Hikashop creating multiple pages for a single product in ALL categories

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7 years 11 months ago #259381

-- HikaShop version -- : 2.6.5
-- Joomla version -- : 3.6.5
-- PHP version -- : 5.5.24
-- Browser(s) name and version -- : Firefox and Chrome
-- Error-message(debug-mod must be tuned on) -- : 404 error

Hikashop is creating multiple pages for a single product in ALL categories!!
Multiple pages are definitely a NO, NO for Google!!!
As our site is HOT on Google, we suggest we find a fix for this ASAP to prevent being penalized by Google.
My Webmaster has been maintaining the site for approx 3 months now since Google identified a 404 error and sent an email.
We have activated the “Redirects component” in Joomla.
In that time, www.airsoft-hq.co.za has generated approx 1,500, occurrences of 404 error pages to be redirected.
These are only the pages that we have “unpublished” in our shopping cart!!!
What about the published pages??
Is Hikashop is creating multiple pages for ALL of our products???
Multiple pages are definitely a NO, NO for Google!!!

If you go to the admin page of your Joomla database
www.airsoft-hq.co.za/shop/administrator/index.php?0nline199
(Please advise how to send you a UN & PW. )
Go to “Components” – “Redirects”.
Search – Google.
All of the pages that have been clicked on Google will come up.
This is only for 3 months now.
see attached screenshot: 404 error-Google-redirects.jpg
These pages are indexed on Google’s database.

Now Search – 194
U will note the page 194-ca26-pistol-ca033m comes up multiple times, each time in a different category
airsoft-hq.co.za/shop/index.php/bags-bac...4-ca26-pistol-ca033m
This is happening with all of the pages that we have “unpublished” in our shopping cart.
see attached screenshot: 404-error-Redirects-194product.jpg

Please refer this problem to Nicholas from Hikashop support. We hope this is just a Hikashop configuration setting problem.
Thanking You
How can I give my webmaster, Patrick Pac, access to this forum on my behalf? Can I get him a login so he can communicate directly with you?


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7 years 11 months ago #259382

Hi,

It is a common issue when you don't configure HikaShop/Joomla properly.
As long as a URL can be understood, HikaShop and Joomla will display the page.
For example, if you take the page www.airsoft-hq.co.za/shop/index.php?opti...ategories&Itemid=124 or the page www.airsoft-hq.co.za/shop/index.php?opti...Itemid=124&test=test
You'll see that both pages will work.
Thus, if you don't do anything, it's normal that you get multiple URLs for one page, be it a product page, a contact form, or a photo gallery.
That's where the "canonical URL" plays a key role to avoid that problem.
In each of your HikaShop product and category, there is a "canonical URL" field where you can enter the URL you prefer as main URL so that it will be the one advertized to search engines as the main one. And when you do that, duplicate content won't be penalize for these products/categories.
So it's really important to set it in all your products.

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7 years 11 months ago #259452

If u take one of the offending pages.
959-bio-bbs-6mm-0-20g-5000r-ka-bb-04-wh
If u go to that product page in Hika, it has the cannonical URL, “/shop/index.php/airstore/airsoftaccessories/bbpellets/product/959-bio-bbs-6mm-0-20g-5000r-ka-bb-04-wh” WHICH IS THE CORRECT CATEGORY.
Why has that page generated 20 pages in assorted categories according to Joomla redirects??

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7 years 11 months ago #259456

Hi,

I don't see what you mean. I don't see any product with that alias on your products listing for the category BB pellets :
www.airsoft-hq.co.za/shop/airstore/airsoftaccessories/bbpellets
What product page are you talking about ?
Can you do a screenshot of the settings of the product and one of the URLs you're talking about in the Joomla redirect component ?
Because with the information I have and what I've understood of the situation, it's too blurry for me to say anything useful.

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7 years 11 months ago #259527

Please advise how I can send you a User Name and Password for you Nicholas.
Pat wants to refer you then to the original request at the topic of this thread.
He has attached some screenshots requested.

Again is there any way I can get a log in on Hikashop for my Webmaster on my account?

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7 years 11 months ago #259620

Hi,

Yes, please provide a backend access. It will be easier to understand the situation.
Please use our contact form for that and include a link to this thread:
www.hikashop.com/support/contact-us.html

Regarding your webmaster, either have him use your user account or have him create another user account.

