COMMON ISSUES


1) 404(Page not found) Errors

Your setup might require you to enable the 'RewriteBase' directive within .htaccess. Open your .htaccess file and remove the '#' before 'RewriteBase' Please note: when enabled, you must include the path to your root vB folder (i.e. RewriteBase /forums)



2) Broken Links

Ensure you have a SINGLE copy of the vBSEO files in the following folders:
.htaccess -> vB-root/.htaccess 
vbseo.php -> vB-root/vbseo.php 
functions_vbseo.php -> vB-root/includes/functions_vbseo.php 
config_vbseo.php -> vB-root/includes/config_vbseo.php

Duplicate copies of 'functions_vbseo.php' in folders other than '/includes' are known to cause this issue.



3) This Error: "The encoded file /www/server/path/forum/functions_vbseo.php is corrupt."

Same solution as in the above error.



4) Broken Images and/or stylesheet (CSS) references

Ensure your 'Forum URL' setting in your 'vBulletin Options' (ADMINCP) is set correctly.



5) Dynamic URLs and Broken Images

vB 3.0.x - Ensure your have made the appropriate changes to functions.php
vB 3.5.x or higher - Ensure you have uploaded the vBSEO (vbseo-install.xml) file via the vB Plugin/Hook System and that it is activated and enabled in the admincp.
 


6) Blank Page (or Fatal error) in forumhome or vbseocp.php

Re-upload your files using BINARY mode



7) Error 500 (Page cannot be displayed) and using php 5.0+

Try the Zend encoded version instead. If your server doesn't support Zend, contact us.



8) One (or more) public forum not available or giving a 403 error.

Ensure that you don't have fisical folders with the same name as any of your forums.



9) Random images replaced by the navigation bullet images.

Ensure the images being replaced exist on your server.



10) Zend is installed on my server but I'm getting "Zend Optimizer Not Installed" errors.

- Ask your host to install the Zend Optimizer version 2.1.0 or later.
- If using Zend with the default php compile on Red Hat Enterprise ES 3, downgrade Zend to a previous version,
  2.5.7 for example.



11) Fatal error: Incompatible file format: The encoded file has format ID 2003120701, whereas the Optimizer can read up to 2002062301 in /home/www/path/to/vbseo.php on line 0

- Ask your host to install the latest Zend Optimizer version.



12) vBSEO's copyright appears twice at the bottom of your pages.

Ensure the vBSEO plugin has not been installed twice in your vb Plugin System > Plugin Manager.



13) New post / last post links for show thread pages seem to be working not quite correctly.

Make sure you have the following settings within your vBulletin admincp: vBulletin Options > General Settings > Thread/Forum Read Marking Type: Database (automatic forum marking)
The cookie storing method is known to be inconsistent since vBulletin 3.0.x.



14) I started receiving automated emails with DB Error reports like "Link-ID == false, connect failed"

Please check your MySQL db parameters in my.cnf, more info at http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=160995



15) I keep getting mysql db error messages like "Invalid SQL: UPDATE session..."

Make sure to upgrade your vBulletin to the stable release (RC versions may have this problem)



16) I cannot complete the Site Verification step at my Google webmaster account to submit the sitemap.

The verifications step at your google webmaster account is NOT required to submit sitemap, it is only needed to see stats provided by google. However, to proceed with this step, you may:
1. upload the file as requested by Google,
2. *temporary* disable "Redirect To Home Page" at vbseocp (set it to "Send 404 code" instead)
3. confirm file uploading at your google page
4. set "Redirect To Home Page" back again, as verification is completed now



17) Some of my show thread / show post pages do not work correctly, displaying the error: > Warning: main(file-name.php): failed to open stream: No such file or directory

Please check your Custom Rewrite Rules for possible conflicts with this URL and either modify or remove your CRR.



18) Links to member profiles with "unusual" characters don't work properly.

You have two options for solving this problem:
- include the [user id] for your user profiles (or)
- enable the following option via your config_vbseo.php (change setting to 1): define('VBSEO_REWRITE_MEMBER_MORECHARS', 0); 



19) I'm gettting an error when accessing vbseocp.php: Fatal error: session_start(): Failed to initialize storage module: user

This may be related to a known PHP bug: http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=25876

Add the following line to your .htaccess file:
php_value session.save_handler files


20) I have a problem accessing vB admincp: 404 error is displayed or page is redirected to forums homepage

If you have restricted access to your admincp folder using .htaccess (Auth directives), please check
your apache configuration: having "ErrorDocument 401 401.shtml" directive in httpd.conf requires that
"401.shtml" file exists. You should create one if it doesn't to solve the problem.


21) I have mod_rewrite enabled in apache config, but I'm still getting 404 error when accessing vBSEO URLs - seems like rewrite rules are not working in .htaccess.

Using the .htaccess file to define mod_rewrite rules requires the following defined in httpd.conf:
<Directory /your/httpd/docs>
...
Options +FollowSymLinks +FileInfo
</Directory>


22) If you have mod_security Apache module enabled and have issues with posting new threads, add the 
following in .htaccess:

<IfModule mod_security.c>
SecFilterEngine Off
SecFilterScanPOST Off
</IfModule>


