How to Add an HTML Sitemap Page in WordPress
Are you looking to build a HTML sitemap in WordPress? Unlike XML sitemaps that you submit to search engines for better crawling, HTML sitemaps show an organized list of your pages for your users. In this article, we will show you how to add an HTML sitemap page in WordPress.
What’s The Difference Between XML and HTML Sitemaps
An XML sitemap is written or generated in XML markup language preferred by search engines. You can submit your site’s XML sitemap to webmaster tools to improve and control your site’s crawling rate by search engines.
An HTML sitemap on the other hand is supposed to be geared towards your actual website visitors. It is written or generated in plain HTML, and it usually lists all the pages/posts that are available on your WordPress site.
Now that you know the difference, lets add a HTML sitemap page in WordPress.
Video Tutorial
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Adding an HTML Sitemap With All Posts and Pages
First thing you need to do is install and activate the Hierarchical HTML Sitemap plugin. The plugin works out of the box and there is no settings page for it.
Simply create a new page where you want to display your sitemap. Next, add this simple shortcode inside the content area.
[htmlmap showpages]
This is how the plugin will show your sitemap. At top, it will show your categories with the number of posts in each category following by a list of your posts and then finally your pages.
Even though the plugin does not have a settings page, the shortcode itself comes with a number of parameters. This allows you to setup your HTML sitemap in anyway you want. See the plugin’s download page for a full list of parameters, and how to use them.
Creating an HTML Sitemap in WordPress Showing Only Pages
Many site owners use WordPress as a CMS with their main content served as pages (See our guide on the difference between posts and pages).
In this case, you would want to your HTML Sitemap to show pages in the proper hierarchical order. Here is how you can add HTML Sitemap with only pages.
First thing you need to do is install and activate the WP Sitemap Page. Upon activation, simply add this shortcode to the page where you want to display your HTML sitemap.
[wp_sitemap_page only=”page” display_title=”false”]
This is how it will display your HTML sitemap with all your WordPress pages listed in a hierarchical list.
WP Sitemap Page comes with a lot of options and you can configure them by visiting Settings » WP Sitemap Page in your WordPress admin area.
We hope this article helped you learn how to add an HTML sitemap page in WordPress. You may also want to see our list of 9 best WordPress SEO plugins and tools that you should use.
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