XF 2.1 Remove threads from url - seo

[stanleyb23]

I want to move my forum to xenforo. My old urls are doing very well in searchengines. I think they are doing fine because i optimised it on everything i knew I could do.
Now on xenforo i see that urls are built this way: domain/threads/my-title.1234
On my old forum they are built this way: domain/my-title.1234

I think that Google likes the second url a little better.

Is there a way to get this done with xenforo?

 

[djbaxter]

I want to move my forum to xenforo. My old urls are doing very well in searchengines. I think they are doing fine because i optimised it on everything i knew I could do.
Now on xenforo i see that urls are built this way: domain/threads/my-title.1234
On my old forum they are built this way: domain/my-title.1234

Those are Xenforo's "full friendly URLs" which I would recommend if you can use them:

I think that Google likes the second url a little better.

I highly doubt that Google cares or that your second example is better indexed or better ranked.

Is there a way to get this done with xenforo?

There are a couple of SEO addons that may allow you to tweak things but the core options work well. Also, after you have done the import to Xenforo, use the vBulletin redirect plugin to make sure all your currently indexed URLs are redirected to the correct Xenforo page.

 

[stanleyb23]

Thanks djbaxter! I think seo is about details. The word threads doesnt add something. I have to translate it in dutch (onderwerpen) and then its even longer and doesnt help. I d love to have an addon with the possibility to remove it or is it with xenforo just not possible?

 

[djbaxter]

I haven't tried all of the SEO addons, only one, and that's not the reason the add-on was installed. I would guess that it is possible, yes; at worst, you might need to have an addon customized to do that for you.

In core Xenforo, if you are setting up a new forum, there's also an option to specify the URL "portion" for each node:

URL portion Optional

If entered, the URL to this forum will not contain an ID. Use a-z, 0-9, _, and - characters only. Note that once specified, changing this value will cause URLs to be broken.

I've never had occasion to use this and if you are migrating from another platform like vBulletin I'm not sure how this would affect the redirect addon. One of the moderators or coders might be able to comment on that.