't know how I saw SEO 5 in your post. I apologize for the confusion I caused.

[RAC 3]

Hello @Jack_mcs

I have been having problems with the older version of xml so I have replaced all the files with your new version.

Do I need to delete the old files from phpMyadmin before I import the new sql?

Regards Shaun

[Jack_mcs 962]

Yes. The new sql script will create new configuration entries so you would end up with duplicates.

[RAC 3]

OK Jack thank you,

Sorry to be a pain but how do I do that?

Please keep it simple.

Shaun

[Jack_mcs 962]

It has to be done by editing the database directly. That is usually done using the phpmyadmin program which most hosts have installed. You need to

- Select your database in phpmyadmin.

- Make a backup of your database (export tab).

- Select the configuration_group table.

- Find the Google XML line and note its ID. Then delete it from that table.

- Select the configuration table.

- In the sql tab, enter this command after changing the XX to the above ID you noted:

delete from configuration where configuration_group_id = XX

That should do it.

[RAC 3]

Thanks Jack I was able to delete the files stated, however the new sql has an error :

#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '. HTTPS_CATALOG_SERVER . '/googlesitemap/index.php" target="new" style="color:bl' at line 2

Regards

 

[Jack_mcs 962]

Download the database file that wHiTeHaT provided above. I haven't had a chance to test it but I looked at the changes and they appear to be correct.

[RAC 3]

Thanks Jack that seems to work now.

No doubt I will be back!

Regards Shaun

[Shaun1d 0]

Hi @Jack_mcs

Yes sorry, me again!

How can I check to see if XML is working?

When I go to http://YOUR_DOMAIN/googlesitemap/index.php, I get a bunch of files, all seem to look OK, and there is CONGRATULATIONS! All files generated successfully.

 

All of the below files again seem to generate my files

 

sitemapindex.xml

sitemapproducts.xml

sitemapcategories.xml

sitemapimages.xml

sitemappages.xml

 

However I am not seeing any traffic to my site.

I have also recently added a robots.txt file, does this look OK to you?  (I copied this from one of the forums on here although I have added and removed some items).

 

# Robots.txt

User-agent: *

Disallow: /download

Disallow: /includes

Disallow: /oscommerce-templates

Disallow: /pub

Disallow: /temp

Disallow: /view_counter_badbottrap

Disallow: /account.php

Disallow: /account_edit.php

Disallow: /account_edit_process.php

Disallow: /account_history.php

Disallow: /account_history_info.php

Disallow: /account_newsletters.php

Disallow: /account_notifications.php

Disallow: /account_password.php

Disallow: /add_checkout_success.php

Disallow: /address_book.php

Disallow: /address_book_process.php

Disallow: /addtocart.php

Disallow: /checkout_confirmation.php

Disallow: /checkout_payment.php

Disallow: /checkout_payment_address.php

Disallow: /checkout_paypalipn.php

Disallow: /checkout_process.php

Disallow: /checkout_shipping.php

Disallow: /checkout_shipping_address.php

Disallow: /checkout_success.php

Disallow: /cookie_usage.php

Disallow: /create_account.php

Disallow: /create_account_process.php

Disallow: /create_account_success.php

Disallow: /download.php

Disallow: /info_shopping_cart.php

Disallow: /login.php

Disallow: /logoff.php

Disallow: /password_forgotten.php

Disallow: /popup_coupon_help.php

Disallow: /popup_image.php

Disallow: /popup_search_help.php

Disallow: /product_notifications.php

Disallow: /redirect.php

Disallow: /shopping_cart.php

Disallow: /shopping_cart_help.php

Disallow: /tell_a_friend.php

Disallow: /quotes.php

Disallow: /quotes-closed.php

Disallow: /user.css

 

sitemap: https://www.retro-antiques-curios.co.uk/RAC_Shop/sitemapindex.xml

 

Any help will be much appreciated.

 

Regards Shaun

Edited July 10, 2018 by Shaun1d

[Jack_mcs 962]

Having a sitemap on the site doesn't guarantee more traffic, though it usually will result in that. The best thing to do is to look in your google webmaster tools account. First, if you have added at least the sitemapindex.xml map to the account, you need to do that. Once you do look in the sitemap section to see if there are any errors and also look to see how many links have been processed.  Google won't list the links until they check them. On a busy, established, site that can be done in less than a day. On new or less-visited sites, it could be a month or more. Bing also has such a panel so you should check it too.  If it is god in google then it is probably good in Bing but they do check different things so it is best to look.

While in the above account, run the robots checker to see if any problems are reported. I see two below.

You shouldn't have these two items unless they actually exist on your site. It won't hurt to have them but it doesn't help either.

Disallow: /oscommerce-templates 
Disallow: /view_counter_badbottrap 

Also, any entry for a directory needs to end in a /, so disallow: /includes should be disallow: /includes/

[RAC 3]

Hi Jack thanks for that, I have now logged in to my original account.

I have now signed up for the Google web master account.

I ran the robots.txt checker and get this :

robots.txt fetch failed

You have a robots.txt file that we are currently unable to fetch. In such cases we stop crawling your site until we get hold of a robots.txt, or fall back to the last known good robots.txt file.

