I have been slashing through Joomla’s canonical URL chaos because I am done watching sites—mine included—suffer unindexed pages, poisoned SERPs, and weak fixes that choke or charge. Three rounds in, my plugin has hit com_contact to com_weblinks, tamed com_k2, axed start=0 junk, and now, as of April 5, 2025, I have added support for com_ars—the stellar Akeeba Release System—to enhance its URL handling. Every tweak, every test, every live run has pushed me closer to the goal. Now I am at Google’s mercy—re-indexing pages that once tanked for a dozen reasons. It is a slog; Search Console updates every 3-4 days, with no VIP pass here—but the results are deeply encouraging, improving with zero changes lately.
Results That Speak
Google’s pace is slow, but the payoff is real. Pages once lost to duplicates or bad URLs—like com_tags’s /tags/3—are clawing back. My plugin has locked canonicals across com_content, com_users, com_finder, the core gang, plus com_k2 and now com_ars, live on my sites since March. I have made no changes in weeks, yet Search Console keeps showing gains: more pages indexed, fewer errors. That is the plugin at work—taming /tags/3 into /tags/joomla, scrubbing start=0, and supporting com_ars’s already-great system. It is not luck; it is proof this fight is worth every second.
Google’s Pace, My Patience
At 99-point-something percent, I am riding the last stretch to 100%. Google’s crawl—3 and 4-day cycles in Search Console—is the bottleneck; big shots might get faster, but I get patience. Still, those steady wins tell me it is solid: com_ars URLs fit seamlessly, com_content lists ditch start=0, SERP poison is toast. Live testing is my forge—com_contact to com_weblinks, plus third-party like com_ars—and it is hammering out a release-ready beast. Joomla has never had this kind of canonical muscle.
A New Battle Plan
I am rethinking deployment. Why one mega-plugin when I can unleash a new breed: standalone fixer plugins, each a sniper for its component—com_tags, com_content, even com_ars? Every fixer class I have built—like the com_ars support for Akeeba’s system or com_tags’s ID-to-alias swap—could stand alone, rendering perfect canonical URLs. It is flexible, simple, and free—pick your fix, write your own, join the fight. It is still brewing, but it is the future I am chasing: chaos crushed, component by component.
The Final Strike
Victory is close—100% glimmers ahead. Google’s re-indexing will lock it in, but the results already roar success—from core cleanup to com_ars harmony. This is my Bad Wolf moment: canonical chaos—start=0, tag IDs, any stray flub—dies, Joomla’s URLs shine, SERPs purify. I am fighting for a Joomla where Search Console is a friend, not a foe, where every component’s canonical is ironclad. Round four is mine, and I am plotting a fifth—not to rest, but to redefine how we win this war. For me, for you, for Joomla—forever.
A Promise, Not a Tease
This is not vaporware. Anyone who has looked at my extension portfolio at RicheyWeb knows I am not afraid to release oddball extensions and niche tools alongside core fixes and even the occasional extension-for-spite—(NicePanel has a fun history - I released it for free because IcePanel sucked and was a paid extension). This might be one of my most important contributions to Joomla—there is no way I am keeping this to myself. When I am satisfied, it is getting released—in total, no restrictions, no truncations, no subscriptions.
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