# Known Issues and Gotchas

Confirmed issues, limitations, and workarounds for SmartCrawl v3.15.0.

## Fixed in v3.15.0 (Verify You're Updated)

These were bugs in prior versions — confirm you're on 3.15.0+:

| Issue | Description |
|-------|-------------|
| Editor freezing | Editor got stuck when typing for >2 minutes with SmartCrawl enabled |
| Focus keywords with numbers | SmartCrawl failed to detect focus keywords containing numbers |
| Large content pages | SEO checks failed on very large content pages |
| Social accounts erased | Social accounts wiped from Schema General Settings on save |
| Taxonomy archives | Categories/tags not saving under Taxonomy Archives settings |
| Blog/Posts archive | Global Titles & Meta didn't apply to blog archive when static front page was set |

## Current Known Issues

### Redirect Ordering

**Issue:** Redirects cannot be reordered once added.

**Workaround:** Delete the redirect and recreate it. For complex redirect lists, consider exporting as JSON, editing the order, and re-importing.

### Regex Redirects Inconsistency

**Issue:** Some users report regex patterns not working in SmartCrawl despite being valid on regex101.com.

**Workaround:** Use simpler patterns. Test thoroughly after creating. For complex regex redirects, consider handling them at the server level (`.htaccess` or Nginx config).

### Sitemap 1,000 Post Limit

**Issue:** Sitemaps are limited to 1,000 most recent posts per post type to prevent memory errors.

**Impact:** Older posts on large sites may not appear in the sitemap.

**Workaround:** For sites with 1,000+ posts, consider supplementing with a manual sitemap or contacting WPMU DEV support.

### Noindex + Sitemap Disconnect

**Issue:** Setting a page to `noindex` does NOT automatically exclude it from the sitemap.

**Workaround:** Manually exclude noindexed pages from the sitemap by post ID. **Always do both when noindexing a page.**

### No IndexNow Support

**Issue:** SmartCrawl does not support the IndexNow protocol (unlike Yoast and Rank Math).

**Impact:** Bing and Yandex won't get instant notification of content changes. Google does not support IndexNow anyway (they use their own crawl notification).

**Workaround:** Not critical — SmartCrawl's "Instant Indexing" feature notifies Google directly.

### Auto-Linking + WooCommerce Conflict (Pro)

**Issue:** Auto-linking can cause issues with WooCommerce cart and account page caching.

**Workaround:** Exclude WooCommerce cart, checkout, and account pages from auto-linking in the settings.

### WPML Duplicate Sitemap URLs

**Issue:** When using WPML (multilingual plugin), duplicate homepage URLs appear in the sitemap.

**Workaround:** Manually exclude duplicate URLs from the sitemap.

### OpenGraph Persistence After Disabling

**Issue:** OG tags can remain active on the homepage even after deactivating Open Graph in the setup wizard.

**Workaround:** Manually disable OG for the homepage in SmartCrawl > Social settings, or clear any cached pages.

### Auto-Linking Tab in Free Version

**Issue:** The auto-linking tab appears in the free version UI but the feature does not function without Pro.

**Impact:** Cosmetic only — confusing but not harmful.

### Plugin Update Data Loss (Rare)

**Issue:** At least one user reported keywords, descriptions, and titles being wiped on plugin update.

**Workaround:** Always export SmartCrawl settings (JSON backup) before updating the plugin. This is a rare issue but catastrophic when it happens.

## Plugin Conflicts

### Google Web Stories

**Issue:** SmartCrawl conflicts with the Google Web Stories editor.

**Workaround:** Exclude Web Stories post type from SmartCrawl processing, or use a different SEO plugin for Web Stories.

### Other SEO Plugins

**Issue:** Running multiple SEO plugins simultaneously causes duplicate meta tags, conflicting sitemaps, and schema errors.

**Fix:** Only run one SEO plugin at a time. Use SmartCrawl's import tool when migrating from another plugin.

### Caching Plugins

**Issue:** Page caching can serve stale meta tags after SmartCrawl changes.

**Fix:** Clear the cache after making SEO changes. On your server with EA-Nginx:
```bash
rm -rf /var/cache/ea-nginx/proxy/<account>/*
```

### WP Hummingbird

SmartCrawl and Hummingbird (both WPMU DEV) generally work well together. No known conflicts.

## Best Practices to Avoid Issues

1. **Export settings before every plugin update** — JSON backup takes 10 seconds
2. **Keep SmartCrawl updated** — many issues are fixed in recent versions
3. **Never run two SEO plugins** — deactivate the old one after importing
4. **Manually sync noindex and sitemap exclusions** — SmartCrawl doesn't auto-sync these
5. **Test redirects after creating** — especially regex patterns
6. **Clear cache after SEO changes** — especially on sites with server-level caching
7. **Be patient with Google** — title/description changes can take up to a week to reflect in SERPs
8. **Use the SEO Health Checkup** periodically — catches configuration drift

## Where to Get Help

- [WPMU DEV Documentation](https://wpmudev.com/docs/wpmu-dev-plugins/smartcrawl/)
- [WPMU DEV Support](https://wpmudev.com/hub/support/) (Pro members)
- [WordPress.org Support Forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/smartcrawl-seo/) (Free version)