gatsby-plugin-sitemap default output does not comply with spec and Google

[don-esteban]

Preliminary Checks

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• This issue is not a question, feature request, RFC, or anything other than a bug report directly related to Gatsby. Please post those things in GitHub Discussions: https://github.com/gatsbyjs/gatsby/discussions

Description

gatsby-plugin-sitemap default output option generates sitemaps in the folder /sitemap. The spec says about sitemap location:

The location of a Sitemap file determines the set of URLs that can be included in that Sitemap. A Sitemap file located at http://example.com/catalog/sitemap.xml can include any URLs starting with http://example.com/catalog/ but can not include URLs starting with http://example.com/images/.

Google says:

A sitemap can be posted anywhere on your site, but a sitemap affects only descendants of the parent directory. Therefore, a sitemap posted at the site root can affect all files on the site, which is where we recommend posting your sitemaps.

Reproduction Link

https://github.com/gatsbyjs/gatsby/tree/master/packages/gatsby-plugin-sitemap#options

Steps to Reproduce

Use the plugins default configuration.

1. https://github.com/gatsbyjs/gatsby/tree/master/packages/gatsby-plugin-sitemap#options

Expected Result

The path should be /

Actual Result

The path is /sitemap

Environment

System:
    OS: macOS 12.1
    CPU: (16) x64 Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10700K CPU @ 3.80GHz
    Shell: 5.8 - /bin/zsh
  Binaries:
    Node: 14.18.1 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v14.18.1/bin/node
    npm: 8.3.0 - ~/.nvm/versions/node/v14.18.1/bin/npm
  Languages:
    Python: 2.7.18 - /usr/bin/python
  Browsers:
    Chrome: 98.0.4758.80
    Firefox: 97.0
    Safari: 15.2
  npmPackages:
    gatsby: ^4.5.4 => 4.6.0 
    gatsby-image: ^3.11.0 => 3.11.0 
    gatsby-plugin-fontawesome-css: ^1.2.0 => 1.2.0 
    gatsby-plugin-manifest: ^4.6.0 => 4.6.0 
    gatsby-plugin-mdx: ^3.5.2 => 3.6.0 
    gatsby-plugin-react-helmet: ^5.6.0 => 5.6.0 
    gatsby-plugin-root-import: ^2.0.8 => 2.0.8 
    gatsby-plugin-sass: ^5.5.0 => 5.6.0 
    gatsby-plugin-sharp: ^4.5.2 => 4.6.0 
    gatsby-plugin-sitemap: ^5.6.0 => 5.6.0 
    gatsby-remark-autolink-headers: ^5.5.0 => 5.6.0 
    gatsby-remark-copy-linked-files: ^5.5.0 => 5.6.0 
    gatsby-remark-images: ^6.5.2 => 6.6.0 
    gatsby-remark-normalize-paths: ^1.1.0 => 1.1.0 
    gatsby-remark-responsive-iframe: ^5.5.0 => 5.6.0 
    gatsby-remark-smartypants: ^5.5.0 => 5.6.0 
    gatsby-source-filesystem: ^4.5.2 => 4.6.0 
    gatsby-transformer-sharp: ^4.6.0 => 4.6.0 
    gatsby-transformer-yaml: ^4.6.0 => 4.6.0 
  npmGlobalPackages:
    gatsby-cli: 4.7.0

Config Flags

No response

[marvinjude]

Hi @don-esteban,

Thanks for reporting this issue. We'll probably change the defaults here in an upcoming major release. For now, I believe passing your desired option should work well for you.

[acidicX]

I've just seen this as well, makes absolute sense to change the default. I also had to set the option to / explicitly.

[don-esteban]

I would like to suggest an intermediate solution. Updating the docs with a highlighted advice. We had for some weeks a broken sitemap (not really broken, but useless) until SEO-people noticed us.

[laurenskling]

So, I was struggling getting a new project indexed. But now I really have a feeling this /sitemap/ folder is causing the hurt. I just changed it to root and submitted it. Just stumbled upon this issue by chance; checking out the issues list. If I didn't end up here by chance I would have never known my sitemaps where broken/useless. This is pretty nasty. We should really consider alerting users using /sitemap/ if it is really hurting the indexing.

[github-actions]

Hiya!

This issue has gone quiet. Spooky quiet. 👻

We get a lot of issues, so we currently close issues after 60 days of inactivity. It’s been at least 20 days since the last update here.
If we missed this issue or if you want to keep it open, please reply here.
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[github-actions]

Hey again!

It’s been 60 days since anything happened on this issue, so our friendly neighborhood robot (that’s me!) is going to close it.
Please keep in mind that I’m only a robot, so if I’ve closed this issue in error, I’m HUMAN_EMOTION_SORRY. Please feel free to comment on this issue or create a new one if you need anything else.
As a friendly reminder: the best way to see this issue, or any other, fixed is to open a Pull Request. Check out gatsby.dev/contribute for more information about opening PRs, triaging issues, and contributing!

Thanks again for being part of the Gatsby community! 💪💜

[laurenskling]

I really think this should be reopened. The current defaults make the sitemap useless, with users trusting everything being alright after installing the plugin.