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| How to turn on SEF URL's |
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| Written by Cory | |
| Monday, 18 December 2006 | |
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SEF URL's are just a way to make your URL's look nice. The default SEF URL functionality in Joomla! takes URL's that look like this: "index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=40&itemid=29" and makes them look like this: "content/view/40/29/" This article will show you how to turn on the basic SEF URL functionality built into Joomla!, and it will also provide a list of SEF URL extensions that you can use to gain further control over your URL's. For this article, I am assuming that you are running your website on an Apache web server. Turning on SEF URL's in Joomla!Step 1: mod_rewriteIf you are running your site on Apache, you need to make sure that mod_rewrite is enabled on your server. If you are in a shared hosting environment, or if you do not have root access to your server, ask your hosting provider if this is enabled. For more information on mod_rewrite, visit mod_rewrite page at the Apache website. If you are running IIS, or if you wish to attempt enabling SEF URL's without mod_rewrite, there is a post in the forums that explains how to do it. The post is titled "Using SEF without mod_rewrite". Honestly, I've never looked into doing it that way before, so I will not be able to answer questions about this method. Fortunately, the thread in the forums is several pages long, so I am sure your questions will be answered there. Step 2: The .htaccess fileThe Joomla! distribution package comes with a file called "htaccess.txt" in the root folder of your installation. The first thing you need to do to enable SEF URL's is to rename that file to ".htaccess". Step 3: Modify the Global ConfigurationIn your administrator panel, click on Site->Global Configuration.
Next, click the "SEO" tab.
Set "Search Engine Friendly URLs:" to "Yes", and click the "Save" button in the toolbar.
That's all there is to it. You now have SEF URL's enabled on your site. SEF ExtensionsThe SEF URL's that are generated by Joomla! are not very descriptive of the content they are pointing to. Let's face it... "content/view/40/29/" doesn't give much of a hint about what content is on that page. Fortunately, there are hooks in the Joomla! framework that allow for the development of extensions to make more descriptive SEF URL's. Even more fortunately, there are already several components available that extend Joomla!'s SEF URL functionality. There is a list in the extensions directory here. I will briefly mention the most popular ones.
As always, if you have questions or comments, please post them below.
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Comments (29)
Dan Shaw: ... http://yourbodygetsit.com/joomla/
Is there something that needs to be done, like resetting the server to implement this. This website is on a GoDaddy server. I bought the domain from them as well. I understand that they don't run pure php. For security reasons they run php as a CGI and not as a module.
My formal programming training ended back with IBM Basic, (yes, I am that old) though I have managed to pick up a bit of html skills, I have the foggiest of ideas as to what that means. What I do know is that as soon as I made the switch to Search Engine Friendly URLS after renaming htaccess.txt, the entire website ground to a halt. Only the page that was up when I made the switch or the home page with a new browser window appears. As soon as any link is clicked you get a 404 error. Needless to say, I switched everything back. Thanks, Dan 1 report abuse
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December 22, 2006
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Glenn: ...
Heya,
I am hosting internally on localhost using Lamp ubuntu, I have followed these steps and some other sites steps religiosly but seem to be hitting a brick wall. No matter what i do I still ge the whole 404 error problem when clicking on a link. When I check under info, php - mod rewrite is there in the list of apache modules, the .htaccess file is correct and enabled but I still seem to be getting this 404 error pages. I am at my wits end and just cant seem to get it to work, could you please help me. many thanks Glenn 3 report abuse
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January 03, 2007
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Matthew Nuzum: ... http://www.bearfruit.org/blog
Those aren't search engine friendly... SEF urls would have key words in them. For example, if you have a section called "blog" and a category called "howto" and you write a howto called creating templates, your URL would be something like:
/blog/howto/creating_templates... that way, search engines would know the page is a howto about creating templates. Instead, you get something like /content/view/43/2/ which has absolutely 0 value to search engines. (Just my $0.02 worth) 5 report abuse
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January 10, 2007
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Ian Wright: ... http://www.newworlddesigns.co.uk
Hi, before I start, I only found your site 2hrs ago, and haven't stopped reading it yet.
Excellent work http://www.sakic.net/products/sef_advance/documentation/ I found this a few weeks back when I was looking at SEO in Joomla, and even though I've never used it "yet" it looks quite excellent. it replaces the numbers with the content page titles, allowing a much higher chance of SEO working in Google and other engines. It was built by Emir Sakic, who I believe is a Joomla core programmer. Only problem I have now, is that I use Windows servers, so I'm off to find some Linux hosting. Regards Ian 7 report abuse
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January 10, 2007
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Steve: ... http://www.StephenWinters.ca
I use ARTIO JoomSEF. Love it! simple to use. One small problem I have is that I am getting multiple links with -2, -3, etc appended to the end of the SEF links for some pages. Not quite sure how to fix it.
Just managed to stumble across your website. Very nice indeed! Cheers, Steve 9 report abuse
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March 11, 2007
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FeeCOMSPU Boonsit: ... http://www.wallpaper-gu.com
thank for it but how to make url same the title.
