Menu item type Category Layout does not yet replace Front Page (deprecated)

[Robert_ITMan]

Please help me fix this.

So frustrating!
Joomla 3.8.5
VirtueMart 3.2.12 with SEO defaults
no 3rd party SEO
no custom templates

Using menu item type Category Layout for home page by setting Select a Category to Top Level Category needs work so that product links are not component/virtuemart/ ... until this is fixed I still need to keep using old "Front Page (deprecated)" or have both with different alias...

Menu Item Type = Category Layout
Select a Category = Top Level Category
Alias = shop
URLS:
  /shop (shows options as selected such as Show Store Description)
  /shop/category (shows options as selected such as Show Store Description)
  /component/virtuemart/product-alias (!!)

Add hidden menu item
Menu Item Type = Front Page (deprecated)
Alias = shop-now
URLS:
  /shop (shows options as selected such as Show Store Description)
  /shop/category (shows options as selected such as Show Store Description)
  /shop-now (does not show options)
  /shop-now/category (does not show options)
  /shop-now/product-alias

[Studio 42]

Have you try to rebuild the Joomla menus?
I had already such problem and was solved this way.

[Robert_ITMan]

Studio 42 - thank you for your reply and good suggestion - unfortunately rebuilding menus and menu items does not solve the issue - nor does removing and deleting all menu items > emptying trash > creating new menu items.. any other suggestions?

[Robert_ITMan]

This is an issue I hope the VM team can fix. I don't know how to fix the VM new menu items and I really hope someone fixes this as it would be ideal being able to use built-in Joomla SEF with menu items instead of needing 3rd party solutions - which are not cheap, are very complicated, are resource hogs, and need significant time to setup and maintain.

While I still hope VM get this fixed in the future - I'm not in a hurry as I found a good solution and it works for me: I'm now using Artio JoomSEF 4 with VirtueMart Extension together costing € 36.90 and several hours later I have the site URLs SEF (Search Engine Friendly) working as I need it along with SEO (Search Engine Optimization) with automatic meta values for titles, descriptions, keywords and more.

€ 26.90 Artio JoomSEF 4
https://www.artio.net/e-shop/joomsef/joomsef-4/joomsef-4?affiliate=24989

€ 10.00 Artio VirtueMart JoomSEF 4 Extension
https://www.artio.net/e-shop/joomsef/joomsef-extensions/joomsef-4-x-compatible/virtuemart-joomsef-4-extension?affiliate=24989

[Studio 42]

I have all my customers sites using Joomla core SEF and no problems at all, using Root category or Root shop view

[Robert_ITMan]

Are you using:
VM Menu Item Type = Category Layout
or
Menu Item Type = Front Page (deprecated)
??

[Studio 42]

All twos, it depend the shop, some use always the deprecated Front Page and some the category Layout as root.