Title: Sitemapster Author: Matt Biscay Published: July 22, 2026 Last modified: July 23, 2026 --- Search plugins ![](https://ps.w.org/sitemapster/assets/icon.svg?rev=3618680) # Sitemapster By [Matt Biscay](https://profiles.wordpress.org/skyminds/) [Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/sitemapster.zip) * [Details](https://wordpress.org/plugins/sitemapster/#description) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/plugins/sitemapster/#reviews) * [Installation](https://wordpress.org/plugins/sitemapster/#installation) * [Development](https://wordpress.org/plugins/sitemapster/#developers) [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/sitemapster/) ## Description Sitemapster is a focused XML sitemap plugin for WordPress. It helps search engines discover your public content and images without requiring a full SEO suite. Generate a sitemap index, a content sitemap, and a dedicated image sitemap. Enable each one independently, inspect the XML in a readable browser view, and let Sitemapster handle pagination and cache invalidation automatically. Sitemaps are generated dynamically and cached. No XML file is written to disk, making Sitemapster suitable for standard WordPress hosting, managed platforms, and read- only environments such as WordPress VIP. #### Why choose Sitemapster? * **Focused:** publish XML sitemaps without adding an entire SEO suite. * **Flexible:** enable the index, content sitemap, and image sitemap independently. * **Fast:** serve cached XML through an external object cache when available or WordPress transients otherwise. * **Scalable:** paginate large sites automatically with up to 1,000 content entries per XML file. * **Host-friendly:** generate everything dynamically without filesystem writes or permission changes. * **Readable:** review sitemap contents in a responsive browser table powered by an included XSL stylesheet. * **Compatible:** respect common noindex settings from Yoast SEO and Rank Math. #### Included sitemaps * Sitemap index: `/sitemap_index.xml` with `/sitemap.xml` as an alias. * Content sitemap: `/sitemap-general.xml`, `/sitemap-general-2.xml`, and subsequent pages. * Image sitemap: `/sitemap-images.xml`, `/sitemap-images-2.xml`, and subsequent pages. #### Free features * Includes published posts, pages, and public custom post types. * Includes featured images and images attached to published content. * Provides separate enable controls for the index, content, and image sitemaps. * Paginates large sitemaps automatically with up to 1,000 content entries per file. * Uses an external object cache when available and WordPress transients otherwise. * Invalidates cached XML when relevant content or settings change. * Presents XML in a readable, responsive browser table. * Adds the sitemap index to WordPress’s virtual `robots.txt` when at least one sitemap is enabled. * Excludes password-protected content and supported noindex content. * Includes developer filters for custom post types, indexability, and image sources. #### Upgrade to Sitemapster Pro Sitemapster Pro adds precise visibility controls, specialized sitemaps, and maintenance tools while keeping the same focused workflow: * Choose the public post types included in generated sitemaps. * Exclude taxonomy terms, individual posts, or multiple posts with bulk actions. * Publish a dedicated sitemap for custom URLs with optional last-modified dates and CSV export. * Generate an opt-in video sitemap for local videos, YouTube, Vimeo, and manually configured video metadata. * Add WooCommerce product galleries and variation images to image sitemaps. * Exclude hidden or out-of-stock WooCommerce products. * Validate generated XML and review sitemap health from the WordPress dashboard. * Pre-warm sitemap caches manually, on a schedule, or with WP-CLI. Premium sitemaps are disabled by default and are published only after an administrator enables them. #### Requirements * WordPress 6.4 or newer. * PHP 8.1 or newer. * The PHP XMLWriter extension. #### Developer filters * `sitemapster_post_types` filters the public post types included in sitemap queries. * `sitemapster_is_post_indexable` allows individual content entries to be excluded. * `sitemapster_post_images` filters the image URLs associated with a content entry. ### Privacy Sitemapster publishes URLs and media URLs belonging to public, indexable WordPress content in XML sitemap responses. Password-protected and supported noindex content is excluded. The bundled Freemius SDK may send basic profile, website, product, theme, and plugin information after the administrator explicitly opts in. Free users can skip or later revoke this opt-in. License, purchase, update, and account operations for Sitemapster Pro communicate with Freemius. The plugin stores settings, a cache-version value, short-lived generation locks, and generated XML transients in the WordPress database or configured object cache. Primary plugin settings and version options are removed when Sitemapster is uninstalled. Cached values expire according to the configured cache lifecycle. ## Installation 1. Install Sitemapster from Plugins > Add New, or upload the `sitemapster` directory to `/wp-content/plugins/`. 2. Activate Sitemapster from the Plugins screen. 3. Open Sitemapster from the top-level WordPress admin menu. 4. Enable the sitemap types you want to publish and save the settings. 