XML Sitemaps
by Denis de Bernardy · SEO
Also makes 3 other plugins · 11.1K+ installs across the portfolio →
Automatically generates XML Sitemaps for your site and notifies search engines when they're updated.
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
D 47/100
Stale · Likely abandoned
Active installs
2K+
≈2.5K estimated
Momentum
+31%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: “google”, “google sitemap” and “sitemaps” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
47 health vs 65 average across 2,216 SEO plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.9%
of downloads still active
At least 2K of 228.4K lifetime downloads are still running, below its category: the median SEO plugin keeps 1.2%, across 1,191 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other SEO plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
High removal-risk signals
63/100Maintenance and integrity signals that tend to precede a WordPress.org removal. Not an official status, a heads-up to act.
- Long abandoned. No update in 8+ years — the top precursor to removal once a vulnerability is found.
- Compatibility drift. Tested only up to WordPress 4.7.39, well behind 6.8.
Details
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Under-optimized
Most to gain: Update recency
Updated 3259 days ago, past the ~180 days where wp.org starts discounting
Tested up to WordPress 4.7.39; the current branch is 6.8
4.5★ over 13 reviews, smoothed to 4.18★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Last updated 3259 days ago — ship an update; wp.org decays a listing's search weight after ~180 days.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
Not enough tracked days yet to call a direction. Momentum needs at least three keywords measured a week or more apart.
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| google your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| google sitemap your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| sitemaps your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| xml sitemap your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
| xml sitemaps your tag | Not in the top 24 | ||
2 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 0 listed. 2 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words). 5 of its tags aren't in the top 24 for their own search.
What to do about it
- “google”, “google sitemap” and “sitemaps” aren't earning a slot. You list them, but you're not in the first 24 results for those searches. WordPress.org counts only your first five tags, so free the slot for a search you can win.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 383 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank vs rivals
wp.org popularity rank over time · higher is better · when a rival's line climbs above yours, they've overtaken you
Rating trend
Star average over time · dips mark rough releases
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
No release in a yearHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
0
releases in the last 12 months
9.5y ago
latest release · v3.0.1 · 5 May 2017
11
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 87% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “2K+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 23 months ago; the previous band took 13 months to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 3 Nov 2017
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ salem808.6y ago
I was only need simple sitemap.xml file and this plugin did it for me thanks for author for making our life less painful .
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Alexis Wilke8.7y ago
I tested several XML sitemap versions and they like all want to generate thousands of XML sitemaps. My site is never going to grow so much that a single .xml file wouldn’t be enough (you have plenty of room, really!) One important thing: I went to settings and removed absolutely everything except the “Include Custom Posts”. There is really no need to have archives in there. Google & Co. will find those pages, but they are not worth indexing anyway. As long as all your posts are indexed, you’ll be just fine as far as SEO is concerned. I tested 4 other plugins, this is my favorite so far.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ O_Breda9.8y ago
I am pleased with the functionality of the plugin. Thanks! I’ve been using this plugin for a few years. No problems whatsoever. This topic was modified 8 years, 2 months ago by O_Breda.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ grantmahy10.6y ago
Great stuff — I was encountering a parsing error likely due to an open php tag somewhere in my theme and until I installed XML sitemaps no other sitemap plugins worked. Nice and simple to use and I like the way it stores a physical sitemap in a WP Folder. thx to the author
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Skylar Bolton10.6y ago
Works well and the code behind it is simple. I would like to contribute to this plugin. Please contact me about how I can get you my update that adds AMP pages.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ SmartestReviews11.2y ago
Thank you very much. I use it on my site SmartestReviews.com and it really helps me to define priorities and crawling frequency. Great plugin. Can also run with yoast seo. the advantage is that you can define your own priorities and frequency. with yoast sitemap generator you can’t.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Rashel11.5y ago
Disappointed ! It says it’s easy, but you download and active the extension, and then.. nothing happen ! You don’t know if the sitemap is generated, and if yes, where to find it … I’m still looking for it ! So I went to the website of the developpers and it’s down, and you can the all the source code. Ok, let’s forget about it. I just lost 15 minutes for nothing !
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ bondt11.8y ago
Just install and it’s ready to go.
Read on wp.org ↗
Latest updates
via wp.org changelogRecent releases and news for this plugin
- — Version 3.0.1 PHP 7.x compat 3.0.1
- — Version 3.0 Custom Posts now included in the sitemap w/ Setting to exclude Individual posts can be excluded now. Previously only pages could be Update urls for Google and Bing sitemap pinging WP 4.7.x compat 3.0
- — Version 2.5 Removed extra blank lines in stylesheet file that was causing issues on a few sites. WP 4.3 compat Tested against PHP 5.6 2.5
- — Version 2.4 Fixed settings being reset upon plugin activation message. WordPress 4.2 compat. 2.4
- — Version 2.3.1 Settings were not being preserved in some cases. Should be resolved now. 2.3.1
- — Version 2.3 New option to include author page in sitemap if they haven’t published a page or post. WordPress 4.1 compat. 2.3
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 7.2.16 · WP 5.3
Languages
via translate.wordpress.orgTranslated into 64 languages, 0 at 90% or more · development strings
Plus 40 more locales with partial translations.
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
3 of 8 pass · checked 26 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Automatically generates XML Sitemaps for your site and notifies search engines when they're updated."
- ! Has a FAQ Only 2 questions in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 2 of 2 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("Installation Instructions").
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ! Names what it works with Names no plugin, service or platform it works with.
- ! Headings and lists 2 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ✓ Enough to quote 1,173 characters of description.
- ✓ Tags match the text 3 of 5 tags appear in the text; "google", "google sitemap" do not.
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2024-11-29 3K+ → 2K+ down after 381 days in tier
- 2023-11-14 4K+ → 3K+ down after 317 days in tier
- 2023-01-01 5K+ → 4K+ down after 285 days in tier
- 2022-03-22 6K+ → 5K+ down after 217 days in tier
- 2021-08-17 7K+ → 6K+ down after 250 days in tier
- 2020-12-10 9K+ → 7K+ down after 334 days in tier
- 2020-01-11 10K+ → 9K+ down after 392 days in tier
- 2018-12-15 20K+ → 10K+ down after 348 days in tier
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
-
Sitemap by BestWebSoft – WordPress XML Site Map Page Generator Plugin 20K+ installs · 4.3★ · 2 shared tags A -
Sitemap by click5 5K+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags C -
WP Sitemaps Config 700+ installs · 4.5★ · 2 shared tags A -
Image & Video XML Sitemap 300+ installs · 3.9★ · 2 shared tags B -
SX Disable WordPress XML sitemaps 100+ installs · 3.6★ · 2 shared tags -
Custom Sitemap Generator 100+ installs · 4.1★ · 2 shared tags B
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for XML Sitemaps into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/xml-sitemaps" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="XML Sitemaps — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> XML Sitemaps: 2K+ active installs, 4.5★ (13 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-10-31. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/xml-sitemaps
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