# Sitemaps

SmartCrawl generates three types of sitemaps: XML, Google News, and Image. All are configured under the Sitemap module.

## XML Sitemap

### Configuration

| Setting | Recommended Value |
|---------|------------------|
| Enable XML Sitemap | Yes |
| Post types included | Posts, Pages, Products, public custom post types |
| Taxonomies included | Categories (yes), Tags (only if indexed), custom taxonomies |
| Max URLs per file | Default (auto-splits into multiple files) |
| Notify search engines | Automatic |

### Access

Your sitemap is at: `https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml`

SmartCrawl auto-generates a sitemap index that links to individual sitemaps per post type and taxonomy.

### Exclusions

Exclude specific content by:
- **Post/page ID** — Enter IDs in the exclusion list
- **Custom URLs** — Add specific URLs to exclude
- **Post type** — Uncheck entire post types from the include list

**Important:** If you set a page to `noindex`, also exclude it from the sitemap. SmartCrawl does **not** do this automatically.

### Limitation

SmartCrawl limits sitemaps to **1,000 most recent posts** per post type to prevent memory errors on large sites. If you have more than 1,000 posts, older content may not appear in the sitemap.

## Google News Sitemap

Enable this only if the site publishes news-style content that qualifies for Google News.

### Requirements for Google News

- Content must be timely, original news articles
- Published within the last 2 days (Google News requirement)
- Site should be registered with Google News Publisher Center

### Configuration

- Enable the Google News Sitemap toggle
- Select which post types to include (usually just Posts)
- Verify at `https://yoursite.com/news-sitemap.xml`

## Image Sitemap

One-click enable. Tells Google about images on your pages for Google Images indexing.

### When to Enable

- Sites with significant visual content (portfolios, galleries, products)
- Sites where image search traffic is valuable
- Always enable for WooCommerce sites (product images)

### What It Includes

SmartCrawl adds image entries to your existing XML sitemap (not a separate file). Each page entry includes its images with:
- Image URL
- Image title
- Image caption (if set)

## Sitemap Submission

### Google Search Console

1. Go to Search Console > Sitemaps
2. Enter `sitemap.xml` in the "Add a new sitemap" field
3. Click Submit
4. Verify status shows "Success" after Google fetches it

### Bing Webmaster Tools

1. Go to Bing Webmaster Tools > Sitemaps
2. Submit `https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml`

### robots.txt

Add a sitemap directive to robots.txt (use full absolute URL):

```
Sitemap: https://yoursite.com/sitemap.xml
```

## After Making Changes

When you add/remove content or change sitemap settings:

1. Use the **"New Crawl" button** in SmartCrawl's sitemap tab to notify Google
2. Or wait for automatic notification (if set to Automatic mode)
3. Verify the updated sitemap at `yoursite.com/sitemap.xml`
4. Check Google Search Console > Sitemaps for any errors

## Troubleshooting

| Issue | Fix |
|-------|-----|
| Sitemap returns 404 | Flush permalinks (Settings > Permalinks > Save) |
| Post type missing from sitemap | Check SmartCrawl Sitemap settings — ensure the post type is included |
| Noindexed pages appearing in sitemap | Manually exclude them by ID — SmartCrawl doesn't auto-exclude noindexed content |
| WPML duplicate URLs | Known issue — duplicate homepage URLs in sitemap when using WPML |
| Sitemap too large / memory error | SmartCrawl limits to 1,000 posts — contact WPMU DEV support for large sites |