SEO

Hello everyone.

RC7 is now officially released. But, is it bulletproof this time?

Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of our testing team, vBSEO 2.0 will be officially launched tomorrow, Tuesday, September 6th, 2005.

This release was for the most part a refinement release. We corrected the last few lingering bugs, a few issues with vBSEO configuration settings backup and admin password, and slipped in a couple of new features like 'Smart rel="nofollow" for Showpost links?', Image Size Attributes, and a very exciting new feature involving 301 redirects for the new custom rewrite rules!

I trully believe we have gone above and beyond the call of duty to eliminate duplicate content issues and to ensure the search engine spiders and your Web visitors are directed to the right places!

/* Note: Please remember that your download is to be completed following the new procedure in your User CP for the vBSEO forums. */

Here is a summary of updates included in vBSEO 2.0 RC7:

(1) vbseo_cp.php has been renamed to vbseocp.php to make it easier to type without the underscore.

(2) 'Smart rel="nofollow" for Showpost links? feature has been added to the vBSEO Admin Control Panel in the Showpost URLs section.

For thread pages that have only 1 post, the content for the showthread URL for that page and the showpost URL for the single post is the same (i.e. duplicate).

When Smart rel="nofollow" is enabled for showpost URLs, rel="nofollow" is added to the showpost URL for any post that exists by itself on a thread page.

When there are two or more posts on a single thread page, the rel="nofollow" will not result in duplicate content and is not added.

The search engines will index any showpost URL that does not have the rel="nofollow" attribute.

/* Note: Since vBulletin 3.5.x adds rel="nofollow" by default to showpost URLs, vBSEO will remove the rel="nofollow" attribute from any showpost URL that exists on a thread page with 2 or more posts. */

This feature has been setup as default for RC7 installations.

(3) Image Size Attributes feature has been added to the vBSEO CP under the 'Other SEO Functions' section.

The default vBulletin templates do not include "width" and "height" attributes for included images. However, when these image dimensions are not provided, forum page rendering in most Web browsers will be slightly slower because the browser cannot determine sizing information for images until they download them. When this information is specified the browser can display text content in the right locations before the actual images are even downloaded. While this is a performance feature, there is also relevance to SEO.

Search engines can (in theory) use image sizing information as a component of their keyword relevancy calculations. One reason is that image sizing determines where text content will be positioned within the page. Another one is that SE can better determine the relationship of images to surrounding text when calculating the keyword relevancy of your forum pages.

While the SEO improvement of this feature is debatable, there is no risk involved in activating it since it functions only to add image height and width attributes to unspecified forum images.

(4) 301 Redirects from the original URL format to the new URL format for the Custom Rewrite Rules feature - The Custom Rewrite Rules that was included with RC6 has quickly become one of our most popular features. However, we have made it even better now. The original URL format that is rewritten in each of your custom rewrite rules will now automatically be 301 redirected to the new static URL format you create with your rules.

Example:

In the above articles.php?action=rss is custom rewritten to rss.html. With the new feature, articles.php?action=rss will be automatically 301 redirected to rss.html.

(5) Corrected an issue that was preventing forum home index.php files from being rewritten using the Custom Rewrite Rules feature.

Example:

The above will now work. Note: It is better to use this feature after changing your vB homepage filename to something other than index.php, such as forum.php. Otherwise, conflicts with our Homepage Aliases feature will arise resulting in an unnecessary Google PR split.

(6) vBSEO Admin Control Panel Backup Procedure Changed - The XML backup/download procedure is now divided into 3 steps with backup for:

- Backup all vBSEO settings (Will backup all the main settings, 'URL Rewrite Settings' and 'Custom Rewrite Rules')
- Backup only 'URL Rewrite Settings'

This will allow users to share (a) their entire vBSEO settings, (b) only their URL Rewrite Settings, or (c) only their Custom Rewrite Rules.

- Backing up or downloading XML files with the password included has now be removed to prevent further security issues. Instead, vBSEO users will be required to provide a new password (and confirm) when they login to their vBSEO control panel for the first time. Note: Once the password has been changed, the login procedure will continue as normal.

