Add SEO Metadata to Your phpBB Forum

@halilesen · 01 May 2024 · 768 views
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halilesen
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Full Name: Halil ESEN
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Adding metadata, or meta tags and microdata, to your phpBB forum makes the content more understandable for search engines, social media and of course users. You can also add metadata to your phpBB dashboard manually. But to make things more effortless, you can install SEO Metadata extension developed by AlfredoRamos. Here, we will create metadata with this extension.

alfredoramos_seometadata_1.4.2.zip
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Download the extension file above, upload it to /ext folder in phpBB root and export it. Then enable the extension on the ACP > Customise tab > Extensions Manager page. To configure the extension settings, go to the SEO Metadata menu > Settings page from Extensions tab.

phpbb-seo-metadata-description.jpg
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Let's start with the description metadata. Check Yes to Enable description to activate it. Type 160 for description length. Because this is the limit in Google. You can choose the description strategy option according to your preference. I prefer ellipsis so that it is also pleasing to the eye for users.

phpbb-seo-metadata-image.jpg
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Now for the meta image. For the image strategy option, I did it this way because I usually add the image I prepared for the cover or banner in the first row. But if you want, you can choose the image with a large size.

Default image is the image that will be shown when there is no image in the forum, then in the topic or post. My recommendation is that it should be a non-transparent square or horizontal rectangular image with your logo or icon. Select an image with a size of 512x512px for a square and 1200x630px for a rectangle. You must add the image to the /images folder in the root directory. Type the file name here with its extension.

For Local images, check No if you want images added from other websites to be included in the meta. Include attachments asks if attachments should be included, I think check yes. Prefer attachments specifies that attachments should always be preferred. Post metadata is for topics and I think you should check yes.

phpbb-seo-metadata-open-graph.jpg
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Next, Open Graph settings. Enable Open Graph should always be yes. Enter your App ID in the Facebook application ID input. If you don't have one, you can create one from Meta Developers. I intend to show it in another topic. If you have a Facebook page, add its link to the Facebook publisher input.

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Next Twitter Cards settings. Always select yes to Enable Twitter Cards. If you have an X account, type your username in the Twitter publisher input.

phpbb-seo-metadata-json-ld.jpg
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Lastly JSON-LD settings. Enable JSON-LD always yes. In the Publisher logo section, just type the same thing as Default image.

Submit. Then clear the cache. Metadata is now active and dynamically available in your phpBB forum. This was an important step for SEO.

For example, the metadata for this page looks like this:

phpbb-group-seo-metadata.jpg
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What do you think, are you using metadata or do you need more help?
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