Hi!

We have used phpBB SEO with phpBB2 for several years with a great result. For a couple of mounths ago our server was hacked and we finally upgraded to phpBB3 and the 24 october we installed phpBB SEO on our new phpBB3-board. We use the "Mixed mode", i don´t know if thats the best one for us? Anyway, since the install of phpBB SEO the indexed threads on Google has been falling and are now down to a couple of hundred. Ofcourse this is frustating and i don´t know if we missed something. The 23 november i uploaded the robots.txt.

Our board is: http://www.sportfiskeforum.se

Is there anything we made wrong or can do to make Google like us a bit more again? I was thinking about making all the threads show just the title (as on this board) but i can´t find it. All suggestions and help are most welcome!

Thanks in advance!

If you did not implement redirection from the old phpBB2 url to the new phpBB3 ones, and worst if you also implemented the robots.txt (despite the numerous warnings in release thread and install files), it's normal to see a drop in SERPs and SE referrals.

So delete your robots.txt ASAP, and then implement the required rewriterules to allow the zero dupe to redirect the old urls. Implementation is in the end easy, but it depends on the url used and if you as well changed the location of phpBB while updating.
A detailed example with the phpBB2 advanced mod rewrite is to be find here : Converting From phpBB 2 with AMR to phpBB 3 with AMR
In this example, you may did not use -vc, -vt and -vf in your phpBB2 urls, but rather -c,-t and -f or whatever, just replace them with what you used.
If you where using the same version, it's just a matter of setting the path proper in the rewriterule for you particular use, if not, it's the same principle expect you'll need to use slightly different rewriterules. Post the phpBB2 .htaccess here if you want help.
With this method the final url do not matter, redirect occurs in all case.

Once redirection will start, things will start to get better, but the longer you took to fix, the longer it will take to get back to normal, there not much to do in such situation. For bots, the old urls just stopped working and may even have been disallowed by the robots.txt, while new ones started to appear.

If you did not yet installed GYM sitemaps, running sitemaps should as well help to go faster.

++

Hi SeO,

Thanks for your replay! First of all, i did not implement redirection from the old phpBB2 url, i totally missed that part. When converting to phpBB3 we were in a hurry and had a heavely modded board, so i just imported the database from the forum and gallery to a new install of phpBB3. After that it took about a month before i installed the SEO-mod on the new phpBB3 board. The robots.txt did i upload one month after i installed the mod (now it´s deleted). I´m not quite following what you mean next, but here is our old .htaccess:

Code: Select all

DirectoryIndex index.html index.htm portal.php index.php

RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^forums.* index.php [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^post-([0-9]*).html&highlight=([a-zA-Z0-9]*) viewtopic.php?p=$1&highlight=$2 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^post-([0-9]*).* viewtopic.php?p=$1 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^view-poll([0-9]*)-([0-9]*)-([a-zA-Z]*).* viewtopic.php?t=$1&postdays=$2&postorder=$3&vote=viewresult [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^about([0-9]*).html&highlight=([a-zA-Z0-9]*) viewtopic.php?t=$1&highlight=$2 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^about([0-9]*).html&view=newest viewtopic.php?t=$1&view=newest [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^about([0-9]*)-([0-9]*)-([a-zA-Z]*)-([0-9]*).* viewtopic.php?t=$1&postdays=$2&postorder=$3&start=$4 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^about([0-9]*)-([0-9]*).* viewtopic.php?t=$1&start=$2 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^about([0-9]*).* viewtopic.php?t=$1 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^about([0-9]*).html viewtopic.php?t=$1&start=$2&postdays=$3&postorder=$4&highlight=$5 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^mark-forum([0-9]*).html* viewforum.php?f=$1&mark=topics [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^updates-topic([0-9]*).html* viewtopic.php?t=$1&watch=topic [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^stop-updates-topic([0-9]*).html* viewtopic.php?t=$1&unwatch=topic [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^forum-([0-9]*).html viewforum.php?f=$1 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^forum-([0-9]*).* viewforum.php?f=$1 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^topic-([0-9]*)-([0-9]*)-([0-9]*).* viewforum.php?f=$1&topicdays=$2&start=$3 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^ptopic([0-9]*).* viewtopic.php?t=$1&view=previous [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^ntopic([0-9]*).* viewtopic.php?t=$1&view=next [L,NC]

php_value max_execution_time 1000
php_value max_input_time 1000

BTW, we have not changed server or scriptpath to the site. And i will take a look at the
GYM Sitemaps. One more thing, i have the old site in a folder called "OLD" and renamed index.php and portal.php to OFFLINE_index.php and OFFLINE_portal.php. Is that negative in some way?

