PHP Link Directory 3.xx has an option for listings to have their very own details page. However, the search engine friendly URL for these pages end up being somesite.com/detail/link-54.html or some such thing. I've seen many people ask for a better SEF URL for their details page, so I set about improving it. People were requesting an SEF URL that looked more like somesite.com/detail/some_listing.html. The downfall of creating this in PLD is that link titles are not unique throughout the entire directory (nor should they be). Instead, they are only required to be unique in each category. So, if there is a link titled "some listing" in both the arts and the computers category, how do we know which one we want? The easy way around that is to pass the category in the URL too (much the same way they are passed now) so when we want the "some listing" in the arts category we construct our URL like this: somesite.com/detail/arts/some_listing.html. Ok, that works great. However, process comes to another dilema when we get listing titles like this: "Great Sites | Cool & Unique Sites / {Sites that don't Suck}" The ampersand, apostraphe, pipe, and forward slash really screw up URLs! We can't simply replace them with underscores because then we run into problems finding the link in the database again. For example: somesite.com/a/category/Great_Sites___Cool___Unique_Sites____Sites_that_don_t_Suck.html will match "Great Sites | Cool & Unique Sites / {Sites that don't Suck}" and also "Great Sites / Cool $ Unique Sites / (Sites that don't Suck)". So, we either url encode the whole thing which turns our URL into something like this: somesite.com/detail/a/category/Great%20Sites%20%7C%20Cool%20&%20Unique%20Sites%20/%20%7BSites%20that%20don't%20Suck%7D.html or we disallow any special characters besides letters, numbers, and dashes in the title in the first place so that underscores get converted to spaces and no ambiguity arises. So, now that I've come a long way and bored you to tears, which would you prefer? The potential for URLS like this: somesite.com/detail/a/category/Great%20Sites%20%7C%20Cool%20&%20Unique%20Sites%20/%20%7BSites%20that%20don't%20Suck%7D.html or Link titles that can only contain alphanums and dashes?
This works just fine for me: http://www.directorydump.com/alive-directory-powerful-web-directory-link-495.html edit: it's been forever since i bothered with this so it took a few to find it. I have an alternate one as well. http://www.directorylinker.com/arts-and-entertainment/
Yes, I noticed that on your directory. Very nice. I'd code that option too but I'd rather not tread on your domain.
AWL has dynamic mod rewriting: http://www.activeweblinks.com/Computer_Internet/Search_Engine_Directory/ note the info's then refresh (i think only 1 of them isnt working)
A couple of things I've noticed on my own site... Using directory/category/detail.html If you ever move the site to another cat/sub-cat you create a 404 for the old page, lose any links or PR it might have and will most likely make the site owner unhappy as their site is now associated with a dead link in the SERPs. Using directory/sitename.html If the site changes it's name you again have the same problems. Using the link text - somesite.com/detail/a/category/Great%20Sites%20%7C%20Cool% 20&%20Unique%20Sites%20/ %20%7BSites%20that%20don't%20Suck%7D.html (with a few spaces inserted to allow link to fit in forum margins) How in any way, shape, or form could such a mess be preferable for anything? My implementation: directory/link-details-xxx.html where xxx=record number While this solution is not particularly SEO friendly, it allows for anything about the listing to be changed without causing a dead link. I would love to use something more SEO friendly, yet retaining the flexibility this has; but, have yet to see it. Another option might be using the domain name of the site submitted for a filename. This wouldn't work for my site or any site that accepts any sites hosted on a larger site (Blogger, MySpace, Etsy, etc.). I suppose multiple links from the same domain could be numbered somehow to use the URLs. Now, maybe since I've got a niche directory, I can be more flexible when folks change names or ask for a different link text; but, I have had one site owner go through a series of mishaps that have led to 3 such changes. I would think for most folks (larger niche sites and general directories) that they may not be as amenible to changing the link text/title as I am, but I would imagine the better sites can and do move listings around as the need arises. I would recommend to never use the category as part of the URL as this is more apt to change.