Someone asked me the other day how to install Google XML Sitemaps on a WordPress Blog, and I must admit I had to go and check it out. Actually, it is really easy, so the instructions are listed below. Follow these steps if you use WordPress and are considering installing Google XML Sitemaps:
- First Download the Google XML Sitemaps plugin from wordpress.org
- Unzip the plugin, then upload the full directory into your wp-content/plugins directory
- Use your favorite FTP program to create two files in your WordPress directory (that’s where the wp-config.php is) named sitemap.xml and sitemap.xml.gz and make them writable via CHMOD 666.
- Activate the plugin on the plugin administration page
- Open the plugin configuration page, which is located under Options, XML-Sitemap and build the sitemap the first time. If you get a permission error, check the file permissions of the newly created files.
That’s it! The plugin will automatically update your sitemap each time you publish a post, so theres nothing more to do.
You should note that Google XML Sitemaps plugin requires WordPress Version: 2.1 or higher.
Making your whole blog directory writable is NOT recommended for security reasons, so make sure you just set the rights on the two files sitemap.xml and sitemap.xml.gz to CHMOD 666. You can find more information about CHMOD and how to make files writable at the WordPress Codex.
Happy Blogging!