Free Mod for Product Page Custom Meta Tags & Titles

belen · #1 01-27-2005, 07:02 PM

Though the new versions of X-Cart are improving the ability to specify meta tags and titles for SEO, I have had many clients frustrated with not being able to optimize product pages, as these are usually where they want people to land. Below is a mod that doesn't involve modifying the database or fields - only 2 template edits and the use of an include file. I am implementing it in the 4.x branch, but I think it will translate down with no issue.

1) Create .txt files for your <head> data, including title, meta description, meta keywords and any others you wish to include. Example:

Code:

<title>Keyword 1, Keyword 2 from Company Name</title> 
<meta name="keywords" content="keyword phrase1,keyword phrase2,keyword phrase3,keyword phrase4,keyword phrase5"> 
<meta name="description" content="Keyword 1, Keyword 2 from Company Name. Descriptive sentence."> 
<meta name="GOOGLEBOT" content="index,follow">
<meta name="robots" content="index,follow">
<!-- This web site contains information about: keyword phrase1,keyword 
phrase2,keyword phrase3,keyword phrase4,keyword phrase5 -->

You will create one of these for each product, naming it with the X-Cart Product ID number (ie - "16145.txt")

2) You will upload these to a directory on your server called meta. I prefer to place mine at the root of my web directory, at the same level as my x-cart directory, so it is at "/meta/" and xcart is at "/store/"

3) First, you need to diable the default title tag if you are on a product page, since it is included in your meta include.

Open <xcart_root_dir>/skin1/customer/home.tpl and add the following code above and below the existing<TITLE> tags (existing code indicated for your reference)

Code:

***begin existing code***
<HTML>
<HEAD>
***end existing code***

{if $product.product ne ""}

{else}

***begin existing code***
<TITLE>
x-cart title code
</TITLE>
***end existing code***

{/if}

4) Now we will edit the meta template.

Open <xcart_root_dir>/skin1/meta.tpl and add the following code (existing code is marked for your reference)

Code:

***begin existing code***
<META name="ROBOTS" content="NOINDEX">
<META name="ROBOTS" content="NOFOLLOW">
{else}
***end existing code***

{if $product.product ne ""}
		{assign var="meta" value=$product.productid}
		{php}
		$meta = $this->get_template_vars('meta');
		$meta_data = "../meta/".$meta.".txt";
		readfile($meta_data);
		{/php}
{else}

***begin existing code***
<META name="description" content="{if $current_category.meta_descr ne ""}{$current_category.meta_descr}{/if} {$config.SEO.meta_descr}">
<META name="keywords" content="{if $current_category.meta_keywords ne ""}{$current_category.meta_keywords}{/if} {$config.SEO.meta_keywords}">
{/if}
***end existing code***

{/if}

***begin existing code***
{if $webmaster_mode eq "editor"}

What we are doing is first checking to see if the product variable is set to equal anything. If it is, then we know we are on a product page. Then we assign a variable name we can use to the productID, we concatnate it with the path for the meta include file, and then ask PHP to spit out the include file for us. If we aren't on a product page, it ignores this and moves along to the standard meta data.

The fact that my clients can edit their meta data in a text file to their heart's content and I don't have to apply mods to the database and structure, thereby avoiding upgrade headaches made me very very happy. Until X-Cart realizes that product pages *are* important for some people to optimize, I am content to use this mostly un-invasive solution.

I hope this helps some of you out there - I know this is a topic that can cause much headache!

----------------------------------
belen
me@belen.net
www.belen.net

rjcbear · #2 01-27-2005, 07:27 PM

Intersting but kind of complicated.

Here is one free mod that work wonders one of them is free and the other one is a pay mod. How do I know they work wonders I use them.

the free mod is:

http://www.bcsengineering.com/store/customer/product.php?productid=88

the paid mod is:

http://www.bcsengineering.com/store/customer/product.php?productid=95

this two mods come from www.Bcsengineering.com

go get them

Kind regards,
Ricky

GM · #3 01-27-2005, 10:10 PM

I'll second that... Carries mods ROCK! And she is Most Excellent to deal with! Stop waisting your time and go get the real thing.

cotc2001 · #4 01-27-2005, 10:41 PM

But credit where credit is due, thanks to the original poster for their mod.

Taffy · #5 01-28-2005, 12:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cotc2001

But credit where credit is due, thanks to the original poster for their mod.

Yes, no doubt. I really appreciate the guys who come in here and let us see their code. I am on this wave riding it as far as I can take it. The more info I can get from all of you the better.

belen · #6 01-28-2005, 06:48 AM

I had seen Carrie's mod and, while nice, did not fit the specific needs of my clients. They needed ALOT more control over the product title, not just keywords and descriptions. One of the things I have found the most useful in this forum is that so many people have so many solutions that are all just a little different.

Thank you to those of you who are kind enough to appreciate what I have shared, even if it isn't of help to you. I often feel I don't give enough back to this community and I was just trying to offer a token.

---------------
belen

jdiehl · #7 08-04-2005, 09:49 AM

Outstanding Job. I agree with you that while Carrie's mod is good, I needed different abilities.

I was able to modify your code to work on Category Pages and on the added Static Pages that I have. I even added the ability for it to check to see if the file existed, and if not then it would load the defaults like it did before the mod. This gives me the ability to work on some of the pages without being forced to work on all of them immediately.

Great Job, Thank you very much for sharing.