 

I removed the two entries and added a / after the includes entry as you suggested.

 

Is it worth cutting the robots.txt file right down?

 

I also attempt to add the sitemapindex.xml but it does not find it, I have checked and it is there.

 

Regards Shaun

 

 

[Jack_mcs 962]

Be sure the account you are in is for your site (some shops have multiple accounts). Also, a link to your site can be https:// or http:// among others. Google calls these "properties". You have to be sure you are viewing the correct property in WMT or the result may not be accurate.

[RAC 3]

I am soooo confused, exactly what properties does google want or need?

I know they want http & https, www and non www, but what else?

Is it just my main domain url, (retro-antiques-curios.co.uk)  or is it the full shop url, (retro-antiques-curios.co.uk/RAC_Shop) or both?

The robots.txt file and my shop folder are in my public_html folder, is this correct?

No matter what combination of properties I use, I am still getting this error message:

robots.txt fetch failed

You have a robots.txt file that we are currently unable to fetch. In such cases we stop crawling your site until we get hold of a robots.txt, or fall back to the last known good robots.txt file.

 

Without getting past my robots.txt file google will not crawl my site.

 

I even cut the robots.txt down to just the includes folder :

 

# Robots.txt

 

User-agent: *

Disallow: /includes/

 

But nothing, still the same error, what am I doing wrong?

I also have several google-site-verification codes, of two different numbers, how many should there be? do you get one for each property you set up?

I have tried following the help and tips on the google webmaster site, but these are too technical, is there an idiots guide?

I would rather not drop everything and spend a week trying to decipher the webmaster page, then still end up lost.

I have spent more time on this addon than I have all the rest of my addons put together, and am seriously wondering if it has just been a complete waste of time and effort on my part, not to mention wasting your time Jack!

Or do I just need a good slap around the face with a large wet slimy cod to bring me to my senses?

[Jack_mcs 962]

When I visit your site, it loads. But when I try to view the robots file, it fails. This doesn't have anything to do with this addon. You've made some mistake in the robots file. You can uninstall this addon and the robots file would still fail. If the file is exactly as you posted it, then I don't know what might be causing it. See if there is an error_log file in the root of your shop and, if there is, look at it to see if there is mention of the robots file. If you can't figure it out, then you will need to ask your host to see why it is failing.

[Psytanium 15]

Fatal error: Cannot redeclare tep_session_is_registered() (previously declared in /home/user/public_html/includes/functions/sessions.php:120) in /home/user/public_html/googlesitemap/index.php on line 61

 

what could be the problem ? thank

[Jack_mcs 962]

Please try this. In the googlesitemap/index.php file, change this line

if (defined('SEO_URLS') && SEO_URLS == 'true' || defined('SEO_ENABLED') && SEO_ENABLED == 'true' ) {

to

if (false) {

 

[RAC 3]

Hello

Sorry Jack, the reason sitemapindex page was not accessible seems to be due to a problem with my .htaccess file. When the .htaccess is removed https://www.retro-antiques-curios.co.uk/sitemapindex is accessible, however my site is then not redirected, so when I go to www.retro-antiques-curios.co.uk, I get the index of / page. The .htaccess file is also in my public_html folder, along with my shop and the robots.txt, along with a bunch of other files.

How do I get around this?

[Jack_mcs 962]

You will need to remove parts of the .htaccess file to find the lines that are causing the problem.

[RAC 3]

I have had no joy in trying to get it all to work.

If I remove the last 5 lines, the robots.txt is seen, but then the homepage reverts back to the index of /

The .htaccess file is

RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off [OR]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\. [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ https://www.retro-antiques-curios.co.uk/$1 [R=301,L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /index.php?/$1 [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !^/RAC_Shop [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ /RAC_Shop/$1

Any ideas?

 

[Jack_mcs 962]

The lines are in pairs of rewritecond and rewriterule so if you are removing five lines, you are breaking a pair. Remove them in twos to test it.

Also, this problem is beyond the scope of this support thread since it doesn't have anything to do with the addon. That makes it difficult for those with addon-related problems to dins a solution. So please open a new thread in the general forum and we can continue there. You will also probably get more replies that way since not everyone will view this thread.

[davinci8 0]

Hi Jack,

Can it be that the SEO URLs when installed in oscommerce 2.3.4.1 Frozen, is blocking the Google SEO XML sitemap creation? I have several Oscommerce CE shops, only the ones with SEO URLs enabled fail to create the sitemaps. When disabled everything work great.

[Jack_mcs 962]

It depends on what you mean by "SEO URLs". If you are referring to the Ultimate SEO addon, then it works fine with this one. See the post above regarding downloading an edited file. Depending upon your version of php, you may need that.
 

[RAC 3]

Hello Jack

I have just set up a cron job through Cpanel, which seemed quite straight forward, however I have received an email error on first run :

/bin/sh: -c: line 0: syntax error near unexpected token `newline'
/bin/sh: -c: line 0: `<input name="textfield" type="text" value="php /retro-antiques-curios.co.uk/RAC_Shop/googlesitemap/index.php" size="50" />'

Any ideas?

[Jack_mcs 962]

It looks the googlesitemap/index.php file is corrupted. Can you successfully run the script manually?