5. Open the sitemap index link shown on the settings page to verify the generated XML. If a sitemap URL returns a server-level 404, confirm that your web server passes non-existent `.xml` requests to WordPress. Some custom nginx configurations treat every `.xml` request as a physical static file. ## FAQ ### WordPress already includes a sitemap. Why use Sitemapster? WordPress Core provides a basic sitemap at `/wp-sitemap.xml`. Sitemapster is useful when you want separate content and image sitemaps, independent enable controls, cached XML, a readable browser presentation, and explicit compatibility with read- only hosting. Avoid publishing duplicate sitemap sets. Enable only the sitemap solution you intend search engines to use. ### Does Sitemapster create XML files on the server? No. Sitemapster generates XML on demand and stores cached responses in an external object cache or WordPress transients. This supports read-only hosting environments. ### Will an XML sitemap improve my search rankings? A sitemap helps search engines discover eligible URLs and media, but it does not guarantee indexing or higher rankings. Search engines still evaluate content quality, accessibility, relevance, internal linking, and other signals. ### Can I disable only one sitemap type? Yes. The sitemap index, content sitemap, and image sitemap have separate controls in the Sitemapster admin screen. The index lists only enabled child sitemap types. ### Can I use Sitemapster alongside an SEO plugin? Yes, but avoid publishing duplicate sitemaps. Disable the corresponding Sitemapster sitemap if your SEO plugin already provides it. Sitemapster also respects common noindex metadata from Yoast SEO and Rank Math. ### How do I regenerate a sitemap? Sitemapster automatically invalidates its cache when relevant content is published, updated, deleted, or when settings change. You can also select “Clear sitemap cache” from the Sitemapster admin screen. ### Which images are included? The image sitemap includes each content entry’s featured image and images attached to that entry in the Media Library. Images found only inside post content are not detected automatically. Developers can add other image sources with the `sitemapster_post_images` filter. ### What does Sitemapster Pro add? Pro adds post type and taxonomy controls, per-content exclusions, custom URL and video sitemaps, WooCommerce image support, sitemap diagnostics, cache warming, and WP-CLI maintenance commands. Optional Pro sitemaps remain disabled until you enable them. ### Why does a sitemap URL return 404? First visit Settings > Permalinks and save the page to refresh WordPress rewrite rules. If the response is generated directly by nginx or another web server, ensure non-existent `.xml` paths are routed to WordPress instead of being treated only as static files. ### Does the plugin send data to external services? Sitemap generation remains entirely local. Sitemapster uses the Freemius SDK for optional usage opt-in, licensing, purchases, updates, and account management. Free users can skip data sharing, and the plugin’s sitemap functionality continues to work. Premium license activation necessarily communicates with Freemius. ## Reviews There are no reviews for this plugin. ## Contributors & Developers “Sitemapster” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin. Contributors * [ Matt Biscay ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/skyminds/) [Translate “Sitemapster” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/sitemapster) ### Interested in development? [Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/sitemapster/), check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/sitemapster/), or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/sitemapster/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/sitemapster/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss). ## Changelog #### 1.1.0 * Added Freemius licensing and the Sitemapster Pro product foundation. * Added advanced post type, taxonomy term, and per-content sitemap controls. * Added custom URL sitemaps with CSV import and export. * Added Google video sitemaps with WordPress, YouTube, Vimeo, and manual metadata detection. * Added WooCommerce gallery, variation image, and product visibility support. * Added local sitemap diagnostics, scheduled cache warming, and WP-CLI maintenance commands. * Added an extensible generator registry shared by free and premium sitemap types. #### 1.0.1 * Removed bundled translation files in favor of translations managed through WordPress. org. * Removed obsolete manual translation-loading code. #### 1.0.0 * Initial release. * Added independently configurable content and image sitemaps. * Added sitemap pagination, cache invalidation, and generation locking. * Added password-protected and supported noindex content exclusions. * Added browser-friendly XSL presentation. ## Meta * Version **1.1.0** * Last updated **1 day ago** * Active installations **Fewer than 10** * WordPress version ** 6.4 or higher ** * Tested up to **7.0.2** * PHP version ** 8.1 or higher ** * Tags * [image sitemap](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/image-sitemap/)[robots.txt](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/robots-txt/) [seo](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/seo/)[sitemap](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/sitemap/) [xml sitemap](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/xml-sitemap/) * [Advanced View](https://wordpress.org/plugins/sitemapster/advanced/) ## Ratings No reviews have been submitted yet. [Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/sitemapster/reviews/#new-post) [See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/sitemapster/reviews/) ## Contributors * [ Matt Biscay ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/skyminds/) ## Support Got something to say? Need help? [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/sitemapster/) ## Donate Would you like to support the advancement of this plugin? [ Donate to this plugin ](https://mattbiscay.com)