HELP! My Permalinks Not So Permanent!

LilBlackDress · 10-08-2009, 01:43 PM

I am using this code to make permalinks...

/%category%/%postname%/

I do want the category to show up...however, I find that when I feature the article and I like to go back and feature older articles...then the name changes so its like this.

This is not a real site...t has been changed to f so it does not hyperlink.

hffp://www.Acnexxxxx.com/acnenomore-drzzzzzzzcream

when I feature it ..it changes to this

hffp://www.Acnexxxx.com/featured-drzzzzcream

Is there a way to make it so it does not change when I feature it otherwise I have a hard time driving traffic to a changing link.

Thanks!

Michael Taylor · 10-08-2009, 06:13 PM

When you're changing the article to a featured article, you're changing the category, right?

Are you also unchecking the category you set for the article?

melanied · 10-08-2009, 07:49 PM

You must be changing the category

Istvan Horvath · 10-08-2009, 08:14 PM

Are you using the WP's built-in "sticky" feature or a plugin to 'feature' those posts?

If a plugin, maybe the plugin is changing the category of the featured posts (by creating a "featured" cat without telling you...)

LilBlackDress · 10-09-2009, 02:50 PM

This is a really big site. Some articles may fit in more than one category.
Featured is one of the categories.

So lets say I put the article in Acne Cream category. Then later I want to feature it. I STILL have it in Acne Cream category but click the "featured category" to feature it.

So now it is in both categories but the permalink changes to "Featured" now when I take it off featured it goes back to the original category but still it makes it hard for link building.

Any tips on what I need to do here?

Istvan Horvath · 10-09-2009, 03:00 PM

You cannot do anything. When the category is included in the permalink, only ONE category will be part of the URL, even if the post is assigned to 55 categories.

In the permalink WP will show the category with the lowest ID#. Obviously, the "featured" cat has a lower ID# then the other one...

Note. The WP developers strongly recommend NOT to start the permalink with the category to avoid performance issues.

LilBlackDress · 10-09-2009, 04:38 PM

Hmm so how do I change it so permalinks do not start with category. I have a general category and then posts under it.

LilBlackDress · 10-09-2009, 04:40 PM

When you say lowest ID ...what do you mean? Thanks!

Istvan Horvath · 10-12-2009, 01:27 PM

Sorry for the late reply.

1. Remove the "%category%" portion of your permalink settings if you don't want the category in the permalinks.

2. Every category (as well as posts, links etc, - everything that is stored in the database in "rows" - it has a 'number' = an ID of its own. E.g. WP comes out of the box with the Uncategorized category and that has ID#1. Then you create a new category and that will be #2, and so on.
So, if your post is assigned to cat ID#3 and #4 and #26... and the %category% tag is part of your permalink structure - WP will use the category with the lowest ID = #3 (since 4 and 26 are higher numbers)

JayXtreme · 10-12-2009, 01:31 PM

Lee..

If you would like me to sort this out for you, feel free to PM me your login details and I will fix it real quick...

No charge for friends

Peace

Jay

LIndaB · 10-12-2009, 01:32 PM

Just want to add to what others have said that it is a good thing that WP will only name the post permalink with one category. If it created a page in all categories you chose, your site would have duplicate content on it.

Michael Taylor · 10-12-2009, 07:43 PM

Also, I've been reading about permalinks on Wordpress. Apparently, the software has an easier time sorting things out if the first part is a number.

So, while using /%category%/%postname%/ may be good for SEO purposes, it doesn't help processing time. For small sites, that should be no big deal, but for very busy or large sites, it may make more sense to start the permalink with the post ID number or date followed by the postname.

And I also saw one article that said Google news needs (or maybe just prefers) URLs that have three numbers in them. I haven't submitted any of my sites for inclusion in Google news, so I'm not sure if that's true or not.

So, I've switched some of my Wordpress sites over to the month/day URL scheme. This makes a URL look like www.mydomain.com/2009/10/12/my-great-article. And I thought that would have broken my existing links, but clever software that it is, Wordpress redirects from the old category/postname quite nicely to the new structure.

