MijoSEF
MijoSEF is one of the extensions that competes with SH404SEF as an allround SEO extension for Joomla. The advantage of MijoSEF is that it comes in a free basic version (with a link to MijoSEF). User ratings on the JED for MijoSEF are pretty good, so reason enough to try it out. For many sites, the basic version already offers all the functionality you need. For more advanced features, you need to buy a commercial version. Also, to work with some extensions, a separate plugin needs to be bought, like is the case for K2.
Like with any major SEO extension, don't just install it on a production site, as your URL's will change. As long as you plan for this, no issue.
The main feature is the rerouting of non-SEF URL's to the SEF ones, plus setting a canonical URL, which prevents duplicate URL issues. This seems to be done nicely. Also duplicate URL's with or without trailing slashes can be removed.
Another feature is the automatic creation of some meta-data, which is done based on frequently used words in the text. Whether it is advisable to use this remains questionable. Personally I would disable this feauture (enabled by default).
Further features:
- Choice to reroute www or non-www
- Nice method of managing metadata
- Support for tags
- Support for 3rd-party extensions
- Support for multi-lingual sites (Falang and JoomFish)
- Configure 404-page
- Log 404-errors
- Automatic sitemap generation
Installing MijoSEF
After downloading and installing, the URL's will be handled by MijoSEF, no need to activate it. Best is to go over the configuration's parameters to see if all works as designed. For many sites, the installed configuration could be just fine, but make sure you go over them well:
Controlpanel:
One of the configuration screens:
Conclusion
MijoSEF could be a nice extension for handling your duplicate URL-issues. For smaller sites, the fact that it comes in a free version could be nice. However, to be able to use all features, one will probably end up paying as much as it would cost to buy SH404SEF, so that should not be the definitive arguement.
Which one wins is probably personal, while one could also consider JoomSEF. AceSEF used to be, but is suspened from the JED.