Hello,
I’m sorry to hear that you are facing issues with your XML sitemap generated by Rank Math. It seems like not all indexed pages are being displayed, and you have an unwanted URL in your sitemap index.
To address the issue of the incorrect display of indexed pages, please ensure that your posts and pages are set to index in the robots meta tag. You can check and update this setting by navigating to Rank Math SEO → Advanced tab in the post editing screen. Make sure the pages you want to index are set to index.
If you have an unwanted URL like https://rankmath.com/kb/sitemap-404-error/#exclude-sitemap-files in your sitemap index, you can follow these steps to remove it:
- Access your WordPress dashboard.
- Navigate to Rank Math > General Settings > Titles & Meta > Sitemap Settings.
- In the Sitemap Settings, you can exclude specific URLs from the sitemap by adding them to the "Exclude Posts/Pages" field.
- Add the unwanted URL (https://rankmath.com/kb/sitemap-404-error/#exclude-sitemap-files) to the exclusion list.
- Save the changes.
If the issue persists or you need further assistance, please feel free to reply here, and a human agent from the Rank Math Support team will assist you further.
We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work to resolve this issue for you.
Sources:
Why the Sitemap_Index.xml is Throwing a 404 Error » Rank Math
How to Fix "Incorrect HTTP Header Content-Type" Error in Sitemaps » Rank Math
Hello,
Thank you for contacting us and sorry for any inconvenience that might have been caused due to that.
Can you please share some affected URLs that are not appearing on your sitemap so that we can check the issue further for you?
Meanwhile, please try to follow the steps below and see if that works for you:
1. Flush the Sitemap cache by following this video screencast:
https://i.rankmath.com/pipRDp
2. Exclude the Sitemap files of the Rank Math plugin in your caching plugin. The cache could be via a plugin or from the server. For plugins or Cloudflare, please follow this article:
https://rankmath.com/kb/exclude-sitemaps-from-caching/
For more details on this issue, you can check this URL: https://rankmath.com/kb/url-not-in-sitemap/
Let us know how it goes. Looking forward to helping you.
Thank you.
Hello,
Just chasing this up, Is anyone able to look into this on the actual website? I would like to get this sorted asap.
Is there a way I can add them in manually?
Thanks,
Catherine
Hello,
Sorry for the unexpected delay and any inconvenience caused due to that.
We have forwarded this to the developers. Please include FTP access to your site in the sensitive data section so they can investigate this further.
Looking forward to helping you.
Hello,
I have updated the sensitive data as requested. Can you please check further?
Thank you.
I have provided access to the website in the sensitive data section. Files are managed by Wp File Manager.
The site is hosted by Gridpane and DNS is cached on Cloudflare.
Let me know if you require any other access.
Thanks,
Catherine
Hello,
The WP file manger is not a good option for debugging, as it does not catch or highlight syntax errors; when such errors occurs the site becomes inaccessible.
FTP is the preferred option, as we can still edit the files even when the client facing part throws a fatal error. Please include these so we may troubleshoot further.
We look forward to having this issue resolved.
Thank you.
Hi Nicholas,
Thanks for getting back to me.
I have turned on Secure WP Debug within Gridpane. Is this sufficient?
Thanks,
Catherine
Hello,
It might be not be sufficient enough because to debug this sitemap issue, we will need to go through the execution cycle|steps of the code responsible (inside the RankMath plugin).
Thank you.
In that case, what do you need access to exactly? Gridpane?
Nope, the FTP access details to your WordPress site; you may reach out to your hosting co. on how to exactly locate these details under your WebHosts dashboard.
Hello,
I have updated the sensitive data as requested. Can you please check further?
Thank you.
Hello, I think I have accessed what you need.
Let me know if you need anything else.
Thanks,
Catherine
Hello,
Apologies for the delay. If the FTP you shared is an SFTP, please share the host and port as well.
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.
