Existing Events + SEO subscribers can also extend their subscriptions for an extra year by logging into their Control Panel and clicking the Extend button.

Happy Shopping!

{subscriptions_add_to_cart pid=33}

Changelog Updates:

[new] Added 301 auto-redirect to protect against pages of your site 
 which have been Facebook-liked using old method, that can 
 generate fb_xd_fragment and fb_xd_bust duplicate content issue 
[new] Implemented channelUrl for Facebook like/send button, to protect 
 against fb_xd_fragment and fb_xd_bust SEO issues 
[new] You can now select exactly which social button to display on a tag by tag basis, using 'type' attribute in { sh404sef_social_buttons } tags 
[chg] Updated Spanish translation by Diego Hagopian 
[chg] Updated Russian translation (Alex Smirnov) 
[chg] Updated Romanian translation (Valentin Barbu) 
[chg] Updated Italian translation (Andrea Castrovilli) 
[chg] Updated German translation (Jürgen Hörmann) 
[chg] Updated Bulgarian translation (Kiril Yoviev) 
[chg] Cleaned up all language files, key deduplication, ready to upload 
 to translation server 
[chg] Simple title and better robots meta on 404 page 
[chg] Don't show Open graph data on 404 pages 
[chg] Removed Virtuemart 1.x plugin 
[chg] Better detection of item category, when displaying social 
 buttons, will work also when article is displayed inside a module 
Tracker #103 
[chg] Replaced deprecated function in Mosets Tree plugin 
Tracker #97 
plus various bug fixes...

The full sh404SEF® changelog for sh404SEF® is also available.

As with any major release, early adopters often find issues and Joomla 2.5.0 was no different.

A number of bugs were identified and I am now happy to announce the immediate availability of Joomla 2.5.1.

This build has a number of issues resolved and for those of you waiting to upgrade from Joomla 1.7, now is the time.

Enjoy!

Standard features such as avatars, polls, announcements and even ACL are all independent Agora add-ons meaning you can customize your bulletin board to your audience to be lean and mean, "all you can eat" and anything in between.

While we finish up the beta release I have attached a few screenshots to whet your whistle.

Keep your eye on the News page, the Announcements board, Twitter and our Newsletter to be notified as soon as Agora 4 is available.

Standard Agora 4 frontend

Agora 4 Backend Dashboard

Agora 4 Forums Manager

Agora 4 ACL manager

Agora 4 Add-on Manager

Nested categories

As with the section/category system in Joomla 1.5, the calendar/category system in previous versions of JCal Pro® is replaced by nested categories. In addition, events can belong in multiple categories, a common feature request for JCal Pro®.

Customization is built-in

JCal Pro® 3 was built with customization in mind. We have leveraged Joomla’s JForm library and you can quickly add custom fields to events. This part of the software is very new, and we expect lots of tweaks in the coming weeks.

The primary or canonical category determines what custom fields, if any, are associated with an event and serves as the URL suffix for the event when SEF URLs are enabled.

Event registration

In JCal Pro® 3 users can register or sign-up to attend events. In addition, the registration forms can also be customized on a per-category basis similar to event customization.

Timezone support

Finally, you may now schedule events in specific time zones. JCal Pro® will automatically detect the timezone of the user viewing the site and display the local time of the event as appropriate.

Here’s the keys, take her for a spin

For those of you who would like to test this BETA release, you can download JCal Pro® in our Public Downloads area. Please post any issues you come across in The Laboratory, a new area on the forum created specifically for testing purposes.

Please note most but not all the basic features from JCal Pro® 2 have been ported, but no modules are currently available.

In addition, JCal Pro® was written for PHP 5.3 and above. However, we’ve also included support for PHP 5.2. Testing in PHP 5.2 is thus an important goal.

Other bugs may be related to Joomla’s SEF URL rewriting so please test any issues that arise with Joomla SEF both enabled and disabled before reporting.

What’s next?

In the coming weeks we will solidify this release, prepare some premium themes and publish the Latest Events and Mini-calendar modules as well as a sh404SEF® plugin.

We also plan to port any missing features from JCal Pro® 2 and provide a tool for migrating from previous versions of JCal Pro®.

Spend $39, get $90 free

That’s right, a $39 sh404SEF® purchase gets you a free, no-strings-attached copy of redSHOP - a $90 value!

redSHOP is an extremely feature-rich E-commerce solution for Joomla with a full team of developers constantly working to update and improve it.  

