URL Rewriting MOD

[/a3]

The old URL you HTTP302 redirect which is a permanent change of URL, so long as only one actualy URL exists and all other URLs to the content redirect with status 302 to the new URL its fine.

Using %20 in urls is bad, it would be dashes (-)

But that would require another SQL query. IIRC performance is still an important factor in phpBB.

And is it worth adding such features, which?

1. Haven't been proven to benefit the site in terms of SEO, and
2. only make the URLs longer, and still include the topic and forum numbers that are required either way.

Maybe I'm blind, but I have yet been convinced that these "human-readable" URLs are any better than the current system.

[Erik Frèrejean]

only make the URLs longer, and still include the topic and forum numbers that are required either way.

Which is IMHO the biggest problem with "SEO" URLs in a system like phpBB. Links must be dynamic so you'll end up storing different information in the URL, you just make it look like static URLs but they really aren't all that static. (have a look at the Titania, these URLs are rewritten but still contain a bunch of dynamic data).

http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/l ... lo-t_86486, http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/l ... 6486-hello, http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/l ... le-t_86486 and http://www.phpbb.com/customise/db/mod/l ... rt/t_86486 point to the exact same page so the problem of different URLs pointing to the same page isn't solved by using these URLs. What IMHO is useful is a system that forces the parameters in the same order.

URL rewriting is nice (looks nice) for sites that hardly change (blogs/websites), but for something as changeable as a BB its pretty useless because all the dynamic data simply is required to correctly display the page.

[EXreaction]

Canonical URLs are supposed to solve the problem of that for search engines, although I notice now that Titania actually doesn't seem to be generating those like I thought it was.

Also, all those URLs should be generated the same every time, so they shouldn't be shown to you that way.

[Erik Frèrejean]

Also, all those URLs should be generated the same every time, so they shouldn't be shown to you that way.

I know, just posted that example to point out that you still have the issue (that is pointed out often) where viewtopic.php?f=4&t=2 and viewtopic.php?t=2 point to the same page.