• Resolved WimWidgets

    (@wimwidgets)


    Setup

    • WordPress 4.1.2 (clean install)
    • WordPress SEO 2.1.1
    • Polylang 1.7.3
    • no other plugins installed

    Settings

    1. your permalinks settings
      Custom Structure: /%category%/%postname%/
    2. if you are using a static front page
      no
    3. your Polylang settings
    • Default language: English
    • URL modifications:
    • The language is set from the directory name in pretty permalinks
      http://localhost/wptest/en/my-post/
    • Hide URL language information for default language: off
    • Remove /language/ in pretty permalinks
      http://localhost/wptest/en/
    • Detect browser language: on (When the front page is visited, set the language according to the browser preference)
    • Media: off (Activate languages and translations for media)
    • Synchronization: none selected

    Situation 1
    Create a new page with language A. Edit the following on the WordPress SEO by Yoast Advanced tab:

    • Meta Robots Index: noindex
    • Meta Robots Follow: Nofollow
    • Include in Sitemap: Never include

    Publish the page. Now create via the Languages metabox a translation in language B. Both robot settings have been copied from A to B, but the sitemap setting is set to the default Auto detect (shouldn’t this be automatically copied aswell?). Edit the sitemap setting and publish page B. Now both pages for languages A and B have the same SEO robot/sitemap settings.

    Situation 2
    Create a new page with language A. Do not set the SEO settings and publish the page. Then create a translation in language B. Now set the above robot/sitemap settings for and publish page B. Go back to page A, create the same settings and update. When you now go back to page B, only the sitemap setting remains but both robot settings are back to their defaults. If you now would edit the robot settings on page B and go back to page A, those settings would be wiped. You can go back and forth forever but never will both the robot settings be the same.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)
  • Plugin Author Chouby

    (@chouby)

    Hi!

    I suggest that you report this to the WordPress SEO team, as all of this is decided by WordPress SEO in its wpml-config.xml file.

    1. The meta ‘_yoast_wpseo_sitemap-include’ is protected. In this case, Polylang does not copy it from one post to its translation. It is possible to copy it by adding it to the wpml-config.xml (with the attribute “translate” or “copy”).

    2. “_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex” and “_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow” have the attribute “copy”, meaning that they are synchronized accross translations. Using “translate” would allow prepopulating of the walues without synchronizing them.

    Of course Polylang allows you to fix that without hacking WordPress SEO 🙂

    You can create your own wpml-config.xml file with your own preferences and put it in wp-content/polylang (you have to create the directory).

    Thread Starter WimWidgets

    (@wimwidgets)

    So if I understand correctly, when the property is set to “copy” (which noindex and nofollow are) the settings should be synchronized between translations. This would mean that changing the robots in one of the translations should change it at the other(s). Then it’s pretty weird this doesn’t happen in situation 2.

    But thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

    Thread Starter WimWidgets

    (@wimwidgets)

    Okay, settings both robot settings to “translate” worked. Now for both translated pages the settings are saved in the meta table, instead of wiping one page’s setting when updating another.
    Still don’t understand what “copy” should mean in this particular situation though.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

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