You will have to make sure that they do the job (by trying old urls of each type), but here, merry christmans :

Code: Select all

#PHPBB2 URLs
RewriteRule ^forums\.[a-z]*$ index.php [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^(mark-)?forum([0-9]*)(-([0-9]+))?(-[0-9]*)?\.[a-z]*$ viewforum.php?f=$2&start=$4 [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^about-([0-9]*)(-([0-9]+))?\.[a-z]*$ viewtopic.php?t=$1&start=$3 [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^post-([0-9]*)\.[a-z]*$ viewtopic.php?p=$1  [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^(p|n)?topic-([0-9]*)(-([0-9]+))?\.[a-z]*$ viewtopic.php?t=$2&start=$4 [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^view-poll([0-9]*)(-[a-z0-9_-]*)?\.[a-z]*$ viewtopic.php?t=$1 [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^(stop-)?updates-topic([0-9]*)\.[a-z]*$ viewtopic.php?t=$2 [QSA,L,NC]

Add these at the end of your phpBB3 .htaccess, with the same slash and paths. The zero dupe (you need it) should then redirect the old aboutxx.html etc urls to the new ones, whatever the url standard chosen.

I would just delete the old/ directory, unless it was indexed, if so I would delete all files in it and redirect all it's content to your forum's root for example.

++

Hi dcz,

Thank you very much. I added it at the end of my phpBB3 .htacess now. How will i know if they do the job? Wait for it to get indexed? Sorry, but i´m not quite getting it.

Merry Christmas!

Hi again,

Here is our old .htaccess that we used with our phpBB2-board:

Code: Select all

DirectoryIndex index.html index.htm portal.php index.php

RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^forums.* index.php [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^post-([0-9]*).html&highlight=([a-zA-Z0-9]*) viewtopic.php?p=$1&highlight=$2 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^post-([0-9]*).* viewtopic.php?p=$1 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^view-poll([0-9]*)-([0-9]*)-([a-zA-Z]*).* viewtopic.php?t=$1&postdays=$2&postorder=$3&vote=viewresult [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^about([0-9]*).html&highlight=([a-zA-Z0-9]*) viewtopic.php?t=$1&highlight=$2 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^about([0-9]*).html&view=newest viewtopic.php?t=$1&view=newest [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^about([0-9]*)-([0-9]*)-([a-zA-Z]*)-([0-9]*).* viewtopic.php?t=$1&postdays=$2&postorder=$3&start=$4 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^about([0-9]*)-([0-9]*).* viewtopic.php?t=$1&start=$2 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^about([0-9]*).* viewtopic.php?t=$1 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^about([0-9]*).html viewtopic.php?t=$1&start=$2&postdays=$3&postorder=$4&highlight=$5 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^mark-forum([0-9]*).html* viewforum.php?f=$1&mark=topics [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^updates-topic([0-9]*).html* viewtopic.php?t=$1&watch=topic [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^stop-updates-topic([0-9]*).html* viewtopic.php?t=$1&unwatch=topic [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^forum-([0-9]*).html viewforum.php?f=$1 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^forum-([0-9]*).* viewforum.php?f=$1 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^topic-([0-9]*)-([0-9]*)-([0-9]*).* viewforum.php?f=$1&topicdays=$2&start=$3 [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^ptopic([0-9]*).* viewtopic.php?t=$1&view=previous [L,NC]
RewriteRule ^ntopic([0-9]*).* viewtopic.php?t=$1&view=next [L,NC]

php_value max_execution_time 1000
php_value max_input_time 1000

And here is the one we now are using to our new phpBB3-board:

Code: Select all

    # Lines That should already be in your .htacess
    DirectoryIndex index.html index.htm portal.php index.php
    <Files "config.php">
    Order Allow,Deny
    Deny from All
    </Files>
    <Files "common.php">
    Order Allow,Deny
    Deny from All
    </Files>



