Big Problem with the Release 2.3.0

Hi Amar,

Thanks for the detailed explanation and the test links — that’s very helpful.

Route 66 2.3.0 does not introduce any changes related to URL rewriting or URL handling. The only relevant change in this release concerns performance optimizations.

Please try the following on your test site:

• Go to Components → Route 66 → Options
• Open the Performance tab
• Disable all options under that tab
• Clear Joomla cache and any server/CDN cache
• Test the Hikashop product page again

If this resolves the issue, we can then isolate which performance option is causing the conflict.

If the issue persists, it is very likely unrelated to the 2.3.0 update, especially since Hikashop is disabled in Route 66 and product aliases are handled directly by Hikashop.

Let me know the outcome and we’ll take it from there.

Best regards,
Lefteris

Hi Amar,

Thanks for the confirmation.

Please re-enable the options under the Performance tab on your test site so we can confirm the issue is reproducible there.

If possible, open a new private ticket and include administrator credentials for the test website. This will allow me to inspect the configuration directly and identify which performance option is causing the conflict with Hikashop.

Once I can reproduce it locally on your setup, I’ll be able to provide a proper fix or workaround.

Looking forward to your update.

Best regards,
Lefteris

Hi Amar,

Thank you for providing the access details.

I was able to reproduce the issue on your test site and identified the cause. I’ve implemented a fix and installed a development build on your test website.

I have re-enabled all options under the Performance tab, and the Hikashop product pages are now working correctly — the issue no longer occurs.

Please test it on your side and confirm everything looks good.

Once confirmed, the fix will be included in the next official release.

Let me know if you notice anything else.

Best regards,
Lefteris

Hi Amar,

I’m glad to hear the previous issue is resolved.

I checked the new link you shared, and what’s happening there is a redirect to a different page. Route 66 does not perform redirects in any case, so this behavior is not coming from the extension.

Most likely, the redirect is caused by a difference between the test and production setups — for example menu items, category assignments, or related Joomla/Hikashop settings that are not fully in sync between the two sites.

If you’d like, I can take a closer look and troubleshoot it further on the test site, but based on the behavior this appears to be unrelated to Route 66 and more likely linked to the menu or content configuration.

Let me know how you’d like to proceed.

Best regards,
Lefteris

Hi Amar,

Thank you for the additional example — this helps clarify what you’re seeing.

First, could you please confirm which Route 66 version is running on your production site?

If the production site is using v2.2.0, then this behavior is not introduced by Route 66, as v2.3.0 contains no changes related to URL handling or routing logic.

Regarding the URLs you shared:

On your production site, the article is clearly served under a different menu structure (the blog appears under /en/reconnect-to-nature-with-my-blog.html).

I was not able to find a menu item with the same alias or structure on your test site, which explains why Joomla is generating a different URL there.

Route 66 does not rewrite, redirect, or alter Joomla-generated URLs. It works on top of the URLs Joomla resolves based on:

• Menu items
• Category structure
• Article associations

If the menu or category setup differs between the two sites, Joomla will naturally generate different URLs for the same article.

Please verify that:

• The menu items, aliases, and category assignments are identical on both sites
• The article is linked to the same menu item in both environments

Once those are aligned, the URLs should match exactly — without any involvement from Route 66.

Let me know what you find, and we’ll continue from there.

Best regards,
Lefteris

Hi Amar,

Thanks for the detailed follow-up.

I’ve just installed Route 66 v2.2.0 on your test website (the same version that is running on your production site), and the issue is still present there.

This confirms that the behavior you’re seeing is not caused by the Route 66 update.

If the problem were related to v2.3.0, it would disappear when reverting to v2.2.0 — but it does not.

Since the test site was restored via Akeeba Backup, the most likely explanation is that some Joomla routing data is not identical or not fully rebuilt on the test environment. In particular, Joomla URLs depend heavily on:

• Menu items and their aliases
• Menu–category–article associations
• Default menu assignments per language
• Cached routing data

Even a small mismatch (or an outdated menu cache) can result in Joomla generating different URLs for the same content.

At this point, Route 66 is not involved in the URL generation or redirection process. The issue is coming from Joomla’s routing layer on the test site.

If you’d like, I can continue troubleshooting this at Joomla level (menus, language associations, routing cache), but from the extension side there is nothing in Route 66 — old or new — that could cause this behavior.

Let me know how you’d like to proceed.

Best regards,
Lefteris

Hi Amar,

Thank you for setting up the new test website and for sending the access details.

I’ve installed the development version of Route 66 on the new test site and ran some checks. Everything is working as expected, and I’m not able to reproduce any of the issues there.

If you notice anything unexpected, let me know immediately and I’ll take a look.

Once you confirm everything is fine, the fix will be included in the next official release.

Thanks again for your patience and cooperation.

Best regards,
Lefteris

Hi Amar,

Great to hear — thank you for confirming.

I’ve just released Route 66 v2.3.1, which includes the fix we tested on your site.

You can safely update to this version on your production website.

If you notice anything else or need help with the update, feel free to reach out.

Thanks again for your patience and for helping track this down.

Best regards,
Lefteris

Hi Amar,

That’s great to hear — I’m really glad everything is working perfectly now.

Thank you for your patience and for the excellent collaboration while we tracked this down.

Have a great weekend as well!

Best regards,
Lefteris