What’s more, redSHOP was developed specifically to leverage the SEO-enhancing features of sh404SEF®.

In short, redSHOP and sh404SEF® are so well matched that it only makes sense to offer them together.

Offer ends when Christmas arrives

But don’t wait too long as this special won’t be around forever.

As soon as Christmas arrives, the offer will be gone like the cookies you leave out for Santa :)

We hope you enjoy the holiday savings!

DETAILS:
1. Exchange rate. The 12-month redSHOP subscription costs 69€ and at current exchange rates is approximately $90 USD. Changes in the exchange rate will not affect this offer.
2. Qualifying Purchases. This offer applies only to purchases of sh404SEF® ($39) or the SEO + Events bundle ($78) made on or between 14-Dec-2011 and 24-Dec-2011. Any purchase made with an existing coupon or offer is not a qualifying purchase.
3. Offer Details. For a qualifying purchase at Anything Digital, each customer will receive a coupon code worth 69€ for at redCOMPONENT.com. This code is valid for a 12-month or 12-month Pro purchase of redSHOP. Full details on this product  available at: redcomponent.com/redshop
4. Offer Quantity. Each purchase will produce one coupon code. The total number of coupon codes available to customers as a whole is not limited.
5. Offer Redemption. For qualifying purchases, the purchase confirmation email will include a coupon code worth 69€ for at redCOMPONENT.com. This code is valid for a 12-month or 12-month Pro purchase of redSHOP. This code must be redeemed at: redcomponent.com/redshop/redshop-subscriptions
6. Promotion Period. This promotion will run from 14-Dec-2011 until midnight, 24-Dec-2011 (Central Standard Time, UTC-5) unless otherwise stated.

sh404SEF® & redSHOP , 1 yr, {subscriptions_show_price pid=20}	{subscriptions_add_to_cart pid=20}	Events+SEO & redSHOP , 1 yr, {subscriptions_show_price pid=33}	{subscriptions_add_to_cart pid=33}

Install or upgrade sh404SEF®

The social SEO features of sh404SEF® were first released for Joomla 1.7 in version 3.4 (version 2.4 for Joomla 1.5). Ensure that you download this version or later before proceeding.

Existing users can simply install this version over their current one without the need to first uninstall. New users should install sh404SEF® and test their site to ensure that everything is working as expected.

Full details on installing and upgrading can be found in the sh404SEF® User Manual.

Activate Analytics and Social Sharing

If you have not already done so, ensure that you’ve activated the Google Analytics features in the sh404SEF® parameters. This consists primarily of entering your Web Property ID and Google Analytics credentials.

You can see full details on setting this up, including a video tutorial, in the sh404SEF® User Manual.

The social sharing tools are configured similar to analytics. In the extension parameters select Enable on all pages. Importantly, use the additional tabs to add more information about your web site and services. The location and contact information are very important for social SEO and localized search result placement.

Also be sure to check the parameters in the sh404SEF® core - Social buttons plugin found in the Joomla plugins manager. Ensure that the plugin is enabled and the button location is set to Before content or After content.

You can also individually customize the Facebook, Twitter and Google+ options in the plugin parameters.

Detailed instructions are available in the sh404SEF® User Manual.

View and test your social button

If everything has gone well, the social buttons are now automatically displayed either above or below every standard Joomla article (i.e. com_content) and tracking information is being sent to Google Analytics.

As your site visitors begin to share your content using these buttons, you’ll be able to view a summary of the social engagement on your site in the Anaytics Manager of sh404SEF®.

To drill down and get critical data such as Average Time on Site and Pages/Visit, view the Social Engagement area of Google Analytics (see top image).

Beyond Joomla content

Like millions of Joomla users it is very likely that, in addition to Joomla content, you have additional extensions installed on your web site that generates content suitable for sharing.

For example, you might have a an E-commerce site filled with products, a dedicated publishing component used to create blog post or an event calendar and bulletin board for your local church.

In each of these cases, allowing visitors to share and recommend your products, services and events on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ can be very beneficial for enhancing search result placement.

In our next post we’ll show you how to use the exact same suite of social icons for all the content on your site.

Use the buttons below to add these items to your cart directly

Happy Thanksgiving!

