Hello, we apologize for the issue you are facing with your sitemap. The error message you are encountering, "XML declaration allowed only at the start of the document," typically indicates that there are extra spaces or blank lines before the XML declaration in your sitemap file.
To resolve this issue, please follow these steps:
- Check for Blank Spaces: Ensure there are no blank lines or spaces before the
` line in your sitemap file. This can often happen if there is an unintended space in yourwp-config.phpfile or your theme'sfunctions.php` file.
- Plugin Conflicts: If you do not find any blank spaces, check for potential plugin conflicts using the Health Check plugin.
- Clear Cache: Make sure to clear any caching on your website, as cached versions of your sitemap may still contain the error.
For more detailed troubleshooting, you can refer to our article on fixing sitemap issues.
If the problem persists after trying these steps, please reply to this ticket, and a human agent from the Rank Math Support team will assist you further.
Sources:
Rank Math Sitemap Issues and Their Fixes Ā» Rank Math
Hello,
Thank you for contacting us and sorry for any inconvenience that might have been caused due to that.
We checked your sitemap and we can see it is working properly without any issues:
If you’re still facing the error, please clear your website and browser cache and check again.
However, it looks like youāre currently using the Rank Math PRO plugin on your websites, but the account you have used to open this ticket is the Rank Math free version.
Please search and forward a receipt from FastSpring.com so we can locate your account and verify it.
Let us know how it goes. 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.
