Question K 1.6 Post-implementation problems

As I mentioned earlier in this topic, we are well aware of the numerous reports that users have made about difficulties with sh404SEF. As we have consistently mentioned elsewhere, to minimise the potential that outdated Joomla extensions can cause with Kunena, we strongly advise that you should upgrade all your Joomla extensions to the latest versions offered by extension developers.

As someone who does not use sh404SEF - I've never found the need for it - I am not sure if there is a solution there for Kunena but maybe there is. This is something that you will need to explore at the sh4040SEF support forum.

I am pleased that K 1.6.1 seems to have fixed your problems and I am fairly confident that it will also solve many other difficulties that users are currently experiencing, too. It would be good to know how you go with your sh404SEF enquiries. Good luck.

Hi

I wouldn't really say that my problems are fixed at this stage. I have posted on the sh404sef forum - will update here when they reply.

Perhaps I should be looking at phasing sh404sef out and just using the core sef.

I have updated as many componets as possible.

I am running the latest sh404sef, which is meant to work with k1.6 (according to them)

"According to them" is one statement. We're more concerned with your statement. According to you, sh404SEF (version unspecified by you - what does "the latest version" mean?) does not work with Kunena. We're not trying to point the finger of blame; we're only trying to establish the facts.

The fact is that you can run Kunena without sh404SEF. For that reason it would seem we have found the cause and the cure even though the fix is not one that you might prefer at this time.

We recommend Joomla SEO - see Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in the Wiki. See also the discussion [Merged topic] Kunena and SEO: Why would I need ANY third-party SEF plugin?

"According to them" - according to their changelog.

I am using sh404sef 2.1.6.749

I have been discussing it on their forum, as I expected they blame Kunena for the menu item id problem.

dev.anything-digital.com/Forum/sh404SEF/...na-1.6-and-Sh404sef/

I appreciate your help in finding a solution, at this time that would mean turning sh404sef off completely.

As I mentioned, my dilemma is that my site has been running for 2 years now with the urls having been built by sh404sef. Switching to the core sef would mean that I lose many of the old urls.
Off topic - but are there great performance benefits associated with using the core sef instead? Perhaps this would outweigh the negative aspects of a switch. Also - how do you manage your kunena page titles and descriptions?

One of the sh404sef moderators logged into my site, he ended up looking at the DB tables. Turns out that there were some alias's / custom urls in the database, that were not visible in the sh404 admin area.

Once the db tables were removed we managed to get the correct url (forum/).

I am however still getting the redirection error on odd pages.

Kunena Notice: Menu item /forum (Itemid=249) does not have Kunena Menu.

I think I am going to have to turn sh404sef off.

Thanks for the feedback/update, dylan. As I wrote earlier, some of the problems that you were having were probably not directly caused by Kunena - as you found, there were issues within the database. Whether those issues were caused by Kunena or not, I've visited your site and it looks fine to me.

From what I can see, the message "Kunena Notice: Menu item /forum (Itemid=249) does not have Kunena Menu" is probably a nuisance that's only seen by site administrators - normal users won't see this thing - and it will probably disappear after upgrading to K 1.6.1.

As we've also said, on more occasions than I would try to remember, people need to engage more with the developers of other Joomla extensions. If other developers are likely to fix their problems this will result in a more consistent approach to Joomla and, with a consistent usage of Joomla being adopted everywhere else, this will result in fewer problems for Kunena. It is irresponsible for anyone to not accept some responsibility for the problems the people may have. The responsibility needs to be shared, between the developers of Kunena, by third-party software developers, by the Joomla team and by you.

We're not, for one moment, dismissing the likelihood that Kunena will always be error-free and we're certainly not trying to shirk our responsibility to make it a robust, durable platform that works error-free in every case, but there are more combinations of Joomla extensions than it's possible for the resources of the Kunena development team to anticipate and handle.

I remember reading an notice in the office where I once worked that said "We've fixed every problem that came our way, we've updated all the user documentation, we've satisfied the conflicting demands of management, we've undertaken comprehensive planning that anticipates every possible contingency ... and we've made sure that, before we go home tonight, all pigs have been fed and are ready to fly."

No doubt, you can think of a few other sayings that convey a similar expression of "the impossible dream".