[jira] [Comment Edited] (OFBIZ-5312) Proposal: URL-Generation Changes (mostly for SEO reasons but not only)

[Nicolas Malin (Jira)]

    [ https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-5312?page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel&focusedCommentId=13942778#comment-13942778 ]

Sebastian Wachinger edited comment on OFBIZ-5312 at 3/21/14 4:55 AM:
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_@Paul and Anil:_ Thank you very much for providing the additional information I asked for, even with detailed sample code and feature chart; this made things much clearer for me, your effort is highly appreciated! Actually the discussion initiated by Anil came exactly at the right time for me*.

Now I am developer, user and (sometimes) customer all at the same time, so from a user's perspective I would say the learning curve of Ofbiz is steep enough as it is, so why not offer different approaches fitting different needs and use cases? Following the [proposal by Jacques|https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-5312?focusedCommentId=13939671&page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel#comment-13939671] we can add some flexibility without breaking anything or bloating the codebase too much. Improved usability will always be vital for the widespread acceptance of the whole Ofbiz framework.

*As luck would have it, we are just now in the process of setting up a new shop with multilingual product names. In this context I want to ask if the [proposal by Parimal|https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-5312?focusedCommentId=13823583&page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel#comment-13823583] has been dealt with already or is earmarked for inclusion(?) This would cover a real important aspect and improve usability concerning the automatic generation of multilingual URLs.
As for now I use the _"Alternative URL"_ product content for this, which again always will be a very useful feature when the product name remains unilingual but for the product page you need different URLs for different languages for improved SEO, or when you change the product name but want to retain the URL.

---
Finally regarding that discussion about the .html suffix, [rightfully branded|https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-5312?focusedCommentId=13818167&page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel#comment-13818167] a moot point by Jacques:
I simply changed {{<category-url-suffix>.html</category-url-suffix>}} to {{<category-url-suffix></category-url-suffix>}} in line 16 of [applications/product/config/SeoConfig.xml|http://svn.apache.org/viewvc/ofbiz/branches/OFBIZ-5312-ofbiz-ecommerce-seo-2013-10-23/applications/product/config/SeoConfig.xml], and the .html is gone for me, so I'd say no need for further action here.



was (Author: komdata):
@Paul and Anil: Thank you very much for providing the additional information I asked for, even with detailed sample code and feature chart; this made things much clearer for me, your effort is highly appreciated! Actually the discussion initiated by Anil came exactly at the right time for me*.

Now I am developer, user and (sometimes) customer all at the same time, so from a user's perspective I would say the learning curve of Ofbiz is steep enough as it is, so why not offer different approaches fitting different needs and use cases? Following the [proposal|https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-5312?focusedCommentId=13939671&page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel#comment-13939671] by Jacques we can add some flexibility without breaking anything or bloating the codebase too much. Improved usability will always be vital for the widespread acceptance of the whole Ofbiz framework.

*As luck would have it, we are just now in the process of setting up a new shop with multilingual product names. In this context I want to ask if the [proposal|https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-5312?focusedCommentId=13823583&page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel#comment-13823583] by Parimal has been dealt with already or is earmarked for inclusion? This would cover a real important aspect and improve usability concerning the automatic generation of multilingual URLs.
As for now I use the "Alternative URL" product content for this, which again always will be a very useful feature when the product name remains unilingual but for the product page you need different URLs for different languages for improved SEO, or when you change the product name but want to retain the URL.

Finally regarding that discussion about the .html suffix, [rightfully branded|https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-5312?focusedCommentId=13818167&page=com.atlassian.jira.plugin.system.issuetabpanels:comment-tabpanel#comment-13818167] a moot point by Jacques:
I simply changed {code:xml}<category-url-suffix>.html</category-url-suffix>{code} to {code:xml}<category-url-suffix></category-url-suffix>{code} in line 16 of [applications/product/config/SeoConfig.xml|http://svn.apache.org/viewvc/ofbiz/branches/OFBIZ-5312-ofbiz-ecommerce-seo-2013-10-23/applications/product/config/SeoConfig.xml], and the .html is gone for me, so I'd say no need for further action here.

