WordPress Generates Automatic XML Sitemaps and Offers Customization Options

WordPress now creates an XML sitemap for all site content automatically, listing posts, pages, categories, tags and more to help search‑engine bots crawl the site efficiently. The sitemap is generated at a standard location (e.g., example.com/sitemap.xml) and updates whenever content is added or removed, eliminating the need for manual creation.

For users who need to customize the sitemap, WordPress allows the inclusion of external directories without writing code. By enabling permalinks and adding a folder with a matching page slug, the external directory appears in the sitemap. The process involves creating the directory in the site’s root, adding a page with an identical slug, and ensuring the folder name uses only alphanumeric characters, underscores, or hyphens.