Agora Forum Developer		Advanced Search
1 year - {subscriptions_show_price pid=30}		1 year - {subscriptions_show_price pid=9}
{subscriptions_add_to_cart pid=30}		{subscriptions_add_to_cart pid=9}

SEO — good content still rules

Since search engine optimization is primarily about identifying and classifying good content, the search engines have finally taken notice of social networking. All the major search engines now admit that social engagement — clicking a Like button or sharing content on Twitter — has a positive effect on search engine rankings for a particular keyword.

In other words, if people recommend your content on Facebook or share it with their friends on Twitter and Google+, the content will be ranked higher in search results compared to similar content lacking those personal referrals.

A higher ranking in search results means more traffic to your web site and even more personal referrals. This positive social feedback cycle is a powerful new tool in your SEO toolbox.

Ignore social media at your peril

In the past, having the right keyword density, meta data and domain name was enough to maintain an acceptable placement in search results. Today, these traditional SEO guidelines are less and less important as user-generated feedback from social networks becomes integrated into search engine algorithms.

Anyone who is serious about their placement in search results now has to be engaged socially and have a web site optimized to take full advantage of this new 'social SEO'.

A comprehensive social engagement tool set for Joomla

sh404SEF® is the well-known Joomla extension focused on search engine optimization. As developers focused on SEO, we knew that building a comprehensive solution to optimize your Joomla web site for social SEO was the next logical step in the evolution of sh404SEF®.

Today we are proud to announce that sh404SEF® now ships with a full suite of tools designed with one specific goal — improving your search result placement by maximizing the SEO effects of social engagement.

The all new sh404SEF®, quietly released last Friday, has three major improvements focused on improving the social SEO of your web site.

Integrated buttons for social sharing

First, sh404SEF® now includes a plugin to place social icons for Twitter, Facebook and Google+ anywhere in your content. These icons can be displayed globally for core Joomla content with just one click in the sh404SEF® configuration.

For users who want more control, simply place the following tag in an article, module, template file or even in an HTML override to display the social icons on virtually any page of your web site (be sure to remove the spaces).

{ sh404sef_social_buttons }

You can see these buttons in action at the top and bottom of the very page you are reading.

Tight integration with Open Graph

Second, sh404SEF® integrates seamlessly with Open Graph, the new protocol announced recently by Facebook. It allows Like, Recommend and other passive actions to appear in your Facebook and Google+ activity streams. As noted above, simply having users share or recommend your content using the social media icons will have a positive effect on your ranking in search results.

In addition, sh404SEF® allows you to include additional data with your social engagement activities. For example, if someone shares an article you wrote about your lawn care service, you can also share the location of your business.

Since search engines often emphasize local search results, including location information when sharing your content via social networks will increase your rank for local search results.

No other social media plugin for Joomla offers such tight integration with Open Graph.

Tracking social engagement with Google Analytics

Third and perhaps most important, sh404SEF® tracks your social engagement activities and sends all the information directly to Google Analytics. Of course this can be viewed at the Google Analytics site.

In addition, social engagement is also displayed in the sh404SEF® dashboard and analytics manager. Like traffic reports and top referrering URLs, you can now track your social engagement directly in the Joomla administrative backend.

Importanly, tracking social engagement is much more informative than simply knowing what page(s) on your site receives the most traffic. Social engagement identifies the content on your site that truly captivates your audience.

By identifying and analyzing this content, patterns in social engagement can be discovered and used to improve the SEO of other pages and/or new content on your web site.

Combined with the social feedback cycle described above, sh404SEF® allows you to leverage the social SEO of your web site as well as your search result placement like never before.  

Let’s socialize!

In the coming days we’ll be publishing more information on installing and optimizing your web site for social SEO with sh404SEF®.

But you don’t have to wait! The social features described above are ready to go and are compatible with Joomla 1.5 and 1.7.

Simply download version 2.4 (Joomla 1.5) or 3.4 (Joomla 1.7), install using the Joomla installer (uninstall is not necessary for existing users) and activate the social icons in the Social SEO Configuration area of sh404SEF®.

New customers or existing customers with expired subscriptions will need to purchase sh404SEF® before downloading.

With just a few clicks, your web site will be ready to unleash the social SEO potential of your Joomla web site.

UPDATE,  29-Nov-2011: The first article on using the social SEO suite for Joomla articles has now been published.

We are all looking forward to meeting our loyal customers so be sure to register soon. Once you are registered, please be sure to post a Joomla Day Midwest badge on your blog or web site to help spread the word!

Hope to see you there!