Hidden secrets: MageBridge products module - Yireo

Installing and configuring Dynamic404

The Dynamic404 extension for Joomla! allows you to convert 404-errors into 301-redirects. It is easy in its setup. This tutorial guides you through the installation and the basic configuration.

Installing the Dynamic404 component

To install Dynamic404, you will need to download the Dynamic404 package first. Dynamic404 is commercially available on our Yireo site, and once you have purchased the extension, you can login to your Yireo Account and download Dynamic404 through the Downloads section.

Once you have downloaded the component, login to the Joomla! Administrator and install the Dynamic404 component as a regular Joomla! extension using the Extension Manager.

Installing extra Dynamic404 plugins

Optionally, you can install extra Dynamic404 plugins. These plugins might be useful if you want to redirect old content to a specific extension. By default, Dynamic404 supports the Joomla! core (regular articles and Menu-Items) as well as manual rules. By installing plugins, you can extend the behavior to popular extensions like K2, FLEXIcontent and ZOO, but also e-commerce solutions like MageBridge and VirtueMart.

The procedure to install these plugins is the same as installing the Dynamic404 component. You download the package from our site and install it using the Extension Manager. After installation, don't forget to publish the newly installed plugin using the Plugin Manager.

Setting up Dynamic404

Within the Joomla! backend, the Dynamic404 allows you to do various things, among which to setup the extension itself. Dynamic404 is not functioning until you have completed this setup. The setup can be done through the Setup page. 

Please note that for Joomla! 1.5 the procedure is different than for Joomla! 1.6:

• Under Joomla! 1.5 you'll need to add specific PHP-code to your PHP error-file. The Setup page allows you to apply this patch automatically.
• Under Joomla! 1.6 you only need to enable the Joomla! 1.6 specific Dynamic404 System Plugin and disable (!) the core Redirect System Plugin.

Joomla! 1.5 Setup: Patching the error file

After Dynamic404 is installed, a vital part in its setup is to patch the error file. This file is called error.php and serves as a special page when Joomla! encounters a 404-error. To make use of Dynamic404, this error.php file needs to be replaced with a Dynamic404 version. Your template could ship with an error.php which therefor needs to be overwritten. If your template does not have it's own error.php, the default error.php of the system-template is used instead - this file also needs to be overwritten.

The Setup page within the Dynamic404 component helps you patch the system-template. However, if your custom template contains an error.php file, it is too dangerous for Dynamic404 to just throw it away. Instead, refer to our special patching guide for more information.

Joomla! 1.6 Setup: Enabling the plugin

Within Joomla! 1.6, you don't need to patch any file: You only need to enable the plugin System - Dynamic404 within the Joomla! Plugin Manager. Unfortunately, the System - Redirect core-plugin is causing other redirect-plugins to stop working. So you also need to disable the System - Redirect plugin. Both tasks can be accomplished from within the Setup page.

Tuning parameters

After this, Dynamic404 should be fully functional and the default Joomla! error page should have been replaced with the Dynamic404 version. This means that if a 404 occurs, this error should be picked up by Dynamic404. Be default, Dynamic404 does not redirect at all, but shows an enhanced 404-page instead. If you prefer redirection, you need to enable this in the Preferences-box (available through a button in the toolbar).

After this, you might also want to see if custom redirect-rules are needed. You could also just go live with Dynamic404, with logging enabled, allowing you to easily create new rules based on 404-encounters.