If you’ve been reading this blog for more than a few days, you’ll know I strongly recommend two components to improve SEO on Joomla 1.0:
- sh404SEF from extensions.siliana.net
- SEF Patch from joomlatwork.com ( winner of an "Extension of the Month" award last year )
The good news is that one of those has just been updated for Joomla 1.5. This is our review of the new SEF Patch.
Installation
The patch is similar to the free version for 1.0 rather than the extended version. Instead of installing it like a component, you’ll need to use FTP to manually overwrite the files. No backups are created, so if you make a mistake, you’ll need to download the original files and reupload.
Why no automatic installation? The SEF Patch was designed to be part of the core release of 1.5 rather than an extra component.
Using the Patch
You’ll see changes to Joomla 1.5 in three places:
- In Site >> Global Configuration, a new tab called "SEO". This controls the metadata options for the whole site.
- Inside each article, a greatly expanded "Metadata Information" section. This allows unique HTML titles for each article.
- Inside each menu link, a new field called "MENU item meta data". This permits unique metadata for any menu link on the site.
What’s Missing from the 1.0 SEF Patch
Only a couple of items haven’t made the transition and that is largely because this is a true patch and no longer a component:
- The "Overview URL repository", which allowed metadata to be applied to any page on your site.
- Ignore lists for common words you don’t want in metadata: "a, an, are, as, at, be, by, etc…"
Conclusion
The SEF Patch is as essential for 1.5 as it was for 1.0. Its free, stable, easy to use and doesn’t interfere with other extensions. There is no other way to fully control metadata on your site. That may change as other SEO components are released for 1.5, but I fully expect to still be recommending the SEF Patch for many months to come.
Find Out More
Screenshots of the New Patch
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