Using mod_rewrite

[protesto]

Hi,

I'm using mod_rewrite on my phpbb forums. All viewtopic pages looks like html pages with the same word in the URL and all these pages are indexed by google. Now I've found a new mod_rewrite mod which turn URLs into keyword phrases, such as the topic and forum titles. I think this is a great way for SEO.

So, if a replace it with this new mod, all pages indexed by google will be not accessable anymore. Does anybody have a solution for this?

[mortgage-pro-seo]

Hiya Protesto,

I have been looking for the same solution myself.

[piniyini]

Now I've found a new mod_rewrite mod which turn URLs into keyword phrases, such as the topic and forum titles

Care to tell us where we can find this?

[mortgage-pro-seo]

Piniyini check it out here (http://www.phpbbhacks.com/download/4702).

I personally have not used this.

[sarahk]

Hi,

I'm using mod_rewrite on my phpbb forums. All viewtopic pages looks like html pages with the same word in the URL and all these pages are indexed by google. Now I've found a new mod_rewrite mod which turn URLs into keyword phrases, such as the topic and forum titles. I think this is a great way for SEO.

So, if a replace it with this new mod, all pages indexed by google will be not accessable anymore. Does anybody have a solution for this?

You can leave the .htaccess with the old code as well as the new. This will mean old style requests will be served with pages with the new style content/links.

The only problem would be if they both had the same regular expression which is unlikely given the radically different approaches.

At worst, you could do a total change and on the first pass the bots would find a stack of 404s and a stack of new content and your server would get a hammering. There might be a slight dip in SERPs but you'd be back in no time. Might pay to make your 404 page a site map ;)

Sarah

[sarahk]

You can leave the .htaccess with the old code as well as the new.

Another reason to do this is to support any other sites or forum postings that link to your site.

Sarah

[protesto]

Thanks for your anwers.

If I will leave the old ones, there will be 2 different URL's. Which one will google choose for indexing?

This was the old one:
RewriteRule ^post-([0-9]*).* viewtopic.php?p=$1 [L,NC]

Here is the new code:
RewriteRule [.]*-vp([0-9]*) viewtopic.php?%{QUERY_STRING}&p=$1

I'm not sure that both of them will work at the same time.

[sarahk]

No, Google will see them as duplicate content and may list both for a time.

I don't know how it decides when / if to swap them over but all new threads will only be known by the new format.

I imagine that deciding factors of which to list would be the number of pages linking to it (new format wins) and age of the page (old format wins).

Ultimately you should pick the one which will serve you better in the long run, be brave and go for it.

Sarah

[Tuning]

Piniyini check it out here (http://www.phpbbhacks.com/download/4702).

I personally have not used this.

I think this hack wont work. Now phpbbhacks have removed the download link. :confused:

[sarahk]

Shame, it looked good :)

[J.D.]

RewriteRule [.]*-vp([0-9]*) viewtopic.php?%{QUERY_STRING}&p=$1

You can also use the [QSA] flag to append new query string values to the old query string. Search for QSA in the rewrite manual for details:

http://httpd.apache.org/docs-2.0/mod/mod_rewrite.html#rewriterule

J.D.

[mortgage-pro-seo]

It will work guys. Keep the hope alive!

http://www.webmedic.net/released-phpbb-static-keyword-urls-modrewrite-100-vt2577.html

[sarahk]

QSA!!! I wonder if that's what's going on here

http://www.northshorecity.govt.nz/default.asp?src=http://www.northshorecity.govt.nz/city_life/Shore_Sounds_home.htm

Very dodgy looking urls if you ask me!

Sarah

[Tuning]

Yep, its working fine. But there was some problem with some skins. I could make it work on subsilver and icgstation templates.

Also for more SEO purposes, you can tweak viewforum,viewtopic,overall-header files to make the page title instead of mydomain.com::forum:topic.

Regards,
Tuning