EDIT: Upon further reading, after my source had posted info on using numbers in URLs submitted to Google News, Google changed that requirement, as long as you have a news sitemap. Check out the link below...

Google News no longer requires stupid numbers in the URL

LilBlackDress · 10-12-2009, 07:52 PM

I can't remove the category and make it this %postname%/ because when I do it messes everything up ie I get an error when I click on either category or the subposts (cant remember which one it was - I tried doing this)

But I have all my categories now...so what might work would be to change the ID number of the featured category and make it last.

If you can tell me how to change that should be a quick fix ? haha maybe

At this point I don't want to change the link style around to much as I have already been driving traffic there.

It would not be an issue if I featured the article once..then changed category and that was it. But these are timeless articles and I would like to feature them more than once.

Michael Taylor · 10-12-2009, 10:29 PM

Well, I really don't think there's going to be too much impact if you just leave things the way they are. You won't miss out on very much by having that post's category show up as 'featured'.

Plus, the post does still show up under the various categories on the category page, which, if I remember right, does get indexed.

So, I don't think it'll cost you anything if you leave it.

LilBlackDress · 10-13-2009, 12:09 AM

It does...because the name changes.

If it is featured. It has featured as the category name. When I stop featuring it, it goes back to the regular category I had it in.
So if I use that post to drive traffic to it changes.

Since I want may to feature an article on and off through out the year...it would be nice to fix.

Michael Taylor · 10-13-2009, 02:17 AM

Well, with Wordpress' ability to redirect, this may still not be a big issue.

Do this...put the address of that post in your browser's address bar, but instead of 'featured' put the regular category in the category part of the address. (Do this while the post is set to 'featured'.)

What happens?

10-08-2009, 01:43 PM	#1
LilBlackDress Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,464 Thanks: 94 Thanked 263 Times in 180 Posts Social Networking	HELP! My Permalinks Not So Permanent! I am using this code to make permalinks... /%category%/%postname%/ I do want the category to show up...however, I find that when I feature the article and I like to go back and feature older articles...then the name changes so its like this. This is not a real site...t has been changed to f so it does not hyperlink. hffp://www.Acnexxxxx.com/acnenomore-drzzzzzzzcream when I feature it ..it changes to this hffp://www.Acnexxxx.com/featured-drzzzzcream Is there a way to make it so it does not change when I feature it otherwise I have a hard time driving traffic to a changing link. Thanks!
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10-08-2009, 06:13 PM	#2
Michael Taylor Denizen of Azeroth War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: St Louis, MO Posts: 373 Blog Entries: 9 Thanks: 458 Thanked 82 Times in 56 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: HELP! My Permalinks Not So Permanent! When you're changing the article to a featured article, you're changing the category, right? Are you also unchecking the category you set for the article?
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10-08-2009, 08:14 PM	#4
Istvan Horvath Watching you... War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Waterdown, Ontario, Canada Posts: 5,963 Blog Entries: 2 Thanks: 1,574 Thanked 2,712 Times in 1,651 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: HELP! My Permalinks Not So Permanent! Are you using the WP's built-in "sticky" feature or a plugin to 'feature' those posts? If a plugin, maybe the plugin is changing the category of the featured posts (by creating a "featured" cat without telling you...)
	In the first half of the year we are supposed to work for the taxman. I think that's a mistake. Help me to get rid of the taxman ASAP - thanks! (You, too, should make less mistakes!) Blog

10-09-2009, 02:50 PM	#5
LilBlackDress Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,464 Thanks: 94 Thanked 263 Times in 180 Posts Social Networking	Re: HELP! My Permalinks Not So Permanent! This is a really big site. Some articles may fit in more than one category. Featured is one of the categories. So lets say I put the article in Acne Cream category. Then later I want to feature it. I STILL have it in Acne Cream category but click the "featured category" to feature it. So now it is in both categories but the permalink changes to "Featured" now when I take it off featured it goes back to the original category but still it makes it hard for link building. Any tips on what I need to do here?
	KINDLE PUBLISHING SYSTEM Sizzlin' Hot - Review & Bonus TOP FIVERR GIGS BONUS OFFER - *BUILD MY RANK* HIDE YOUR IP, Low Price, Review, EZ to USE - *HIDEMYASS VPN*