    # You may need to un-comment the following lines
    # Options +FollowSymlinks
    # To make sure that rewritten dir or file (/|.html) will not load dir.php in case it exist
    # Options -MultiViews
    # REMEBER YOU ONLY NEED TO STARD MOD REWRITE ONCE
    RewriteEngine On
    # REWRITE BASE
    RewriteBase /
    # HERE IS A GOOD PLACE TO FORCE CANONICAL DOMAIN
    # RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www\.sportfiskeforum\.se$ [NC]
    # RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.sportfiskeforum.se/$1 [QSA,L,R=301]

    # DO NOT GO FURTHER IF THE REQUESTED FILE / DIR DOES EXISTS
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -f
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
    RewriteRule . - [L]
    #####################################################
    # PHPBB SEO REWRITE RULES ALL MODES
    #####################################################
    # AUTHOR : dcz www.phpbb-seo.com
    # STARTED : 01/2006
    #################################
    # FORUMS PAGES
    ###############
    # FORUM INDEX
    RewriteRule ^forum\.html$ /index.php [QSA,L,NC]
    # FORUM ALL MODES
    RewriteRule ^(forum|[a-z0-9_-]*-f)([0-9]+)(-([0-9]+))?\.html$ /viewforum.php?f=$2&start=$4 [QSA,L,NC]
    # TOPIC WITH VIRTUAL FOLDER ALL MODES
    RewriteRule ^(forum|[a-z0-9_-]*-f)([0-9]+)/(topic|[a-z0-9_-]*-t)([0-9]+)(-([0-9]+))?\.html$ /viewtopic.php?f=$2&t=$4&start=$6 [QSA,L,NC]
    # GLOBAL ANNOUNCES WITH VIRTUAL FOLDER ALL MODES
    RewriteRule ^announces/(topic|[a-z0-9_-]*-t)([0-9]+)(-([0-9]+))?\.html$ /viewtopic.php?t=$2&start=$4 [QSA,L,NC]
    # TOPIC WITHOUT FORUM ID & DELIM ALL MODES
    RewriteRule ^([a-z0-9_-]*)/?(topic|[a-z0-9_-]*-t)([0-9]+)(-([0-9]+))?\.html$ /viewtopic.php?forum_uri=$1&t=$3&start=$5 [QSA,L,NC]
    # PHPBB FILES ALL MODES
    RewriteRule ^resources/[a-z0-9_-]+/(thumb/)?([0-9]+)$ /download/file.php?id=$2&t=$1 [QSA,L,NC]
    # PROFILES ALL MODES WITH ID
    RewriteRule ^(member|[a-z0-9_-]*-u)([0-9]+)\.html$ /memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=$2 [QSA,L,NC]
    # USER MESSAGES ALL MODES WITH ID
    RewriteRule ^(member|[a-z0-9_-]*-u)([0-9]+)-(topics|posts)(-([0-9]+))?\.html$ /search.php?author_id=$2&sr=$3&start=$5 [QSA,L,NC]
    # GROUPS ALL MODES
    RewriteRule ^(group|[a-z0-9_-]*-g)([0-9]+)(-([0-9]+))?\.html$ /memberlist.php?mode=group&g=$2&start=$4 [QSA,L,NC]
    # POST
    RewriteRule ^post([0-9]+)\.html$ /viewtopic.php?p=$1 [QSA,L,NC]
    # ACTIVE TOPICS
    RewriteRule ^active-topics(-([0-9]+))?\.html$ /search.php?search_id=active_topics&start=$2&sr=topics [QSA,L,NC]
    # UNANSWERED TOPICS
    RewriteRule ^unanswered(-([0-9]+))?\.html$ /search.php?search_id=unanswered&start=$2&sr=topics [QSA,L,NC]
    # NEW POSTS
    RewriteRule ^newposts(-([0-9]+))?\.html$ /search.php?search_id=newposts&start=$2&sr=topics [QSA,L,NC]
    # THE TEAM
    RewriteRule ^the-team\.html$ /memberlist.php?mode=leaders [QSA,L,NC]
    # HERE IS A GOOD PLACE TO ADD OTHER PHPBB RELATED REWRITERULES

