sh404SEF 
NEW: built in caching database layer, can speed up sh404SEF and Joomla database operation. Backed by memcache, APC, etc
NEW: Pinterest support. Including tracking in Google Analytics of Pinterest actions!
NEW: full support for Google rel="prev" and rel="next" header tags, to improve SEO of paginated content
New: sh404SEF goes social!
- Create and insert Open Graph data
- Insert Facebook, Tweeter, Pintrest, G+ and G+ pages icons
- track all likes, shares, tweets, pinnings, pluses clicks in Analytics dashboard in your site backend.
And still with:
- Built-in Google Analytics support, including reporting right in your site backend
- your own tiny urls: shUrls
- Full urls and meta data management
- QR codes
- canonical headers for pdf, etc
Multi-lingual support
Easily redirect 404s to suggested SEF URLS
Use Joomsef or AceSEF extensions for increased compatibility
sh404SEF rewrites Joomla URL to user-friendly format (SEF URL or URL rewriting): mysite.com/index.php?option=com_content&Itemid=69&id=34... becomes mysite.com/en/sh404SEF-and-url-rewriting/list-of-available-plugins.html).
It is also a security component. Page title and meta tags manager for every page. With or without .htaccess file. Joomfish compatible. Caching system for high speed and very small DB queries overhead.
Support many components natively: VirtueMart, K2, FlexiContent, Kunena, Jomsocial, Community Builder, mosetsTree, Sobi2, myBlog and more. SSL switch, automatic 301 redirection from non-sef to sef, insert Google news style numerical ID,.. Many backend parameters to control URL construction behavior.
Since 2.1: mobile visitor detection and template switcher
1. SEF DOMAIN PER LANGUAGE: If you want to use one domain URL per language, sh404SEF does not work with SEF domains. You will find in the language panel that you can set one domain per language (called "url per language"). But it only works if you include the code language after every domain.
2. NESTED CATEGORIES: I got 404 errors when include categories in the SEF url. This error only came when I set restricted the category to the last one or last two nested. In other cases it worked smoothly.
Hi
Thanks for your review. Please see my comments:
1 - language per domain: when moving to Joomla 1.6/1.7, we accomodated the new language features that were added in Joomla with these new versions, but left the language per domain part out of it. The reason is that we're waiting for Joomfish to be available, and want to design a solution that accomodate both
2 - We don't have any report of such issue, and frankly, it is so basic and so big that it wouldn't go unoticed. I have just personally tested that this does not happen. I suggest you get back in touch with the support staff and try to find the real problem
Rgds
"WOW" is all I can say! I should have purchased sooner. This is BY FAR the best sef/seo component available for Joomla. It does everything! There are endless configuration options, excellent alias control, and phenomenal handling of 301's. It couldn't get any better!
Don't do like I id, and put it off due to it being commercial. The $39.00 price tag is WELL WORTH IT! Having sh404sef is not an option for any developer; It's a MUST! Trust me, get it. You need this extension!!
Excellent job guys. I'm VERY happy!!
I have never known a company to provide such incredible customer service. They go above and beyond the call of duty.
If you are looking for a great product to produce friendly url's and you are looking for a company that provides great customer service then this is the product and the company for you.
There has been a couple of times where i have been stuck and thought there is no way i can solve this but their customer service said let us deal with it.
I only wished that all joomla components and extensions were as good as this and that the companies behind them were as good as these.
This company could teach lots of companies about customer service.
The support is excellent and response time is quick.
I'd highly recommend it.
So it works great but it really depends on your template. But don't worry cause jimie is providing great support at the forum.
It may also get into conflict with other components (like it did with Jcrawler for me), but then again jimie is here to help.
So I gave this component a 5 star because it has great possibilities, works well and there's always someone to help, which is certainly the most valuable thing nowadays.
I've had a couple of issues, one I sorted myself and the other was sorted within 10 minutes of posting on the support forum.
That's the kind of service I like. Keep up the good work.
Hi
Sorry Mighty resource does not provide a plugin for sh404SEF. Many extensions, though of course not all, do.
However, one thing is for sure: if you cannot have SEF urls with Mighty resource and sh404SEF, you cannot have SEF urls at all, either with Joomla SEF or any other extension.
That's because sh404SEF can directly use plugins for Joomla SEF (router.php files), Acesef and Joomsef.
Rgds
Thank you for your efforts, mate:)
Although, there are many manual configurations that could be set to optimize individual web pages in sh404, unfortunately, the extension is unable to handle this primary task of SEF URLs effectively. While standard joomla content get translated easily, the extension falters and is inconsistent on popular platforms such as jomsocial and docman in J1.6/1.7. Two of the main extensions that made me purchase sh404.
As noted by earlier reviewers', Joomla has come a long way in SEF/SEO optimization since the humble beginnings of mambo and joomla 1.0. Perhaps, if you are still using LTS J1.5, then you may need sh404, but for websites on J1.6/1.7 this may cause more trouble to you than good. Among others, purged and deleted URLs could resurface when you never expected, raising questions on the database integrity. Today, many new extensions/components contain their own optimized SEF URLS that are short and concise and by far superior to what sh404s algorithm offers.
