Hello,
Thank you for contacting Rank Math, and sorry for any inconvenience caused.
1. The sitemaps are “virtual sitemaps” so that is the reason why you don’t find the files but you can navigate to their URLs. Virtual sitemaps mean there are no files (sitemaps) stored on the website. They are managed by the Rank Math plugin, when someone requests the sitemaps, Rank Math provides them dynamically.
2. This issue is caused by a blank line/space in your wp-config.php file or your theme’s functions.php file. If there is no such blank space in your wp-config.php or functions.php file, check for a plugin conflict using the Health Check plugin.
Also, make sure your cache is disabled as it is highly likely that the cache is interfering with the working of Sitemap functionality of Rank Math.
3. Please make sure you have not set the pages to noindex by going to the specific page > SEO Settings > Advanced > Check the index checkbox
I hope this helps. Looking forward to helping you.
hi… thanks for a prompt reply
1.
alright
2.
i removed all the blank lines and spaces from the wpconfig and function files and also installed and ran the plugin you suggested, but still clicking on the sitemap link, i keep getting the browser error
3.
yes. i am aware of this and have never changed the default setting for Index in any of my product pages
Hello,
Thank you for following up.
Could you please also share your sitemap link to further investigate? Also, have you tried activating only Rank Math and a default theme and see if the issue persists?
Please also share some links where Google Search Console finds the noindex tag. You can take a screenshot using this tool as well, and add them in the designated Sensitive Data section
It is completely secure, and only our support staff has access to that section.
I hope that helps. Thank you, and looking forward to your update.
Hello,
I have updated the sensitive data as requested. Can you please check further?
Thank you.
Hello,
2. Upon checking your sitemap page, I noticed some white-space present in the first line which causes the error. Please see the screenshot I inserted in the Sensitive Data section.
3. I have checked the source code of the links you shared, and I can see they are marked as noindex.
Please check the Advanced settings in the particular pages and check if the pages are marked noindex.
I hope this helps. We look forward to helping you.
hi thanks for attending my case with so much enthusiasm
2.
since you said, the sitemap files are created dynamically, how do i remove the space from such sitemap files?
3.
i am sorry, to have not looked deep into the “noindex” issue… i just found out that these are all product categories, product tags and pages, that are included in the lost of Noindex items.
But as you see, your plugin provides an option to select “Index” in the product definition page, but not in category definition page or in the tag word creation, for that matter… how do i add the “Index” parameter to these two types?
Hello,
Thank you for following up.
To fix this issue, please make sure that there’s no blank line/space in your wp-config.php file or your theme’s functions.php file. If there is no such blank space, it would seem like a conflict with one of the plugins or the theme you are using.
To determine that, please follow this troubleshooting guide:
https://rankmath.com/kb/check-plugin-conflicts/
Only the site admin would know and your users won’t be affected by this troubleshooting.
Please also make sure your cache is disabled as it is highly likely that the cache is interfering with the working of Sitemap functionality of Rank Math:
https://rankmath.com/kb/exclude-sitemaps-from-caching/
3. You can enable the Add SEO Meta Box in WordPress Dashboard > Rank Math > Titles & Meta > Product Categories/Tags to add the index meta to those pages.
I hope that helps. Thank you, and looking forward to your update.
Hello,
I have updated the sensitive data as requested. Can you please check further?
Thank you.
have removed all the spaces and blank lines from both, the wpconfig and functions files
i use cloudflare for caching… your article says, cloudflare doesnt cache sitemaps
the “Add SEO Meta Box” is missing in my version of rankmath plugin. (the plugin is kept in auto update mode – check the image link in sensitive data)
have not tried to shut down all my plugins to check the conflict, yet, my being an ecommerce site
maulik
have removed all the spaces and blank lines from both, the wpconfig and functions file, as instructed before
am using cloudflare for caching… and your article says cloudflare doesnt cache sitemaps. though all my page rules has cache bypass setting
there is no “Add SEO Meta Box” in my latest version of rank math (pls chk the image link in sensitive data)
have not tried plugin conflict by shutting down all plugins, yet… my site being an ecommerce site
thanks
maulik parikh
Hello,
For Sitemap, please check for Plugin/Conflict as my colleague advised.
For SEO Meta Box, Please note some options are only available in Advanced Mode, head over to the Rank Math dashboard and enable Advanced Mode.
Once you have enabled advanced mode go to Dashboard > Rank Math > Titles & Meta > Products and enable the Add SEO Meta Box.
I hope this helps. Looking forward to helping you.
Hello,
Since we did not hear back from you for 15 days, we are assuming that you found the solution. We are closing this support ticket.
If you still need assistance or any other help, please feel free to open a new support ticket, and we will be more than happy to assist.
Thank you.
