Joomla Jumpstart Releases Add-on that Solves SEO Problems

Joomla Jumpstart.com has released the free Missing Metadata module for the Joomla! CMS. Available for both Joomla! versions (1.0 and 1.5), the module presents the site administrator with a dynamic list of every article page on the web site that lacks either a Meta Description, Meta Keys, or both. Clicking an entry on the list allows the administrator to immediately edit the article's missing fields.

The Missing Metadata module helps administrators ensure that their Joomla! web sites don't present an empty face to the search engines, since metadata is critical for proper search engine optimization (SEO). Most search engines (including Google) harvest the information in a Meta Description tag to display as the summary page description in the Search Results list. The data is also used for indexing and page rank. Some search engines also use the Meta Keys data to properly categorize the content of a page. Article pages lacking these entries are seriously undermined when it comes to accessibility and page ranking.

"Before this module, there was no easy way to determine which articles had empty fields," said Dan Rahmel, developer of the extension. "Each article had to be opened and examined individually. That wasted a lot of an administrator's time and energy." In the Joomla system, the Article Editor interface doesn't force the user to make an entry in either the Meta Description or the Meta Key fields. All too often that means content contributors ignore these fields.

All pages that lack this critical information are listed by the Missing Metadata module in the Control Panel of the Administrator interface. Each entry has a hyperlink that, when selected, opens the incomplete article in the Article Editor so the problem may be remedied quickly. The Missing Metadata module is the first to provide a centralized report with this information on the main administrator's screen.

The module can be downloaded for free at www.JoomlaJumpstart.com. The release of the module marks the start of a number of slated Joomla! extension releases from Joomla Jumpstart.

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About Joomla Jumpstart

Joomla Jumpstart was founded by Dan Rahmel, author of the books "Beginning Joomla!" from Apress and "Professional Joomla!" from Wrox. Having worked as a web developer and database architect for over a dozen years, Rahmel brings his skills and experience to the Joomla community. Distribution requests, general inquiries, and sponsorship questions can be directed to Mr. Rahmel at info(AT)joomlajumpstart.com.