| name | website-seo |
| description | Domain binding, SSL setup, Cloudflare DNS, search engine submission, sitemap management, and Windows shared hosting FTP workflows |
| triggers | ["bind domain to github pages","cloudflare ssl 525 error","cloudflare origin server a record proxy","submit sitemap to google","baidu verification","yandex verification","nginx 403 directory index forbidden","nginx url rewrite query string","mysql root password ubuntu 8.0","install mysql on ubuntu","classic asp iis to linux migration","admin_v19 asp backend not running","sync static files between servers","create index.html for directory listing","biweekly cron sync script","canonical points to github io instead of production domain","github pages seo custom domain","sitemap still has github io url after domain change","cloudflare overrides robots txt","git rebase conflict sitemap xml"] |
Website SEO & Administration
Domain Binding (GitHub Pages → Custom Domain)
GitHub Settings
- Repository → Settings → Pages → Custom domain:
www.example.com
- Do NOT check "Enforce HTTPS" until after DNS verification completes
Cloudflare DNS
| Type | Name | Target | Proxy |
|---|
| CNAME | www | githubtalk.github.io | DNS only (gray) during verification |
Critical: Keep DNS-only (gray cloud) while GitHub validates domain ownership. After GitHub issues HTTPS cert, re-enable proxy (orange cloud).
Why Enforce HTTPS Is Optional with Cloudflare
Cloudflare Flexible/Full SSL already handles HTTP→HTTPS redirect at CDN level. GitHub's "Enforce HTTPS" does the same. If https://www.example.com works in browser, the checkbox is cosmetic.
Cloudflare SSL 525 Error
Symptom: HTTP 525 - SSL handshake failed
Root cause: Origin server has no valid SSL certificate for the domain
Quick fix:
- Cloudflare → SSL/TLS → Mode: Flexible
- Visitor → Cloudflare: HTTPS ✅
- Cloudflare → Origin: HTTP (no cert needed) ✅
Permanent fix: Install Let's Encrypt on origin server (requires RDP/SSH access)
Cloudflare Proxy → Origin Server Setup
When your origin is a VPS/root server (not GitHub Pages), Cloudflare proxies traffic to your server's IP.
Step 1: Start web server on origin FIRST
sudo systemctl start nginx
sudo systemctl enable nginx
sudo ss -tlnp | grep -E ':80|:443'
curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' http://127.0.0.1
Step 2: Check PHP-FPM if site returns 502 Bad Gateway
sudo systemctl status php8.3-fpm | grep "Active:"
ls -la /run/php/php*-fpm.sock
sudo chmod 660 /run/php/php8.3-fpm.sock
sudo usermod -a -G www-data nginx
sudo systemctl restart nginx php8.3-fpm
Step 2: Cloudflare DNS record
| Type | Name | Target | Proxy |
|---|
| A | sub | YOUR_SERVER_IP | Proxied (☁️ orange) |
Step 3: Verify
curl -sI https://your-domain.com/ | grep cf-ray
Full reference: references/cloudflare-origin-server.md
Nginx sites-enabled Gotcha (Ubuntu)
On Ubuntu, nginx configs go in /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/ but nginx.conf does not include it by default. If nginx starts but serves nothing on port 80:
- Check:
grep sites-enabled /etc/nginx/nginx.conf
- If missing, add inside
http {} block: include /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/*;
- Test:
sudo nginx -t
- Reload:
sudo systemctl reload nginx
Note: The include line must be INSIDE the http {} block, not after the closing }. If you see "server" directive is not allowed here, the include is outside the http block.
Creating Directory Index Pages
When migrating from ASP/PHP sites that generate listing pages dynamically, you may need to create static index.html for directories:
for f in /home/ubuntu/wwwroot/products/*.html; do
id=$(basename "$f" .html)
title=$(grep -oP '(?<=<title>)[^<]+' "$f" 2>/dev/null | head -1)
echo "<li><a href=\"/products/$id.html\">$title</a></li>"
done > /tmp/product_list.txt
cat > /home/ubuntu/wwwroot/products/index.html << HTMLEOF
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html><head><title>Product Center</title></head>
<body>
<ul>
$(cat /tmp/product_list.txt)
</ul>
</body></html>
HTMLEOF
Key patterns:
- Extract title from each HTML file:
grep -oP '(?<=<title>)[^<]+' "$f"
- Include navigation from main site
- Match the visual style of source site
See references/website-sync-workflow.md for full sync script template.
Classic ASP (VBScript) Cannot Run on Linux
Symptom: ASP files in /admin_v19/ return as plain text download or show directory listing instead of executing
Root Cause: Classic ASP (VBScript/Jet OLEDB, .asp files using Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")) is Windows IIS only. Mono does not support Classic ASP — only ASP.NET (C#/VB.NET).
