# EPFOin.com

An educational reference portal for the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in India. This website provides detailed calculators, form guides, regional office directories, news, and step-by-step procedures for employees, employers, and pensioners.

## Tech Stack
- **Backend**: PHP 8.x
- **Server/Routing**: `router.php` (custom lightweight router mapping URLs to static/dynamic PHP scripts with trailing slash normalization)
- **Frontend**: Vanilla CSS, Vanilla JavaScript, and SVG icons. (No heavy JS frameworks, optimized for SEO, fast PageSpeed score)
- **Data Source**: JSON files (`/data/offices.json`, `/data/errors.json`)
- **SEO & Schema**: Structured JSON-LD schema markups on every page (FAQPage, HowTo, GovernmentOffice, etc.)

## Main Navigation & URL Structure
- **Homepage**: `/` -> `index.php` (Dashboard search and index)
- **State Offices Index**: `/state-offices/` -> `state-offices.php`
- **State Offices Detail**: `/office/{state}/` -> `templates/state-detail.php`
- **Regional/City Offices**: `/office/{state}/{city}/` -> `templates/office-detail.php`
- **Zonal Offices**: `/epfo-office/{zonal_slug}/` -> `office-detail.php`
- **Calculators**: `/calculators/` -> `calculators.php` (Index of PF, Pension, Gratuity, Salary, and EMI calculators)
- **Forms & Claims**: `/claims/` -> `claims.php` (Lists all EPFO claims guides and PDFs)
- **Form Detail**: `/claims/{form-name}/` -> `form-detail.php`
- **News**: `/news/` -> `news.php` and articles at `/news/{article-slug}/` -> `news-detail.php`
- **Sitemap**: `/sitemap.xml` -> `sitemap-xml.php`

## Developer Guides & Code Architecture

### 1. Last Updated Dates
Every page has a variable declared at the very top:
```php
$page_last_updated = '2026-05-20';
```
- **In-Page Display**: This date is read by `get_formatted_last_updated()` (defined in `includes/date-helper.php` and included in `includes/header.php`) to display the authentic "Last Updated" badge under the page's main `<h1>`.
- **Sitemap Sync**: The sitemap generation script `sitemap-xml.php` dynamically scans the source files for this variable and uses it in `<lastmod>`. If missing, it uses a static baseline fallback (`2026-05-19`) to avoid daily auto-changing dates that harm SEO.

### 2. State & Office Pages Interlinking
- **Helper Component**: `includes/partials/office-interlinking.php`
- **Mechanism**: Dynamically generates keyword-rich, varied anchor links to other states and back to the homepage. This increases crawl depth, prevents isolated or orphan pages, and passes natural Link Equity.

### 3. Verification & Testing
Before committing changes, run the validator script to check for 404 status codes, redirect issues, and invalid JSON-LD schema blocks:
```bash
python3 /Users/mac/.gemini/antigravity/brain/d0274a92-271b-4bc1-b411-8f66d094c878/scratch/verify_site.py
```