How to Keep Non-SEF URLs for OSMap with sh404SEF Turned On

In this document, you will learn how to submit an XML sitemap to Google with sh404SEF turned on.


The Problem

Submitting an XML sitemap to Google Search Console is one of the best ways to improve the ranking of your Joomla site with Google. When you install the OSMap Joomla extension, you will instantly get an XML sitemap of your site.

get the url of your joomla site xml sitemap

The URL of your XML sitemap will be in the following format:

[your-site-domain-name]/component/osmap/?view=xml&id=1&format=xml

the url of osmap xml sitemap

However, once you install and enable the sh404SEF Joomla extension, instead of the XML sitemap you will see the "Bad karma: we can't find that page!":

bad karma

To solve this problem, you need to ask sh404SEF to use non-SEF URLs explicitly for the OSMap extension.  Let's take a look at how to do this in more detail.


The Solution

  • In your Joomla administrator panel, go to "Extensions" > "sh404SEF":

go to extensions sh404sef

  • You will be brought to the "sh404SEF: Control panel". In the top left corner, click "Configuration":

click configuration

  • You will see the "sh404SEF Configuration" screen, as shown in the image below. Click the "By component" tab:

click by component

  • In the left column with components, locate "Osmap". Switch it from the "use default handler" to "Leave as non-sef":

set the leave as non sef option

  • Click "Save" or "Save & Close".