I have the exact same problem. I select the “noindex, nofollow”, save the page, then reload the page. Upon reloading the page, the setting is back to “index,follow”. I’m using WordPress 2.8.4 and Robots Meta 3.2.2. Any suggestions?
I should add that I have also have All in One SEO Pack 1.6.5 installed. Are the two plugins compatible?
I disabled All In One SEO Pack and I still have the problem.
Perhaps this problem is happening because I am using WordPress 2.8.4? Apparently Robots Meta 3.2.2 has only been tested up to WordPress 2.8.2…
Yep, same problem here. Every time I refresh a page after choosing “noindex nofollow” it refreshes with “index follow” — I hope we hear from someone soon.
Has anyone found a similar plugin we could try?
Hi guys, I’m having the same problem. I cannot seem to change the index,follow setting on a “per article” basis. Each time I update a post, the robots meta setting goes back to the default “index,follow”. I’m running WordPress 2.8.1
I think I solved this problem. I have several WP blogs and one of them has been around for a year. I remember downloading meta robots 3.0.11 on one of those blogs a while back / while others got the plugin just recently. I have made successful changes at the time using WP 2.7 and was updating the plugin and WP installations. So, the moral of the story is: if you installed an older plugin, or exactly 3.0.11 in my case, you will be grandfathered in – even if you update to the latest MetaRobots plugin and WP installation.
I tested this theory on a brand-spanking new blog. I couldn’t make any changes – always reverting to index, follow. I uninstalled the new plugin, deleted it from the folder. Then, I copied and pasted the 3.0.11 via FTP and activated it. I made changes to the pages I wanted (Index, NOfollow) and etc. I upgraded the plugin to the latest version 3.2.2 (as of this writing) and it worked on a 2.8.4 WP install. I could even make changes to the new pages I have created.
I hope this makes sense.
I was having the same problem with WordPress 2.8.4. However, I had an older version of Meta Robots on my computer 3.07) and I tried what pepsirules2k mentioned:
- Delete your current Robots Meta installation
- Upload an older Robots Meta plugin — so far 3.0.11 and 3.0.7 work for this
- Upload the older Robots Meta plugin to your WordPress plugins folder and activate it
At this point, you can verify that the older plugin is working, and if it is — upgrade (automatically is how I did it) to the newest version. This worked for me.
I’m not sure where you can get outdated wordpress plugins, though — I searched for a while online and then finally looked through one of my backup folders & found the older plugin.
Also, a while ago I couldn’t get Robots Meta to work, and I discovered that my theme didn’t include wp_head call in the header. So, if the above doesn’t work for you, be sure that this:
<?php wp_head(); ?>
is in your header.php file.
Actually — one more thing. Several themes that I’ve used lately have included the meta robots tag in the header.php file by default, and it always shows meta_robots=index,follow. You’ll want to check the header.php to be sure that the meta robots tag isn’t hard-coded into your theme’s template.
Hi there,
thank you pepsirules2k and rferrall for your hints.
I also tried with Robots Meta 3.0.11 and automatic upgrade and it worked fine for me … though it doesn’t make sense to me really …
If anybody is still looking for the old versions he can find them at:
WordPress > Robots Meta
I have the same problem too. The “index, follow” always becomes the default no matter what other option i choose on a page.
Sigh, hope this gets fixed soon. It’s ridiculous to have to install an older version of RM in order to get this to work.
I couldn’t make any changes – always reverting to index, follow. I uninstalled the new plugin, deleted it from the folder. Then, I copied and pasted the 3.0.11 via FTP and activated it. I made changes to the pages I wanted (Index, NOfollow) and etc. I upgraded the plugin to the latest version 3.2.2 (as of this writing) and it worked on a 2.8.4 WP install. I could even make changes to the new pages I have created.
Yep – this workaround fixed the same issue for me as well. Thanks.
I like this plugin because it is simple and doesn’t have feature bloat – compared to many “SEO” plugins. I hope Joost will continue to develop robots meta and release a glitch-free version.
The problem was the omission of a function call which alters the post table by adding the ‘robotsmeta’ column. This column is needed to hold the values you select on a post/page by post/page basis.
The fix is to find the following line of code in robots-meta.php:
update_option('RobotsMeta', $options);
And replace with the following:
//update_option('RobotsMeta', $options);
robotsmeta_update();
The function robotsmeta_update() does a version check which makes the table alteration, as well as the call to WP function update_option().
The fix I posted previously will only add the new column if you choose to save settings in the plugin.
Instead, add the call to the end of the plugin file and right before the ?>
robotsmeta_update();
Thank You Webstractions!
I was having the same problem as everyone above. I tried the fix of deleting and installing older versions. That didn’t work for me no matter how many different older versions I tried. But your fix worked like a charm!
Thanks so much.
Awesome plug-in, once you get it to working.
