How to test

• SEF must be disabled ( Global Configuration -> SEO Settings);

• Open category blog page and see how the article URLs look like:

  http://test.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49:article-alias&catid=12&Itemid=101

• But the same articles have different URLs in Smart Search Results
  (Article title links on smart search results page):

  http://test.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=49:article-alias&catid=12:category-alias&Itemid=101

After this PR is applied

Articles URLs in these two places are the same as in com_content component

We have an issue here: If we apply this PR, or rather this pattern, in this manner, we have a break in backwards compatibility, since the URLs for non-SEF sites will change. Old URLs will still work, but Google will index 2 different URLs for some time. While I would agree with @shur here, that this would be the correct way and while I did it the same way in my latest PR, technically its an issue...

This also applies to #5425 and #5426

@Hackwar I don't thinks this will be a problem: Google anyways clusters similar URLs with identical content. See: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/6080548

(btw, Thomas Hannes, I'm the 'old' smanzi: I've changed GitHub account...)

@Hackwar Oops... meant to say "Hannes", sorry!!!

@shur issue confirmed (in multilingual site) and solution working.
@test success

Testers beware: you need to purge and re-index in "Smart Search" for this to have effect.

@smz The problem is not what Google does and what it means for your SEO ranking, but what people believe that affects their "SEO", unbeknownst to what that even actually means. The difference and thing in favour for us would be, that people who don't use the SEF URLs most likely give a crap about their URLs anyway and wont notice a change.

@Hackwar

... people who don't use the SEF URLs most likely give a crap about their URLs anyway and wont notice a change

Exactly! And as I said in a comment on #5426, this PR will reduce the number of duplicated URLs: right now If an article is demoted from the Leading or Intro positions to the Links position, its URL will change. Not with this PR, and this is the reason why IMHO this PR is a good one, together with #5426. On #5425 there are still some serious doubts.

My last comment doesn't apply to this PR as this is for "Smart Search", so there is no concept of demotion here, but anyway it will reduce duplicated URLs as we already have a different format in "Category Blog" (see my comment on #5425), will have the same in "Featured Articles" if (as I hope) #5426 will be merged and with this we will have the same in "Smart Search" results.

@Hackwar Sorry if this is blatantly OT, but, is there a reason (beside URLs B/C) why we maintain the slug in the "article" related part of our URLs? Wouldn't the ID be just enough?

why we maintain the slug in the "article" related part of our URLs?

Article slug is always used in com_content, unlike catslug which is not. This PR is only about catslug.
So lets keep off discussions about other things not connected to this PR.

I'm waiting this fix accepted for several months already, and irrelevant talks will slow down it again.

@shur Sorry, I said it was OT...
Personally I think I did the best I could do helping you have your PRs accepted by giving my @test. You now need to find at least a second tester, AFAIK.

Several months? I see your PRs as just published...

In description you'll find the link to my previous PR on a similar problem posted in September.

@smz I really appreciate you help in testing. I wish there are more people like you here, who can do that so fast and efficient.

@shur Thanks, appreciated! Wanna help me? Give a look at my PRs (you'll find them as published by @smanzi)!

@smz The whole slug thing is simply a performance thing. It prevents us from looking up the slug for each link separately. So the article slug has a reason to exist.

@shur Since we have most of our links already using only the catid, we should indeed remove the catslug where possible. So with that, I'm giving this a successfull test.

@Hackwar I agree. It's only left to remove catslug from here and from one more place.
This PR is about search results which are visible only for users, so we don't risk anything.

There are two successful tests already. Anything else is needed to get this PR merged?

Merged, thanks!