404 after importing, letter ""p"" being added ...

-- url of the page with the problem -- : mytestsite
-- HikaShop version -- : current
-- Joomla version -- : current
-- PHP version -- : current
-- Browser(s) name and version -- : Chrome
-- Error-message(debug-mod must be tuned on) -- : 404

After importing , most products have the letter ""p"" added to the product_name in the url and get 404.

They can be searched but cant get to detail if SEF is enabled.

I included the category name in product_categories as part of the import.
Not enough ? And how do i fix ?

TIA

Upon further review , I've noticed this is only happening to product_names that start with a number.
But its not happening to all of them.

I dont think its a problem with the csv import as the correct product names and aliases are in the db when i query mysql in mysql..
The correct category id and name are also present in the database.

On some products i can remove the ''p"" from the url and hit the detail page but not on all of them...

Hi,

In your CSV file, include a product_alias column with the name you want in the URLs and that should help.

I tried your suggestion by duplicating the product_name column and naming it product_alias then imported over the top(update) but it did not work.
It still puts the letter "p" before

Do i need to empty the tables and do from scratch ?

/index.php/inventory/product/p3177253-1
This was product_name 3177253-1

Thanks again

Hi,

Okay I see the problem.

HikaShop does not add any "p" in the database but HikaShop refuse that a product name start with a number when it has to SEF it.
When a product start with a number in the url, it's to give the product id ; so if the product start with a number, it will confuse HikaShop which won't be able to display the right product (because it will think it's an id)

That's why HikaShop add a "p" as prefix when creating the SEF urls.

Regards,

That's a pretty huge flaw for the most expensive Joomla cart out there.

That means
Hikashop is unsuitable for subscriptions (1 year subscription)(30 day subscription)
Hikashop is unsuitable for Lighting Products (300W Lightbulb)
Hikashop is unsuitable for Medical Products (500MG Vitamin C)
Hikashop is unsuitable for Auto Sales (2014 Chevy Camaro)
Hikashop is unsuitable for Boats (15FT Bassboat)
Hikashop is unsuitable for Electronics (80W Speakers)
Hikashop is unsuitable for Aviation Parts (3177253-1)
Hikashop is unsuitable for any Military Parts with a national stocking number (NSN) (125-521-9656)
Shall I continue ?

How do you explain that this happens to a portion of the products and not all of them?

Strange that the carts for Joomla do not suffer this flaw such as VirtueMart and Redshop and that use SEF urls just fine on products that begin with numbers.

How do you justify charging so much for a cart that is not search engine friendly?
Why isn't there a disclaimer or notification anywhere stating this before people waste their time and money ?

You're going to fix this bug immediately?

Hi,

There is no bug to fix. It's just a misunderstanding.
In the URL, the SEF router first look for a number and considers that this is the id of the product.
If your alias starts with a number and that you have the "remove category and product ids from URLs" option turned on in the HikaShop configuration, the system will try to use the number in the URL as the id of the product (it is necessary so that you can switch from one mode to the other without loosing your page rank) when in fact it is the alias.
So you actually already have two solutions:
- have your aliases start with something else than a number (you can still have the name of your products start with a number if you want)
- turn off the "remove category and product ids from URLs" option from the HikaShop configuration so that the aliases get prefixed with the id of the products

That is even specified in the documentation regarding that option:
www.hikashop.com/support/support/documen...ig.html#features_sef
And that option is deactivated by default in order to avoid the problem.

HikaShop is hardly the most expensive cart out there and is actually considered quite user friendly and SEO friendly by a lot of people. I don't see why you're getting so irritated here. We're trying to help and your attitude is not respectful.
We have plenty of people using HikaShop in order to sell what you listed above an no one requested a refund or complained for that feature allowing you to remove the id of the products in the URLs which require that your product aliases don't start with a number.