10-09-2009, 03:00 PM	#6
Istvan Horvath Watching you... War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Waterdown, Ontario, Canada Posts: 5,963 Blog Entries: 2 Thanks: 1,574 Thanked 2,712 Times in 1,651 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: HELP! My Permalinks Not So Permanent! You cannot do anything. When the category is included in the permalink, only ONE category will be part of the URL, even if the post is assigned to 55 categories. In the permalink WP will show the category with the lowest ID#. Obviously, the "featured" cat has a lower ID# then the other one... Note. The WP developers strongly recommend NOT to start the permalink with the category to avoid performance issues.
	In the first half of the year we are supposed to work for the taxman. I think that's a mistake. Help me to get rid of the taxman ASAP - thanks! (You, too, should make less mistakes!) Blog

10-08-2009, 07:49 PM	#3
melanied NicheChick.com War Room Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 1,031 Thanks: 43 Thanked 100 Times in 53 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: HELP! My Permalinks Not So Permanent! You must be changing the category

10-09-2009, 04:38 PM	#7
LilBlackDress Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,464 Thanks: 94 Thanked 263 Times in 180 Posts Social Networking	Re: HELP! My Permalinks Not So Permanent! Hmm so how do I change it so permalinks do not start with category. I have a general category and then posts under it.
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10-09-2009, 04:40 PM	#8
LilBlackDress Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,464 Thanks: 94 Thanked 263 Times in 180 Posts Social Networking	Re: HELP! My Permalinks Not So Permanent! When you say lowest ID ...what do you mean? Thanks!
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10-12-2009, 01:27 PM	#9
Istvan Horvath Watching you... War Room Member Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Waterdown, Ontario, Canada Posts: 5,963 Blog Entries: 2 Thanks: 1,574 Thanked 2,712 Times in 1,651 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: HELP! My Permalinks Not So Permanent! Sorry for the late reply. 1. Remove the "%category%" portion of your permalink settings if you don't want the category in the permalinks. 2. Every category (as well as posts, links etc, - everything that is stored in the database in "rows" - it has a 'number' = an ID of its own. E.g. WP comes out of the box with the Uncategorized category and that has ID#1. Then you create a new category and that will be #2, and so on. So, if your post is assigned to cat ID#3 and #4 and #26... and the %category% tag is part of your permalink structure - WP will use the category with the lowest ID = #3 (since 4 and 26 are higher numbers)
	In the first half of the year we are supposed to work for the taxman. I think that's a mistake. Help me to get rid of the taxman ASAP - thanks! (You, too, should make less mistakes!) Blog

10-12-2009, 01:31 PM	#10
JayXtreme Lookin at You.... War Room Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Out Of My Mind - Brandy Too Posts: 4,120 Blog Entries: 3 Thanks: 2,885 Thanked 1,344 Times in 710 Posts Social Networking	Re: HELP! My Permalinks Not So Permanent! Lee.. If you would like me to sort this out for you, feel free to PM me your login details and I will fix it real quick... No charge for friends Peace Jay
	Bare Murkage.........

10-12-2009, 01:32 PM	#11
LIndaB Advanced Warrior War Room Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Oregon, USA. Posts: 878 Thanks: 169 Thanked 44 Times in 32 Posts	Re: HELP! My Permalinks Not So Permanent! Just want to add to what others have said that it is a good thing that WP will only name the post permalink with one category. If it created a page in all categories you chose, your site would have duplicate content on it.

