Configuration
To make vBETTM 4.x working appropriately you have to configure vBETTM and vBulletinTM.
vBulletinTM Configuration
All configurations beside characterset are made by Admin CP->Settings->Options->-- Show All Settings --. Some steps are marked as (ONLY for utf-8 charactersets) or as (Required for NOT utf-8 charactersets) - it means that you will made this steps according to yours forum characterset (how to check my forum characterset).
1. (Required) Set "Meta Description" - even if you use some mod which changes meta description for threads, please set some value here - otherwise RSS can be broken.
2. (Required without vBSEO) Set "Enforce Canonical URL" to 'Strict' - otherwise same page will be acceptable thought many URLs what is bad for SEO.
3. (Required) Set "Last Thread Title Maximum Displayed Characters" to at least '50' or '0' - otherwise titles written in other languages can be cut to very short and even broke your layout if you set it too low (because vBET adds html comments there and it have to be appropriatelly closed - cannot be cut)
4. (Required for NOT utf-8 charactersets) Set "Number of Characters Before Wrapping Text" to '0' - otherwise vBuletinTM can break some characters taking more than 1 byte (i.e. from Japanese).
5. (Required for NOT utf-8 charactersets) Clear "Blank Character Stripper" value - otherwise vBuletinTM can break some Japanese signs (those signs are part of Japanese signs)
6. (ONLY for utf-8 charactersets) Set characterset value in lowercase - vBETTM is case sensitive for characterset. So if you are using utf-8 then make sure that you have set 'utf-8' (how to check my forum characterset)
7. (Optional) Set "Maximum Characters Per Thread/Post Title" to '250' - in some languages 1 character can be counted as several characters in your character set. That's why it is wise to allow for long titles.
8. (Optional) Set "Prevent 'SHOUTING'" to '0' - according to vBuletinTM description this option is not safe for some charactersets and it is wise to disable it
9. (Optional without vBSEO) Set "Friendly URLs" to 'Advanced Friendly URLs' or 'Mod Rewrite Friendly URLs' - vBET will translate your URLs even if you use option 'Basic Friendly URLs', but please note that Opera browser will show special characters in ugly way then (% notation). If you use one of proposed strategies then it will look nice in Opera. There is no issue with other browsers. Please note that 'Mod Rewrite Friendly URLs' requited creation of appropriate rewrite rules.
vBETTM Configuration
All configurations are made by option panels included in Admin CP->vBETTM menu.
1. You MUST at least configure options in Admin CP->vBETTM->Main. Please take attention on every parameter in this options panel.
2. (Only for SEO translation links) Note that if you set to use SEO translations links, then additional changes in .htaccess file are required. Details for those changes are described here and example of .htaccess file you will find in do-not-upload directory.
3. (Optional) It is advised, but not necessary, to also check configuration in other Admin CP->vBETTM and Admin CP->vBET Cache options panels. In example to configure flags place, cache, or supported languages set.
4. (Required) Go here read articles and make sure you are not blocking foreigns users registration.
Note: for not-technical users, we provide vBETTM Integration Service. Please note that a service is equivalent to one integration of a one plugin.
Many plugins do not require any integration. Only those whose architecture is not compatible with vBulletin, so first you can contact with our support team by forum and use free help of our experts.
If you want that our experts do it for you - You can use our vBETTM Integration Service.
Integration with other mods
You can integrate vBETTM with other mods. Below you have description about integrations possibilities. Actual integration possibilities you will also find here.
vBSEOTM Integration
Note that all vBSEOTM options are configurable by Admin CP->vBSEO->Control Panel
1. (Required) Set option General Settings->Character Replacement->"Replace Non-English Characters in URLs?" to "Keep Non-English Characters in URLs"
Since vBETTM translates URLs for threads it is necessary do NOT replace not English characters in URLs.
2. (Required) Turn off option SEO Functions->Dynamic META TAGS->"Replace the 'META KEYWORDS' Content?"
3. (Required) Made changes in your .htaccess file according to description here
4. (Required) SEO links translation integration
1. Download from server file FORUM_ROOT/vbseo/includes/functions_vbseo_createurl.php
2. Open it in any text editor
3. Find:
$bloginfo['seotitle'] = vbseo_filter_replace_text($bloginfo['title']);
4. REPLACE it with this code:
$bloginfo['seotitle'] = vbet_vbseo_filter_replace_text($bloginfo['title']);
5. Find:
$vbseo_gcache_thread['seotitle'] = vbseo_filter_replace_text ($ttl);
6. REPLACE it with this code:
$vbseo_gcache_thread['seotitle'] = vbet_vbseo_filter_replace_text ($ttl);
7. Find:
$replace['%category_title%'] = vbseo_filter_text($c_ttl);
8. REPLACE it with this code:
$replace['%category_title%'] = vbet_vbseo_filter_text($c_ttl);
9. Find:
$replace['%section_title%'] = vbseo_filter_text($c_ttl);
10. REPLACE it with this code:
$replace['%section_title%'] = vbet_vbseo_filter_text($c_ttl);
11. Find:
$replace['%entry_title%'] = vbseo_filter_text($c_ttl);
12. REPLACE it with this code:
$replace['%entry_title%'] = vbet_vbseo_createCmsArticleLink($c_id, $c_ttl);
13. Save file and upload it to server, overwriting the old one.
5. (Required) SEO links translation integration - part 2
1. Download from server file FORUM_ROOT/vbseo/includes/functions_vbseo_url.php
2. Open it in any text editor and find:
$text = strtr($text, $trarr_table);
3. REPLACE it with this code:
if (false !== strpos($text, '[langtitle=')) {
$text = strtr($text, $GLOBALS['vbet_custom_char_replacement']);
if (vB_Template_Runtime::fetchStyleVar('charset') != 'utf-8') {
$text = preg_replace('/&#([0-9]+);/esiU', 'convert_int_to_utf8(\'\\1\')', $text);
}
} else {
$text = strtr($text, $trarr_table);
}
4. Find:
header ("Location: $fulluri");
5. PUT BEFORE it this code:
if (isset($_REQUEST['language'])) {
require_once(DIR. '/includes/vbenterprisetranslator_functions_url_tracking.php');
$fulluri = vbet_createURLForAddressNoReplace($_REQUEST['language'], $fulluri);
}
6. Save file and upload it to server, overwriting the old one.
vBSEOTM Sitemap Generator Integration
You can simply integrate vBETTM with vBSEOTM Sitemap Generator to include links to translated pages into generated sitemap. Description about this integration you will find here.