(7) Fixed issue with member profile URLs for member usernames with special characters.
(8) Minor text changes to the vBSEO Control Panel.
(9) Custom rewrite rules are commented out with // if they are invalid.
(10) Unnecessary trailing spaces for custom rewrite rules are now removed to prevent the rules from being considered invalid.
(11) Fixed an issue with XML backup/restore for Custom Rewrite Rules.
(12) Backup XML filenames for the vBSEO Admin Control Panel have been changed to vbseo_all.xml and vbseo_urls.xml
(13) Dot (.) Separator now allowed for vBSEO CRUs. You can find this option under Define Separator for URL Parts in the General Settings area of the vBSEO Admin Control Panel. This feature allows you to get much closer to emulating the CNN.com URL style.
(14) Fixed issue with 'Back to the Forums' link in the vBSEO Admin Control Panel. It now links back to the correct vBroot URL.
(15) Logout feature added to the vBSEO Admin Control Panel.
(16) Layout of vBSEO Admin Control Panel has been changed.
(17) Forum URL requests that do not contain include the sub-domain of 'www' are now 301-redirected to the defined vBroot to ensure PageRank is distributed to one domain format only.
(18) Fixed an issue with a double 301 redirect in the archive pages for thread URLs.
(19) Fixed an issue with multi-page threads when printing and showing all posts on one page.
(20) Fixed an issue that was allowing HTML tags to be included in META tag content.
(21) Fixed an issue with vBSEO PHP error reporting.
(22) Fixed issue with "View Full Version" link on vB archive pages related to index.php and the homepage aliases.
(23) Fixed issue with URL rewriting for polls and attachments.
(24) Fixed issue with invalid custom rewrite rules that caused vBSEO to work incorrectly. All custom rewrite rules are evaluated before saving. Invalid rules will be automatically removed.
(25) Fixed issue with ampersands (&) in the custom rewrite rules.
(26) Fixed issue with relative URLs (converted to absolute).
(27) Fixed issue with rerwritten vB archive links that incorrectly forwarded to forum home when a trailing slash was not added.
(28) Fixed issue with <br/> and <div> tags that were preventing full XHTML compliance.
(29) Minor text changes to the vBSEO Control Panel.
(30) Custom rewrite rules are commented out with // if they are invalid.
(31) Unnecessary trailing spaces for custom rewrite rules are now removed to prevent the rules from being considered invalid.
(32) Corrected an internal error message to read: NOTE: "Your /includes/config_vbseo.php file must be CHMOD 666".

So please do your best to disprove our theory that vBSEO 2.0 RC7 is now bulletproof

We'll be reviewing the remaining 'Tester's License' requests between tonight & tomorrow and will get back to each one of you.

We'll open the 'Custom Rewrite Rules' Forums with the Go-Live! You will be able to post your custom rewrite rules so that others can become familiar with the process and/or use your rules to rewrite URLs for mods you both have installed.

Install Instructions:
(1) Backup your .XML settings file (through 'forums/vbseo_cp.php')
(2) Upload all the files in the '/upload' folder
(3) Restore your previous settings by uploading your backup .XML file




Juan

/*Note: Our original request for vBSEO testers has been updated at vBulletin.org. To see the updated post, please visit vBSEO - vBulletin SEO (Search Engine Optimization) - Testers Needed for RC7 */

Discuss the announcement 'vBSEO 2.0 RC7 Released' in this thread.

Note: Please do not post bug reports on this thread or discuss issues related to the status of your tester application.

Thanks !!

Juan,

We really need a proper robots.txt file to work with this. I know that I want vbseo and will buy it. But I don't really fully understand how it works as I am not that technically-inclined.

So it would be GREAT if you would put out a proper robots.txt file to accompany a fresh install of vbseo. That way we know that we are blocking and allowing what "the developer" of this software recommends.

Thanks,
Katrina

*actually, probably will not purchase or install this, unless there is an accompanying robots.txt file *

Hello Katrina,

You just caught me in the middle of your response via vB.org and an accompanying PM for you.

A robots.txt file is not *critical* for new forums, as spiders are prevented from following undesired pages in the first place (via rel="nofollow" attributes for links). However, it's always good to have the file in place for contingency purposes. - I'll post a recommended a robots.txt file shortly.

Juan

Hi,

Do I have to send you a PM Juan Muriente ? (I click on BECOME A TESTER since 3-4 days, and I have no answer by the team:()

Best regards,
Arnaud

Arnaud, we will be reviewing all remaining tester applications today and get back to everyone, approved or not.

Juan

Hello,

Thank you for your answer

Nethertheless, I click many times on "SUBMIT REQUEST", thinking the system not works :(

Excuse me for the inconvenience

Hi

Its Nice to see your guys are progressing with VB SEO stuff. I have checked many SEO stuff for the VB and I think your one is going to be the best one.

Also I like to be a Tester of your new version.

If possible please add me to your tester list.

Our Site is www.hotwebhostingtalk.com It has been just launched. About a week now , We are growing aggressively as you can see now we have more than 300 + members 3000+ posts 300 Threads. and also we have VB 3.5 2RC version.

Thank you.

Anyway, great job again.

I'm curious though, were there 2 different RC7's (final and non final version)? I mean i do have it for a few days already (a week or so)

Same here!
Are there any changes between RC7 and RC7?

Several bugs are fixed in RC 7 Final

last post and members name just to mention 2 that comes to my mind...

Hello Juan,

You ARE a busy guy. Sorry that I stalked you with my question. But for many people, there might be speculation, and your post along with a "recommended robots file" will put that speculation to rest, and make your customers more comfortable in their decision to implement vbSEO and in your committment to quality and detail. I work in customer service.

*cough*

Quote:

vBSEO 2.0 will be officially launched tomorrow, Tuesday, September 6th, 2005.

*/cough*

hehehe.. That put a smile on my face - I'll post a new announcement shortly.