Hello,
I’m sorry to hear about the issue you are facing with your sitemap_index.xml showing multiple non-existent links. This can happen due to various reasons, such as caching, conflicting plugins, or incorrect settings.
To address this issue, you can follow these steps:
-
Check for Plugin Conflicts: Use the Health Check plugin to identify if any other plugins are causing conflicts with Rank Math and the sitemap generation.
-
Exclude Sitemap from Caching: Ensure that the sitemap files generated by Rank Math are excluded from caching in your caching plugin. Caching the sitemap can lead to outdated or incorrect URLs being displayed.
-
Verify Sitemap Settings: Double-check your sitemap settings in Rank Math to ensure they are correctly configured for your website structure.
If the issue persists after following these steps, please let us know, and we will be happy to assist you further.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention.
Sources:
Why the Sitemap_Index.xml is Throwing a 404 Error » Rank Math
Rank Math Sitemap Issues and Their Fixes » Rank Math
Hello,
Thank you for contacting us and sorry for any inconvenience that might have been caused due to that.
We’ve checked your sitemap and it seems like your website got infected by some malware as the sitemap files are not being generated by our plugin but are being hijacked by some malicious code on your website.
We recommend that you do a complete security audit on the website and hire a professional developer if you don’t know exactly how to do that.
Please don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any other questions.
Thank you.
Thank you, currently running a scan and am already picking up some malicious files. This is very odd because I duplicated the site from another which is clean and it now has malware.
Hello,
I understand it can be frustrating seeing these spammy link
The first step is to clean the website and remove any malware. Here is a guide on how to clean up your website: https://www.wordfence.com/docs/how-to-clean-a-hacked-wordpress-site-using-wordfence/
Hope that helps and please do not hesitate to let us know if you need our assistance with anything else.
Thank you.
I have now cleared the malicious files. Any ideas on why the sitemap_index.xml is now showing just a blank page with site title?
Hello,
We’ve checked your sitemap, and it is already showing the page sitemap.
For troubleshooting, please follow these steps to flush your sitemap cache:
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/
3. Disable the transient cache for the sitemap by applying this filter. This will make sure that your XML sitemap always reflects the latest changes on your site:
/**
* Filter if XML sitemap transient cache is enabled.
*
* @param boolean $unsigned Enable cache or not, defaults to true
*/
add_filter( 'rank_math/sitemap/enable_caching', '__return_false');
If you’re not sure how to add this code, you can follow this guide:
https://rankmath.com/kb/wordpress-hooks-actions-filters/
Hope that helps.
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.