   
    # FORUM WITHOUT ID & DELIM ALL MODES (SAME DELIM)
    # THESE FOUR LINES MUST BE LOCATED AT THE END OF YOUR HTACCESS TO WORK PROPERLY
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteRule ^([a-z0-9_-]+)(-([0-9]+))\.html$ /viewforum.php?forum_uri=$1&start=$3 [QSA,L,NC]
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
    RewriteRule ^([a-z0-9_-]+)\.html$ /viewforum.php?forum_uri=$1 [QSA,L,NC]
    # END PHPBB PAGES
    #####################################################


#PHPBB2 URLs
RewriteRule ^forums\.[a-z]*$ index.php [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^(mark-)?forum([0-9]*)(-([0-9]+))?(-[0-9]*)?\.[a-z]*$ viewforum.php?f=$2&start=$4 [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^about-([0-9]*)(-([0-9]+))?\.[a-z]*$ viewtopic.php?t=$1&start=$3 [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^post-([0-9]*)\.[a-z]*$ viewtopic.php?p=$1  [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^(p|n)?topic-([0-9]*)(-([0-9]+))?\.[a-z]*$ viewtopic.php?t=$2&start=$4 [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^view-poll([0-9]*)(-[a-z0-9_-]*)?\.[a-z]*$ viewtopic.php?t=$1 [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^(stop-)?updates-topic([0-9]*)\.[a-z]*$ viewtopic.php?t=$2 [QSA,L,NC]


Is this correct ?

Since -http://www.sportfiskeforum.se/about-19048.html does not work, it seems that you need the right slash, eg try (still at the end of your phpBB3 .htaccess):

Code: Select all

#PHPBB2 URLs
RewriteRule ^forums\.[a-z]*$ /index.php [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^(mark-)?forum([0-9]*)(-([0-9]+))?(-[0-9]*)?\.[a-z]*$ /viewforum.php?f=$2&start=$4 [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^about-?([0-9]*)(-([0-9]+))?\.[a-z]*$ /viewtopic.php?t=$1&start=$3 [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^post-([0-9]*)\.[a-z]*$ /viewtopic.php?p=$1  [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^(p|n)?topic-([0-9]*)(-([0-9]+))?\.[a-z]*$ /viewtopic.php?t=$2&start=$4 [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^view-poll([0-9]*)(-[a-z0-9_-]*)?\.[a-z]*$ /viewtopic.php?t=$1 [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^(stop-)?updates-topic([0-9]*)\.[a-z]*$ /viewtopic.php?t=$2 [QSA,L,NC]

Where I added slashes and a ? (to handle both aboutxx.html and about-xx.html).

You also need to install / activate the zero duplicate mod, and to set its post redirection option to at least "guests". This will actually turn the redirection on (once of course, the .htaccess will properly address the old rewritten urls to the proper php scripts).

++

dcz wrote:Since -http://www.sportfiskeforum.se/about-19048.html does not work, it seems that you need the right slash, eg try (still at the end of your phpBB3 .htaccess):

Code: Select all

#PHPBB2 URLs
RewriteRule ^forums\.[a-z]*$ /index.php [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^(mark-)?forum([0-9]*)(-([0-9]+))?(-[0-9]*)?\.[a-z]*$ /viewforum.php?f=$2&start=$4 [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^about-?([0-9]*)(-([0-9]+))?\.[a-z]*$ /viewtopic.php?t=$1&start=$3 [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^post-([0-9]*)\.[a-z]*$ /viewtopic.php?p=$1  [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^(p|n)?topic-([0-9]*)(-([0-9]+))?\.[a-z]*$ /viewtopic.php?t=$2&start=$4 [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^view-poll([0-9]*)(-[a-z0-9_-]*)?\.[a-z]*$ /viewtopic.php?t=$1 [QSA,L,NC]
RewriteRule ^(stop-)?updates-topic([0-9]*)\.[a-z]*$ /viewtopic.php?t=$2 [QSA,L,NC]

Where I added slashes and a ? (to handle both aboutxx.html and about-xx.html).

You also need to install / activate the zero duplicate mod, and to set its post redirection option to at least "guests". This will actually turn the redirection on (once of course, the .htaccess will properly address the old rewritten urls to the proper php scripts).

++

Thankyou! I updated the .htaccess and will install the zero duplicate mod.