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7 years 11 months ago #259677

Hi,

The administrator link you gave didn't have any security key and thus when I try to access it I'm getting redirected back to the frontend.
So I couldn't have a look at the settings.
Could you provide that as well please ?

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7 years 11 months ago #259764

Hi,

I was able to log on the backend now.
So I checked the product "Bio BBs 6mm - 0.20g (5000R) - KA-BB-04-WH".
While it has a canonical URL, which will avoid being penalized by search engines, the product is unpublished.
So when you use one of the links generated to access it, the link is automatically redirected by Joomla's redirection system with a 301 instead of a normal 404 error (which tells google that the link doesn't exist anymore).
Because of that, the link is not removed from google's index. and since the product is unpublished, the canonical URL isn't provided to google either and it doesn't know which one is the main URL of the product.
So basically, adding a canonical URL to an unpublished product won't change anything.
Google will simply remove it from its index when it re index your website pages and doesn't find the link anymore.

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7 years 11 months ago #259807

Hi Nicholas
I am now maintaining and have recently (3 months) been made webmaster of the airsoft hq site although i originally designed this site.
I received an email from Google about 4 months ago (i originally installed Webmaster Tools) highlighting the fact that the airsoft site was generating a large # of 404 errors (400+ pages).
I activated the “Redirects component” in Joomla.
In that time, www.airsoft-hq.co.za has generated approx 1,500++, 404 error pages to be redirected and is generating pages all the time.

If you go to the admin page - www.airsoft-hq.co.za/shop/administrator/index.php?0nline199
Go to “Components” – “Redirects”.
Search – Google.
Pages listed there are in the wrong category eg " airsoft-hq.co.za/shop/index.php/bags-bac...point-mp5-sling-a021 ".

These pages, in the wrong category, are indexed on Google’s database.
When doing a sitemap, these pages are coming up too.
When the product is published, is Hikashop creating multiple pages for a single product in ALL categories???
When that link is clicked in Google, the user goes to the product (URL in the wrong category) and the cannonical URL on the product page directs to the correct page????.

If I had to redirect these pages (as i have done to now), i would have to spend 2 hours a day, forever doing this???

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7 years 11 months ago #260336

Hi,

If the URL generates a 404 it means that it is wrong.
If that URL comes from the sitemap, then there is a problem with the sitemap.
HikaShop doesn't create invalid URLs by itself.
Either the URL displayed on the listing is generated automatically by HikaShop and is valid, or the URL is taken from the Canonical URL field of the product (that you set or that was set by HikaShop in the past, when that URL was deemed valid because you told HikaShop to fill the canonical URLs automatically).

When you let HikaShop generate the URL and not set a canonical URL, you can indeed end up with several URLs on the different listings where the product appear, but which should all work. And you can enter the one you want Google to index as Canonical URL in the product. That way, you won't be penalized by Google for the SEO on the page and it will deindex the other URLs leading to that page.

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7 years 11 months ago #260423

Hi Nicholas
As u state, "If the URL generates a 404 it means that it is wrong".
The sitemap generating program ( www.check-domains.com/ ) is picking up these 404 errors.
Also, see "Redirects". When u search for check-domains (see check-domains-screenshot).



Re "HikaShop doesn't create invalid URLs by itself".
Please note that these are the "unpublished" products so the 404 redirects are valid.
BUT, only 2 or 3 and not a 404 error page for every category in the database.
See "Redirects".
Search for "193".
There are 48 (3 pages) 404 pages of that single "unpublished" product "193-Classic-army-1911a1".
48, 404 error pages for assorted categories in the database.
Also, the last listing (incorrect category) is indexed in Google's database (see 193-screenshot).
Is this is a problem with Hikashop working with Joomla redirects.

Re "When you let HikaShop generate the URL and not set a canonical URL, you can indeed end up with several URLs".
That mean that a canonical URL is ESSENTIAL to avoid creating multiple pages in all categories???
Again, Is Hikashop is creating pages in every category for ALL "published" products???
I cannot say for sure that this product had a canonical URL but i advised Paul 2 years ago to make certain the canonical URL is there.
Anyway, it seems as if all "unpublished" products, with or without a canonical URL are listed in multiple categories.
Also, auto canonical URLs were activated in Hikashop approx 2 years ago.

Re "you won't be penalized by Google and it will deindex the other URLs leading to that page".
As long as u are sure that Google will not penalise this site, I am happy.

Thanking You
Patrick Pac

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