Verification:
curl -s "https://domain.com/admin_v19/login.asp" | head -5
curl -sI "https://original-site.com/" | grep -i server
Implications for Migration:
| Original Stack | Target Stack | Classic ASP Backend |
|---|
| Windows + IIS | Linux + Nginx | ❌ Cannot migrate — rewrite backend or keep Windows server |
| Windows + IIS | Windows + IIS | ✅ Works as-is |
| Linux + Apache | Linux + Nginx | ✅ Works (if ASP.NET, not Classic) |
Migration Options:
- Keep original server for admin — Use
www.shengtuo-tractor.com/admin_v19/ for backend updates, sync static files to new server
- Rebuild backend — Rewrite ASP admin in PHP/Laravel, point to MySQL database
- Use Windows VPS — Keep IIS + Classic ASP, add Cloudflare in front
Key files to check:
Conn.asp — Database connection string: "Provider = Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source="&server.mapPath(...)- This uses Microsoft Access-style Jet OLEDB, which is Windows-only
Reference: references/classic-asp-iis-migration.md
Sitemap After Domain Change
Problem: Switched custom domain but sitemap.xml still has old URLs like githubtalk.github.io/shengtuo-tractor/
Fix:
- Update
sitemap.xml in the GitHub repository with new domain URLs
- Also update
canonical, JSON-LD @id/url, og:url, og:image, twitter:image — all must reference production domain
- GitHub Pages automatically redirects
/sitemap.xml from parked URL to custom domain
- Search Console "Couldn't fetch" = CDN cache delay, refreshes in 2-5 min
⚠️ Cloudflare can override robots.txt: Cloudflare Dashboard Rules can control robots.txt at CDN level, ignoring your origin file. If changes don't appear, check Cloudflare Dashboard → Rules. See references/github-pages-seo.md.
Baidu Verification
- Baidu web interface rejects
.html file upload via browser (UI bug: "Unsupported document type")
- Solution: Upload verification file via FTP client to web root, then trigger file verification in Baidu console
- FTP upload to Windows shared hosting works where browser UI fails
Yandex Verification
File method:
- Filename must be:
yandex_<code>.html (underscore in middle, not underscore at start)
- Content must be full HTML wrapper, not plain text
Example:
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>Verification: 3fdba79f71c66d1b</body>
</html>
Upload via FTP, then trigger verification in Yandex Webmaster.
Search Engine Submission Priority
| Engine | Priority | Tools |
|---|
| Google | Must-do | search.google.com/search-console |
| Bing | High (Yahoo shared) | bing.com/webmasters |
| Yandex | Medium (Russia) | webmaster.yandex.com |
| Baidu | If China market | zhanzhang.baidu.com |
Submission Checklist
- Verify ownership (HTML tag / file / CNAME)
- Submit sitemap URL:
https://www.example.com/sitemap.xml
- Ensure HTTPS works and canonical URLs are correct
- Check coverage/index status after 1-3 days
Verification Methods
Choosing a Method
| Method | Best For | Limitations |
|---|
| HTML tag | Any site | Must be able to edit <head> |
| Cloudflare授权 | Cloudflare-proxied sites | Only works for Google |
| File upload | FTP-accessible sites | Baidu only accepts .txt/.html |
| CNAME | Sites with Cloudflare blocking bots | Most reliable for Baidu |
Google Verification
HTML tag method (most universal):
sed -i 's|<title>|<meta name="google-site-verification" content="XXXXX" />\n<title>|' index.html
git add index.html && git commit -m "Add Google verification" && git push
Confirm tag is live (allow 2-3 min for GitHub Pages rebuild):
curl -s "https://example.com/" | grep "verification_code"
Baidu Verification (FTP)
Baidu file verification requires raw text file (no HTML wrapper):
echo -n "codeva-XXXXX" > baidu_verify_codeva-XXXXX.html
curl -u "USER:PASS" -T baidu_verify_codeva-XXXXX.html "ftp://HOST/wwwroot/"
Verify:
curl -s "https://example.com/baidu_verify_codeva-XXXXX.html"
Yandex Verification
Filename must be yandex_<code>.html (underscore in middle, not at start):
<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>Verification: 3fdba79f71c66d1b</body>
</html>
Bing Verification
Use HTML tag method (same as Google):
<meta name="msvalidate.01" content="YOUR_BING_CODE">
References
references/cloudflare-ssl-modes.mdreferences/cloudflare-origin-server.mdreferences/seo-submission-checklist.mdreferences/baidu-verify-ftp.md — Baidu verification on Windows shared hosting (FTP upload, raw text file)references/sitemap-template.md — Optimized sitemap template with prioritiesreferences/nginx-url-rewrite-static.md — Rewriting query params (?id=X) to static HTML filesreferences/mysql-ubuntu-setup.md — MySQL 8.0 on Ubuntu, root password reset via debian-sys-maintreferences/classic-asp-iis-migration.md — Classic ASP on Windows IIS, cannot run on Linux/Monoreferences/website-sync-workflow.md — Sync script for migrating static content between domains, creating directory index pagesreferences/github-pages-seo.md — GitHub Pages custom domain SEO: canonical/sitemap/OG tags must point to production domain, Cloudflare overrides, git rebase conflicts
