Table of Contents
Background
The ISSN International Centre has changed the URL format of their resource pages. This change affects the ISSN links (Online and Print) displayed in your journal header.
Old URL: https://portal.issn.org/resource/issn/
New URL: https://portal.issn.org/resource/ISSN/
The only difference is the capitalization of ISSN in the URL path. Although it appears minor, this change causes the ISSN links in your journal header to lead to a 404 page if not updated.
Therefore, if you are one of our clients using our theme products, especially the Noble and Novelty themes, you can follow the tutorial below to fix the ISSN links on your journal.
How to Update
There are two methods, depending on your theme purchase license period.
Theme Purchased Less Than 1 Year Ago
If your theme purchase is still within the 1-year period (active update license), you can simply update the theme through the OJT Control Panel.
Go to the OJT Control Panel plugin in your OJS dashboard.
Inside the OJT Control Panel, locate the theme product you are using, then perform the update to the latest version.
The ISSN link fix is already included in the latest theme version. No manual file editing required.
Theme Purchased More Than 1 Year Ago
If your theme update license has expired (more than 1 year since purchase), you need to apply the fix manually by editing the following template file.
Always back up the original file before making any changes. These steps apply to all of our theme products.
Open the File Manager on your hosting panel (cPanel, Plesk, etc.) or use an FTP client such as FileZilla to access your journal’s server files.
Open the header.tpl file located at the following path inside your active theme folder:
frontend›
components›
header.tpl
The full path from the OJS root differs depending on when you purchased the theme:
plugins/generic/ojtcontrolpanel/modules/[theme-folder-name]/templates/frontend/components/header.tpl
plugins/themes/[theme-folder-name]/templates/frontend/components/header.tpl
Please adjust the theme folder location based on the guidance above. If you are unsure where your theme folder is located, check both paths and use the one that matches your OJS installation structure.
Open the header.tpl file and look for the code that displays the Online ISSN and Print ISSN links. There are 2 lines that need to be modified.
{* Online ISSN line *} <a href="https://portal.issn.org/resource/issn/{$onlineIssn}"> <span class="issn">Online ISSN : {$onlineIssn}</span> </a> {* Print ISSN line *} <a href="https://portal.issn.org/resource/issn/{$printIssn}"> <span class="issn">Print ISSN : {$printIssn}</span> </a>
Change the lowercase issn in the URL path to uppercase ISSN on both lines.
{* Online ISSN line *} <a href="https://portal.issn.org/resource/ISSN/{$onlineIssn}"> <span class="issn">Online ISSN : {$onlineIssn}</span> </a> {* Print ISSN line *} <a href="https://portal.issn.org/resource/ISSN/{$printIssn}"> <span class="issn">Print ISSN : {$printIssn}</span> </a>
Save the header.tpl file. Open your journal’s front page in a browser and click the Online ISSN or Print ISSN link in the header. The link should now lead to a valid ISSN detail page on portal.issn.org, not a 404 page.
If the page still shows the old result after saving, clear your browser cache (Ctrl+Shift+R) and the OJS template cache via Administration > Clear Template Cache in your OJS dashboard.
Enhance Security & Get the Latest Features
To ensure optimal security and access to the latest features, we recommend upgrading your OJS version to the most recent release available.
Additionally, to continue receiving technical support and feature updates for your theme, you can renew your theme license through your purchase dashboard. Contact us to get an exclusive discount.
