Hello,
Thank you for reaching out to us regarding the missing sitemap.xml for some pages on your website while using Rank Math.
To address this issue, you can follow these steps:
-
Check Sitemap Functionality: Ensure that the Sitemap functionality is enabled in Rank Math. You can do this by going to your WordPress dashboard, navigating to Rank Math > Dashboard > Sitemap Settings, and confirming that the Sitemap module is active.
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Check Rewrite Rules: If the Sitemap is not working correctly, especially on Apache or Nginx servers, you may need to add rewrite rules manually. Depending on your server type, you can refer to the specific instructions provided in our knowledge base articles:
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Verify Sitemap URL: Ensure that you are submitting the correct XML sitemap URL to search engines like Google. The correct URL format should be: `https://rankmath.com/kb/fix-sitemap-issues/#nginx-server-error.
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Check for Plugin Conflicts: If you are still facing issues, consider checking for plugin conflicts using the Health Check plugin as described here.
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Exclude Sitemaps from Caching: If you have caching plugins like W3 Total Cache, exclude sitemaps from caching to prevent any conflicts. You can follow the steps outlined here.
If after following these steps you still encounter issues with missing pages in your sitemap, please reply to this ticket, and a human agent from our support team will assist you further.
We appreciate your patience and cooperation in resolving this matter.
Kind regards.
Sources:
Rank Math Sitemap Issues and Their Fixes » Rank Math
I did as you said but it didn’t work.
Hello,
Thank you for contacting us and sorry for any inconvenience that this issue might have caused.
Rank Math generates a dynamic sitemap for your site available at https://yourdomain/sitemap_index.xml (Yourdomain should be replaced by your actual site’s domain).
That is your main sitemap which contains sub-sitemaps, which themselves contain all URLs that are set to index and have self-referencing canonical URLs feature.
Do your sitemap, not load at https://yourdomain/sitemap_index.xml?
We look forward to hearing back from you and helping you resolve this issue.
Thanks.
Hello,
In this case, 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/
If the issue persists, then please check this link for the common reasons why a URL is not included in your sitemap:
https://rankmath.com/kb/url-not-in-sitemap/
Looking forward to helping you.
Thank you for your advice.
I’ve done as you told me. But the page I want isn’t on the sitemap.
What else should I do?
Hello,
In this case, we might need to take a closer look at the settings. Please edit the first post on this ticket and include your WordPress & FTP logins in the designated Sensitive Data section.
Please do take a complete backup of your website before sharing the information with us.
It is completely secure and only our support staff has access to that section. If you want, you can use the below plugin to generate a temporary login URL to your website and share that with us instead:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/temporary-login-without-password/
You can use the above plugin in conjunction with the WP Security Audit Log to monitor what changes our staff might make on your website (if any):
https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-security-audit-log/
We really look forward to helping you.
Hello,
I have updated the sensitive data as requested. Can you please check further?
Thank you.
Hello,
You have set the canonical URL for both pages in the “Advanced Tab” of our plugin’s meta box. When you set a canonical manually, our plugin treats the page as duplicate content and excludes it from the sitemap:
I have removed the URL from the canonical field and now the pages are being included in the sitemap.
Please check and let us know if you need our assistance with anything else.
Can I add both Canonical and sitemaps? Will there be any effect if I delete Canonical?
Hello,
Please note that the canonical box’s purpose would be to inform search engines that it is a duplicate page and should not be indexed. Hence, removing them from the sitemap.
Here’s a link for more information:
https://rankmath.com/kb/url-not-in-sitemap/#custom-canonical-url
You should remove the canonical on that box and Rank Math will still add a self-referencing canonical URL on your URLs automatically.
Looking forward to helping you.
Now I’ve deleted it. I don’t have to do anything else, right? Canonical URL will be added automatically.
Hello,
Yes, the canonical should be set automatically, and the URLs are already appearing in the page sitemap.
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.