Thank you 11 report abuse
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March 23, 2007
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Maria: ... http://www.salsainutah.com
Hi there, I am also struggling with the same issue... I have followed the steps on your and other websites. I am running Apache server, but I don't see mod_rewrite anywhere under System/ system info/ php info... I called my provider (godaddy.com) and they said that mod_rewrite is enabled automatically on the site. I have renamed the .htaccess file, but still nothing. Why do you think mod_rewrite doesn't show up under php info? Thank you
 13 report abuse
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April 16, 2007
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Hi Cory: ... http://www.salsainutah.com
Yeah, I have finally figured it out! It was a realllllll ... pain, but it works now. thanks for checking!
Maria 15 report abuse
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April 30, 2007
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Rod: ... http://www.ourmusicspace.com
Maria? I think, what did you do to figure it out? I am using godaddy hosting and need mod_rewrite to work. Any help to a solution would be nice
16 report abuse
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May 11, 2007
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ased: ... http://www.almaze.co.uk
hi,
Thanks for this cool web, about SEF i'm using SEF advance , it's realy good . 17 report abuse
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May 21, 2007
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gmack: ... http://www.perfectmatchfavors.com
anyone having problems with artio and ssl? All ssl urls get redirected back to my homepage. I've followed the directions very carefully and all works just fine until ssl enters the picture.
18 report abuse
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June 24, 2007
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Henk: ... http://www.4success.co.nz
I note comments regarding the recommendation for Artio JoomSEF - I would suggest caution if you are planning to use this extension, versions later than V1.5 have advertising which may affect you sites.
Try using the JoomSEF version available from http://www.kangainternet.com/ which does the same job. 19 report abuse
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August 31, 2007
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adrian: ... http://s204829271.onlinehome.us/index.php
Hi,
I created a test site to explore 1.012 ecommerce edition . in the process messed up my other site I two am from the old basic days . I just learn to you ftp. my installation when well . but i get the 404 error. how do i rename the url into something usable. For some reasonh everything i dl gives my the same result . nothing. what can i do to make me ecommerce site function properly. is there anyone i can call and talk to live. Thanks adrian 20 report abuse
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September 11, 2007
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jc: ... http://www.truelowquotes.com
Thanks for the article. I'm using for joomla for a new project and didn't know where this option was.
22 report abuse
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October 15, 2007
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Grant: ... http://www.diyatravel.co.za
I too had the 404 error syndrome. Certainly a pain to solve in my case as most forums never listed the cure. They suggested certain areas which I broke down.
Some suggested to see if your php.ini file is correct but never found much relating to what i wanted to do in any of my php.ini files, so I eliminated those. This left me server but there are a number of potential problems here such as the httpd.conf file and the .htaccess file. I played with the .htaccess file until I found it mentioned that ARTIO JoomSEF creates its own .htaccess if not available. It is then supposed to work but in my case it never did. I changed and changed here but no luck. The problem had to be deeper. httpd.conf was the only part left. I found two things here. Firstly, I checked my mod_rewrite. All was good there. I then carried on down and found this "AllowOveride". It controls what directives may be placed in the .htaccess files. I changed "None" to "All". My problem was solved. 23 report abuse
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November 17, 2007
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Amitabh Choudhury: ... http://www.retailmalee.com
Hello Cory
Your site has provided links to the info I required about SEF. Thanks. Have you looked into Artio yet(as on date). I am a freelancer researching on Joomla for my projects and developing offline for my site. Thanks again for the info. regards, Amitabh. 24 report abuse
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November 19, 2007
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jpastor: ...
Hi I also have godaddy using joomla and I get the 404 error when changing the htaccess to .htaccess
Im trying to post my htaccess file but it says my comment is to long, where can I send it to have it reviewed? thanks 25 report abuse
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December 02, 2007
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Dave Lindberg: ...
I know this is an old thread but I have the same issue with GoDaddy.com . Once I made the change to SEF none of the links seemed to work.
I followed what the others said to do in this thread said to do and it worked. Joomla 1.5 Steps on Godaddy.com using Linux box: 1. Global Configuration 2. SEO Settings 3. Search Engine Friendly URLs > Yes 4. FTP'd to my sites Joomla folder and changed "htaccess.txt" to ".htaccess" 5. Use Apache mod_rewrite > Yes 6. (Optional) Add suffix to URLs > Yes 7. Save 8. Wait 1-hour for the change to happen. Now all links workd and are search friendly. 26 report abuse
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June 02, 2008
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john: ... http://ezinearticlesbase.com
followed instructions to the letter. renamed the .htaccess and enabled the switch in global config. After this all the links on the site get redirected to a page not found site. Basicly changes all athe links to SEF but also disables all completely.
Can you help? 27 report abuse
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June 13, 2008
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john: ... http://ezinearticlesbase.com
Apache ver. 2.2.8 (Unix)
29 report abuse
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June 13, 2008
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