[intel352]

Hi Kip, XC SEO was the first X-Cart SEO module to make use of Smarty's output filter functionality (the other SEO modules at the time were tedious manual hacks to template files, php files, etc, to achieve a similar effect, but they have since decided to copy XC SEO's implementation method). Using the output filter means that manual template hacks are not needed. Before the page is output, XC SEO parses each page content for URLs that it recognizes, for Categories, Products, Manufacturers, Static Pages. When any urls are recognized, it automatically replaces each url with it's SEO'd counterpart.

While the install process doesn't require a fully stock installation, it does help to have a stock install, to ensure the patches apply properly. The patch changes only affect PHP files with fairly minor changes per file, so even if you have to manually patch, it's not as tedious as most modules.

While XC SEO replaces the URLs with aliases in the final output page, the .htaccess file will remap clicked alias urls back to their intended target in X-Cart.

The installer itself will insert SQL information that will add XC SEO as a module, you'll then have configuration options that you can change as needed via X-Cart General Settings for XC SEO. Additionally, XC SEO can be easily enabled/disabled as needed.