As and when jomsocial and perhaps docman, with 2.0 coming up updates their own SEF algorithms, sh404 could be redundant.
On support, it is fair at the forums and nothing beyond that. They are quick to blame you as the cause of the under-performing extension and are sometimes clueless on what may be going on, making you wonder if they understand the framework of their own extension themselves.
Hi
Frankly, I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. You seem to agree with me on SEF urls being only a smaller part of SEO, but you continue by only talking about SEF urls?
On this topic of SEF urls, then you say sh404SEF is not "consistent" for Docman and JomSocial sef urls? I don't know what that means, especially for Jomsocial, for which sh404SEF has a built-in plugin, extremely "consistent".
We don't have any issue pending for our JomSocial plugin ATM.
Likewise, I'm not sure what evolution between J! 1.5 and J! 1.6/1.7 you are referring to. There has been no evolution at all in that area (routing), and the routing mechanism is one of the few that was not touched going from 1.5 to 1.6/1.7 of Joomla!
Every comment made on Joomla URLs, or more exactly on Joomla routing, is applicable to 1.5, 1.6 and 1.7
The one question you provide more details about: "purged and deleted URLs could resurface when you never expected, raising questions on the database integrity." is easier to answer however: purged url will ALWAYS resurface. That's because sh404SEF does not create urls. It only translates them to a more readable form. It is your Joomla site that creates urls, and then asks sh404sef to translate it. If you purge urls, then next time Joomla wants to display that same url, it will again ask sh404SEF to translate it to a SEF form, and the SEF url will be back. Sh404SEF has no influence on what links and urls are displayed on your site, it only respond to requests from Joomla! itself.
I think you may want to ask those questions on the forum again, and maybe give us a chance to look at your site specifically to provide more detailed answers.
Rgds
But, have to say...i decided not to use any third party SEF extension anymore.
It would be Joomla SEF all the way now. With Joomla 1.7 even better.
Now when Google give advice not to use SEF URL´s, and that dynamic URl´s are OK for theirs spiders, there is no point in using third party SEF. Also not any need for Joomla SEF.
I have been slave to third party SEF extensions for long time.
Regarding just sh404SEF. You can become irritated with fact that sh404SEF try to much, almost as James Bond.
- Google Analytics in Admin ?
- Div´s replacing tables !!??
- Honeypot and firewall functions !!??
- Template switcher ?
What´s next ? Gallery ?
Come on. Stick to the SEF.
Hi
An interesting review! Let me first say I thank you for your 5 stars and the usage of the word "Best". As you might guess, I am of a different opinion when it comes to your following comments however.
Let's start by the end: "Stick to SEF". No. Because sh404SEF is not a SEF component, and has not been a SEF component since I took over in 2006. It is a SEO and security extension. And even security is really more a SEO thing as well.
It seems you have missed the logical pattern in all the features you listed. They all aim at improving one thing: ranking.
1 - SEF urls: I have no idea where you got the strange idea Google advice not to use SEF urls. Quite the contrary. Not only do they say it, but they have written it, on their blogs and in their Beginners SEO optimization guide for instance. Spider's ability to handle dynamic URL has never been a reason to use SEF urls, not since 2005 or so anyway. SEF urls are only about ranking a little bit better than your competition.
2 - Analytics: how do you want to optimize your site content without measuring results? Analytics goes hand in hand with SEO, it is a pre-requisite for any kind of SEO work, and my goal in putting it in to your Joomla's site backend is to raise awareness and facilitate this job
3 - Div replacing table. I suggest you Google for table-less layout and the SEO benefit fo using lightweight markup in your page's html. Please note that from version 1.6 on, Joomla! has switched to table-less html, and so this feature has been removed from sh404SEF for Joomla 1.6+
4 - Honeypot and firewall: SEO is (mostly) about quality content. Preventing crappy content to get on your site (Hoenypot), or preventing your site to be totally banned from Google search results because you have some malware in it looks like a very important thing to do in terms of SEO!
5 - Template switcher: we're now living in a mobile world. You must adjust your content to your users, and search engines have already started to take this into account, that's why I try help in this transition
Going back to the basics, SEF urls, I would also like to comment that if you go away from a SEF extension, you'll have to cope with the two biggest issues in Joomla urls:
a - duplicate content: urls are mostly based on menu items, and this will very often generates multiple urls to same content, thus "splitting" authority between links, instead of concentrating it. The menu-based architecture has some great benefits in terms of ease of use for the final users, and I'm not advocating dropping it, but it does have some issues
b - urls length: especially now that Joomla 1.6 has nested categories, we start seeing very lengthy urls, where the article title is at the end, where it loose any effect.
Hope I have addressed some of your concerns. Two sources of information on the matter I found interesting are the Google webmaster central blog, and the SEOMOZ.org site, in particular their ranking factors pages.
Best regards