10-12-2009, 07:43 PM	#12
Michael Taylor Denizen of Azeroth War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: St Louis, MO Posts: 373 Blog Entries: 9 Thanks: 458 Thanked 82 Times in 56 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: HELP! My Permalinks Not So Permanent! Also, I've been reading about permalinks on Wordpress. Apparently, the software has an easier time sorting things out if the first part is a number. So, while using /%category%/%postname%/ may be good for SEO purposes, it doesn't help processing time. For small sites, that should be no big deal, but for very busy or large sites, it may make more sense to start the permalink with the post ID number or date followed by the postname. And I also saw one article that said Google news needs (or maybe just prefers) URLs that have three numbers in them. I haven't submitted any of my sites for inclusion in Google news, so I'm not sure if that's true or not. So, I've switched some of my Wordpress sites over to the month/day URL scheme. This makes a URL look like www.mydomain.com/2009/10/12/my-great-article. And I thought that would have broken my existing links, but clever software that it is, Wordpress redirects from the old category/postname quite nicely to the new structure. EDIT: Upon further reading, after my source had posted info on using numbers in URLs submitted to Google News, Google changed that requirement, as long as you have a news sitemap. Check out the link below... Google News no longer requires stupid numbers in the URL
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10-12-2009, 07:52 PM	#13
LilBlackDress Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,464 Thanks: 94 Thanked 263 Times in 180 Posts Social Networking	Re: HELP! My Permalinks Not So Permanent! I can't remove the category and make it this %postname%/ because when I do it messes everything up ie I get an error when I click on either category or the subposts (cant remember which one it was - I tried doing this) But I have all my categories now...so what might work would be to change the ID number of the featured category and make it last. If you can tell me how to change that should be a quick fix ? haha maybe At this point I don't want to change the link style around to much as I have already been driving traffic there. It would not be an issue if I featured the article once..then changed category and that was it. But these are timeless articles and I would like to feature them more than once.
	KINDLE PUBLISHING SYSTEM Sizzlin' Hot - Review & Bonus TOP FIVERR GIGS BONUS OFFER - *BUILD MY RANK* HIDE YOUR IP, Low Price, Review, EZ to USE - *HIDEMYASS VPN*

10-12-2009, 10:29 PM	#14
Michael Taylor Denizen of Azeroth War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: St Louis, MO Posts: 373 Blog Entries: 9 Thanks: 458 Thanked 82 Times in 56 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: HELP! My Permalinks Not So Permanent! Well, I really don't think there's going to be too much impact if you just leave things the way they are. You won't miss out on very much by having that post's category show up as 'featured'. Plus, the post does still show up under the various categories on the category page, which, if I remember right, does get indexed. So, I don't think it'll cost you anything if you leave it.
	Taking Action And Making Progress \| Your Biggest Mistake \| Improve Your Email Experience

10-13-2009, 12:09 AM	#15
LilBlackDress Senior Warrior Member War Room Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,464 Thanks: 94 Thanked 263 Times in 180 Posts Social Networking	Re: HELP! My Permalinks Not So Permanent! It does...because the name changes. If it is featured. It has featured as the category name. When I stop featuring it, it goes back to the regular category I had it in. So if I use that post to drive traffic to it changes. Since I want may to feature an article on and off through out the year...it would be nice to fix.
	KINDLE PUBLISHING SYSTEM Sizzlin' Hot - Review & Bonus TOP FIVERR GIGS BONUS OFFER - *BUILD MY RANK* HIDE YOUR IP, Low Price, Review, EZ to USE - *HIDEMYASS VPN*

10-13-2009, 02:17 AM	#16
Michael Taylor Denizen of Azeroth War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: St Louis, MO Posts: 373 Blog Entries: 9 Thanks: 458 Thanked 82 Times in 56 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: HELP! My Permalinks Not So Permanent! Well, with Wordpress' ability to redirect, this may still not be a big issue. Do this...put the address of that post in your browser's address bar, but instead of 'featured' put the regular category in the category part of the address. (Do this while the post is set to 'featured'.) What happens?
	Taking Action And Making Progress \| Your Biggest Mistake \| Improve Your Email Experience