Installation Tips From A Newbie Who Just Installed vBSEO 3.0.0 Gold

I am a newbie. I wanted vBSEO to install this program for me, but they said I had to, even though I offered to pay a fee. So I am sharing what I learned with you in hopes that you will not have to take hours and hours like I did to install this product.

What I got:

Forums: (vBulletin v3.6.7)
Installing: vBSEO 3.0.0 Gold Ioncube version onto Verio shared hosting account

What I also needed for installation:

Zip program: WinZip (WinZip® - The Zip File Utility for Windows - Zip/Unzip, Encrypt/Decrypt) or similar
FTP program: SmartFTP (SmartFTP - FTP Client) or similar

The readme.html file is what you need to read for installation instructions. This file is part of the Zip file you downloaded.

Step A (referring to the readme.html file used as installation instructions for vbseo):
"A. Upload ALL the files in the 'upload' folder to your forum root folder in BINARY mode. Note: Ensure all files are uploaded with the same folder structure provided in your 'upload' folder."

I was confused what the structure was for the files and what directories they belonged to in my forums directory. When you use WinZip to unzip your files, make a note of the PATH column to see which folders your files belong in. See the picture.



Now unzip the files and make the directories as shown in the PATH above and put the files in these directories. When I first unzipped the files, the unzipped all in the same directory. So I had to MAKE the directories shown in the path. When you unzip, the paths are NOT automatically made for you as I thought after reading "same folder structure provided in your 'upload' folder." (If I knew this, it would have saved me at least 1 hour of wasted time, yes I am a newbie)

Now I uploaded all the files to the correct directories on my server using SmartFTP. You must use BINARY mode and not ASCII or Auto mode for FTP transfer.

Step B:
"B. License your vBSEO instance:

1. CHMOD 666 the 'vB-root/includes/config_vbseo.php' file.
2. Using your browser, visit: http://www.yoursite.com/vB-root/vbseocp.php. (another way of saying this is like this is: http://www.yoursite.com/forums/vbseocp.php. There is no directory called "vB-root", yes I was confused before. vB-root means your vBulletin forum directory).
3. Define a password for your vBSEO Control Panel by entering it twice in the fields provided, you will be redirected to the settings page.
4. Copy/Paste your current key: 32_digit_key_in_red into the license key field provided:

I didn't know what CHMOD 666 was but found this was the permission settings for a file (I learned this by searching for chmod 666 on Google). Using SmartFTP program, I found this file, right-clicked on the file and chose "Permissions / CHMOD" in the pop up menu. Then this window came up:



Change the 644 to 666, this will give read/write to all categories (user, group,...).

If you do not FTP the files in binary mode, you will get errors opening up the files listed above in Step B.

As far as Step B.4., the 32 digit key will appear in red in this page you are viewing. You will need to cut and past it into a box provided on this page to validate you license. When you license is validated, this 32 digit key will change color from red to green.

(knowing this would have saved me another 30-60 minutes, yes I am a newbie)

Step C:
C. Upload the vBSEO .htaccess file (located in the 'htaccess' folder) to your forum root folder in BINARY mode.

Note: In some operating systems, the .htaccess file is not visible. If this is your case, find the htaccess.txt file in the same folder, (1) upload it to your forum root folder and (2) rename it to .htaccess.


I had to modify the beginning of this file (htaccess.txt) to this (changes in red):


# Comment the following line (add '#' at the beginning)
# to disable mod_rewrite functions.
# Please note: you still need to disable the hack in
# the vBSEO control panel to stop url rewrites.
RewriteEngine On (removed the # from the beginning of this line)

# Some servers require the Rewritebase directive to be
# enabled (remove '#' at the beginning to activate)
# Please note: when enabled, you must include the path
# to your root vB folder (i.e. RewriteBase /forums)
RewriteBase /forums (removed the # from the beginning of this line and changed "/" to "/forums")

RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www.mysite.com
RewriteRule (.*) http://www.mysite.com/forums/$1 [L,R=301]


Then I ftp this htaccess.txt file to my mysite.com/forums/ directory and renamed this file to .htaccess. Settings for your site may differ but this worked for me.

Note: If the .htaccess file is not configured, installed, and working properly, your site may experience problems like not working partially or in full. You will see immediately what I mean just by looking at your site. So go back and forth between the .htaccess file installation and viewing the results on your site. The most noticeable thing is that when everything is working properly, the addresses in your browser address box for the forum page you are viewing will look more like html style than the usually vbulletin address (with the default vbseo config settings).

(knowing this would have save me another 1-2 hours of wasted time).

Summary:

These are the biggest areas of wasted time due to insufficient installation instructions by this company. I am not complaining about the product, but I do think installations instructions, documentation and other detailed information is poorly provided by vBSEO staff.

The installation process was very frustrating and time consuming to say the least for me. Without this info, newbies like me will waste a lot of time trying to figure this out. I think guys who have done this before can do it for you in under 30 minutes. But it took me hours to finish.

All the rest of the instructions in this readme.html file you can figure out and do.

I hope this helps all the newbies like me who are installing this product for the first time. Good luck...

Excellent information. Thank-you for providing this info for others.

nice summery

i am very VERY greatful for this little guide. i came here hoping to find something to help me with the sudden dissapearance of my site during installation. all i did was upload everything, and suddenly my site was 404

after reading this and modifying the .htaccess as you described and reuploading it, my site came back and was able to continue the rest of the installation.

thank you so much.

you are VERY welcome! i'm glad to hear this information helped you and saved you time!

Very nice summary.

Thank you so much for posting this! You saved me a lot of time.

**** Sticked ****

Thanks for this great post.

Thanks for posting this. I am a newbie, I did go through a problem with installed VBSEO. After read this post - I did solved a problem.

Awesome! Glad to help you out.

GREAT JOB DADDIYO!!!!!
you saved me lots of time and trouble. I agree this should have been encluded in the original instructions.

This is good for newbie’s, however surely if you are selling a product the instructions should be idiot proof, which they are not. So much appears to be having omitted in the instructions, so saying that you can install and have vbseo up and running in 10 mins, is a false and misleading statement.

On my part the installation was relatively simple until I notice something about mod_rewrite and after submitting a support ticket, I am still confused. So I guess I'll be one either wasting a few hours reading loads of posts, trying to figure this out. Alternatively I'll be one of those selling the licence on.

Thanks

Did you check with your host to confirm you had mod_rewrite and .htaccess support as I suggested in the support ticket? They should be able to tell you immediately, and enable it if it is not currently.

I must agree with the OP on this. The readme file that is included with the download is EXTREAMLY VAUGE and gives you the bare bones basics. It doesnt state that you have to modify the htaccess file, doesnt state where you have to put these files (although if you have a clue, you might know where.)

Also, what if your "forum" directory isnt called "forum"? People that choose not to invest in the install fee are kinda stuck.

I say that the readme file that comes with the installation be very detailed as to the installation process.

BTW, My forum has ben down for almost 45 minutues now due to this. :(

Originally Posted by forumguy

I must agree with the OP on this. The readme file that is included with the download is EXTREAMLY VAUGE and gives you the bare bones basics. It doesnt state that you have to modify the htaccess file, doesnt state where you have to put these files (although if you have a clue, you might know where.)

Also, what if your "forum" directory isnt called "forum"? People that choose not to invest in the install fee are kinda stuck.

I say that the readme file that comes with the installation be very detailed as to the installation process.

BTW, My forum has ben down for almost 45 minutues now due to this. :(

Forum is back and running for the time being. I had to revert to a backup of my directory's htaccess file to bring the site back up.