[Bug / Issue] Problems with google links after upgrade from vBulletin 4.2.5 to 5.4.4

[Mr B]

Our site was recently upgraded from vBulletin 4.2.5 to 5.4.4 and we also have moved forum folder from /forum to /

After the upgrade and folder move the Google search links stopped working.

The Google links points at the old showthread.php like this:

https://www.fiskesnack.com/forum/showthread.php/163616-Problem-med-Ambassadeur-5601-JB

If someone clicks on the link they recieve a "Invalid Page URL. If this is an error and the page should exist, please contact the system administrator and tell them how you got this message." error.

If i manually remove the /forum part of the link, the link works. Like this:

https://www.fiskesnack.com/showthread.php/163616-Problem-med-Ambassadeur-5601-JB

Im then redirected to:

https://www.fiskesnack.com/forum/fiskeutrustning/rullar/166372-problem-med-ambassadeur-5601-jb

Is it possible to fix this or will we have to wait until Google have re-indexed the site?

Best regards

[Mr B]

vBulletin 5.4.4 seems to have functionality to convert old vBulletin 4 links to new ones but it only works if the forum is in the same folder on the server. It would be great if it also worked after a folder move från subfolder to root.

Hopefully someone from the support can clarify this. If it solvable or not.

[Wayne Luke]

The redirects work if vBulletin 4 was using the standard links which would be showthread.php?t=XXXXXX. You're used one of the friendly URL option that relied on server lookback and isn't supported by vBulletin 5.

You would have to have a custom redirect in your .htaccess file that redirects showthread.php/XXXXX-topic-title to showthread.php?t=XXXXX. You should place this above the main redirect in the vBulletin 5. .htaccess file. The only thing that is important from your URL is the thread id. I don't know much about regular expressions or I would provide one. Your hosting company should be able to help with redirection issues.

I do suggest submitting and updated SiteMap XML file as soon as possible. This should allow Google to update the URLS. You can also redirect all 404s to your home page with a setting in the AdminCP under Settings -> Options -> General Settings.

[Mr B]

Thanks Wayne Luke ! I was just looking at the URL Rewrite function in IIS and manage to redirect the google links correctly.

I used the pattern:
forum/showthread.php/(.*)

And redirect URL:
showthread.php/{R:1}

It seems to work!

Also redirected the 404:s as you suggested. In case of

SiteMap is generated. Does vBulletin send it to google and bing automatically or should i do it manually? I think i read somewhere that vBulletin do it?

[Wayne Luke]

vBulletin will add it the Sitemap to your Meta tags. So when you get visited by Google and/or Bing, it will be pulled down. We don't call on API on the search provider's servers to send it to them when it is created.

[Mr B]

vBulletin will add it the Sitemap to your Meta tags. So when you get visited by Google and/or Bing, it will be pulled down. We don't call on API on the search provider's servers to send it to them when it is created.

Thanks! The sitemap is now submitted to Google Search Console so the problem should be solved soon. Will dig into Bing also. Probably same issue there.

[Mr B]

My solution with URL Rewrite seems to work fine. So, this issue is probably solved.