> Proposal: URL-Generation Changes (mostly for SEO reasons but not only)
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>                 Key: OFBIZ-5312
>                 URL: https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/OFBIZ-5312
>             Project: OFBiz
>          Issue Type: New Feature
>          Components: specialpurpose/ecommerce
>    Affects Versions: SVN trunk
>            Reporter: Jacques Le Roux
>            Assignee: Jacques Le Roux
>            Priority: Minor
>              Labels: changes, ecommerce, friendly, seo, url
>             Fix For: SVN trunk
>
>         Attachments: OFBIZ-5312 - ofbiz-ecommerce-seo.patch, OFBIZ-5312 - ofbiz-ecommerce-seo.patch, OFBIZ-5312 - ofbiz-ecommerce-seo.patch, OFBIZ-5312 - ofbiz-ecommerce-seo.patch, OFBIZ-5312 - ofbiz-ecommerce-seo.patch, OFBIZ-5312 - ofbiz-ecommerce-seo.patch, OFBIZ-5312 - ofbiz-ecommerce-seo.patch, OFBIZ-5312 - ofbiz-ecommerce-seo.patch, OFBIZ-5312 - ofbiz-ecommerce-seo.patch, OFBIZ-5312 - ofbiz-ecommerce-seo.patch, OFBIZ-5312 - ofbiz-ecommerce-seo.patch, OFBIZ-5312 - ofbiz-ecommerce-seo.patch, OFBiz-5312-product-ecommerce-seo-20131031.patch, OFBiz-5312-product-ecommerce-seo-for-seo-branch.patch, OFBiz-5312-product-ecommerce-seo.patch, SeoContextFilter.java.patch
>
>
> [This was proposed by Paul Piper in Nabble 7 months ago|http://ofbiz.135035.n4.nabble.com/Proposal-URL-Generation-Changes-td4639289.html]. Here is quoted Paul's proposal
> {quote}
> Hey Everyone,
> over at ilscipio (www.ilscipio.com) we developed a set of functional OFBiz changes that we believe the entire community could benefit from. The changes have been implemented in parts in Syracus (www.syracus.net) for a while now, but we figured that some of which are too crucial for ofbiz' success in the long run, so we are considering the contribution (as we did with the SOLR component).
> As you are probably aware, OFBiz has a pretty uncommon way of generating URLs. Most of this has to do with the fact that OFBiz uses a servlet (ControlServlet)  to handle all requests. The servlet is mounted at /control, so that it won't interfere with other servlets. Though functionally valid, this has the sideeffect that all urls are actually created on /control, which is neither pretty, nor good by any measures of SEO. It also means that a few 302 redirects are necessary to forward the user from / to /control/main. It also makes requests more complicated, since many forwards are necessary whenever somebody wants to move away from this implementation.
> Since this is hurtful to many of the implementers, I wanted to discuss whether or not you guys would be interested in the changes we have made. The functional changes contain:
> * Removal of /control out of all the urls
> * SEO-friendly URLS
> * Configurable product/category and other URLs
> * Frontpage mapping from /main to /
> It was tested on our end and contains all necessary improvements (Transforms, Sample Configuration, Servlets & Filters) for it to be applicable.
> If interested, I would create a new JIRA ticket for this and after a few minor internal discussions, we will gladly provide the rest of you with it.
> Regards,
> Paul
> {quote}
> There is even a patch, mostly done by Jinghai Shi, that I attach here. Even if it has been already used in [Syracus|http://syracus.net/] since early this year, some help would be needed to test it thoroughly in OFBiz.
> Then we should discuss if it's the way to go. I believe it is. Who needs a /control/ or /main by default in ecommerce urls? Would you not prefer http://localhost:8080/ecommerce/ over http://localhost:8080/ecommerce/control/main ?

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