Product Canonical Manager: setup and help

Upload the ZIP in Modules > Module Manager > Upload a module. Install it and click Configure. The dashboard is under Improve > Canonical Manager. Open Canonical Rules to manage rules and Settings > Configuration for global URL settings.

Requires PrestaShop 1.6.1 or later and PHP 7.1 or later.

HTML changes require the theme to provide a standard HTML head section ending in </head> through actionOutputHTMLBefore.

Open Settings > Configuration > Canonical URLs.

These settings can process an existing canonical on supported entity pages without creating a special rule. They do not rename routes or create redirects.

Enter comma-separated names in Strip URL Parameters. For example:

utm_source,utm_medium,utm_campaign,utm_term,utm_content,fbclid,gclid,msclkid,affiliate_id,newsletter_id

If you deliberately need pagination parameters removed, add p or page to that list. The stored pagination switch alone does not implement this behavior. Save and inspect the resulting canonical.

Open Canonical Rules and add a rule.

Available action values are:

Rules support products, categories, CMS pages, manufacturers, and suppliers. Product targeting can include category, manufacturer, and supplier conditions. Review the selected scope before saving a rule that could affect many pages.

Matching rules are read by descending priority. Processing stops once a matching rule supplies a canonical URL. Robots flags collected before that stop apply with it. Do not rely on every lower-priority rule contributing robots directives.

For example, a custom URL rule can produce:

<link rel="canonical" href="https://yourshop.com/main-product">

Enabling both robots switches produces:

<meta name="robots" content="noindex, nofollow">

This replacement does not merge all previous robots directives. Review any existing directives you need to retain.

In multistore, matching includes rules for the current shop and rules stored with shop ID 0, which apply across shops. Both scopes use the same descending priority order; a shop-specific rule does not automatically outrank a global rule. Set Priority deliberately when both can match. Processing stops at the first matching rule that supplies a canonical URL, so lower-priority robots flags after that point are not applied.

Use the Back Office entity selector for normal setup. A stored selector can target products in categories 12 and 18 while excluding product 145:

{
  "products": {
    "groups": [{
      "include": {"method": "by_category", "values": [12, 18]},
      "excludes": [{"method": "specific", "values": [145]}]
    }]
  }
}

This illustrates stored data, not a separate import screen. Verify actual matches on the storefront after changing targeting.

Start with one product rule. Save it, open that product, and view page source. Find the canonical tag inside the head. Compare its URL with the intended live destination.

Test a page with an existing canonical and one without it when using Add canonical only if missing. Test the same entity in every active language when using a custom URL. A missing custom translation should not be assumed to inherit another language's URL.

Check the robots tag when Noindex or Nofollow is enabled. Open an untargeted entity too, to confirm the rule scope. The module processes supported entity detail pages. It does not provide the same handling on arbitrary home, search, or custom module pages.

The module does not generate or replace hreflang tags. Use your shop's separate hreflang implementation if you need language alternates.

The dashboard reports active rules, entity coverage, recent rules, and current canonical settings. It is an overview, not proof that your theme output was changed.

If nothing changes, confirm the rule is active and matches the current entity and shop. Check whether a higher-priority rule already supplies a canonical. Clear any page cache and inspect source again.

Confirm the page passes HTML through actionOutputHTMLBefore and contains a normal head section. The tag-editing code recognizes specific link and meta tag forms. Unusual attribute order or custom markup may need investigation.

If URL cleanup has no effect, check the existing canonical tag and parameter names. The module edits the canonical tag, not the browser address. It does not alter friendly URLs, product names, catalog records, .htaccess, or robots.txt.

Deleting a product, category, CMS page, manufacturer or supplier removes rules attached directly to it. Review saved selections in broader rules after deleting an entity.

Disable the module in Module Manager to stop HTML changes while retaining rules. Your core and theme then supply their normal SEO tags.

Uninstall removes the module menu, settings, admin preferences, and canonical rule tables. Export any rule data you need first. Catalog URLs and records are not rewritten by this module.