Title: Sitemapster – Fast XML & Image Sitemaps
Author: Matt Biscay
Published: ଜୁଲାଈ 22, 2026
Last modified: ଅଗଷ୍ଟ 29, 2026
---
Search plugins
# Sitemapster – Fast XML & Image Sitemaps
By [Matt Biscay](https://profiles.wordpress.org/skyminds/)
[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/sitemapster.zip)
* [Details](https://ory.wordpress.org/plugins/sitemapster/#description)
* [Reviews](https://ory.wordpress.org/plugins/sitemapster/#reviews)
* [Installation](https://ory.wordpress.org/plugins/sitemapster/#installation)
* [Development](https://ory.wordpress.org/plugins/sitemapster/#developers)
[Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/sitemapster/)
## Description
Give search engines a clean map of your WordPress site—without installing a heavyweight
SEO suite.
Sitemapster creates fast XML sitemaps for your content and images, keeps them current
automatically, and gives you control over exactly which sitemap types are published.
Install it, choose what you want to expose, and let Sitemapster handle discovery,
pagination, and caching in the background.
Everything is generated locally on your site. There are no sitemap files to manage,
no external generation service, and no sprawling SEO dashboard competing for your
attention.
#### Why Sitemapster?
#### 🗺️ Help search engines find the right content
Publish a dedicated sitemap index, a content sitemap, and an image sitemap. Sitemapster
includes public, indexable content while leaving out password-protected pages and
supported noindex content.
#### ⚡ Stay fast as your site grows
Sitemap responses are cached and large sites are split automatically into manageable
XML files of up to 1,000 entries. When content changes, Sitemapster invalidates
the cache so crawlers can receive fresh URLs without rebuilding every sitemap on
every request.
#### 🎛️ Keep control without the clutter
Enable the index, content sitemap, and image sitemap independently. Use only what
your site needs—especially useful when another SEO plugin already handles one part
of your sitemap setup.
#### 👀 See what search engines see
Open any Sitemapster URL in your browser and review it in a clean, responsive table.
You can verify URLs and images without reading a wall of raw XML.
#### 🛡️ Run it on almost any WordPress host
Sitemaps are generated dynamically, with no filesystem writes or permission changes.
Sitemapster works with regular hosting, persistent object caches, managed WordPress
platforms, and read-only environments such as WordPress VIP.
#### What you get for free
The free version gives you a complete, dependable sitemap foundation:
* **Content discovery:** include published posts, pages, and public custom post
types.
* **Image discovery:** include featured images and images attached through the
Media Library.
* **Independent controls:** publish only the sitemap types you need.
* **Automatic discovery:** advertise the sitemap index in WordPress’s virtual `
robots.txt`.
* **Smart exclusions:** skip password-protected content and supported noindex,
redirect, and canonical settings from Yoast SEO, Rank Math, SEOPress, and The
SEO Framework.
* **Fresh, cached XML:** invalidate generated data when relevant content or settings
change.
* **Automatic pagination:** support growing sites without manual splitting.
* **Readable browser view:** inspect every generated sitemap at a glance.
* **Developer hooks:** customize post types, queries, indexability, images, and
generator registration.
Default endpoints:
* Sitemap index: `/sitemapster_index.xml`
* Content sitemap: `/sitemap-general.xml`
* Image sitemap: `/sitemap-images.xml`
#### Go further with Sitemapster Pro
Pro is built for publishers, content teams, agencies, and WooCommerce stores that
need more precision and confidence without moving to a full SEO suite.
#### 🎯 Decide exactly what gets discovered
* Choose the public post types included in generated sitemaps.
* Exclude entire taxonomy terms or individual pieces of content.
* Apply inclusion choices to multiple posts with bulk actions.
#### 🎬 Publish specialized sitemaps
* Add important custom URLs that do not exist as WordPress posts, with optional
last-modified dates and CSV export.
* Help Google discover local, YouTube, Vimeo, and manually configured videos through
a dedicated video sitemap.
* Publish a Google News sitemap for eligible articles from the last 48 hours, with
control over publication name, language, and post types.
#### 🛒 Give WooCommerce products their own sitemap
Keep product URLs separate from regular site content with the dedicated WooCommerce
sitemap. Include product galleries and variation images in image results, and optionally
leave hidden or out-of-stock products out of every generated sitemap.
#### 🩺 Know your sitemaps are healthy
* Validate generated XML from the WordPress dashboard.
* Detect when another plugin or the web server has taken over one of your sitemap
URLs.
* Review cache coverage and pre-warm every enabled sitemap manually, daily, or
with WP-CLI.
Premium sitemaps are disabled by default and are published only after an administrator
enables them.
#### Requirements
* WordPress 6.4 or newer.
* PHP 8.1 or newer.
* The PHP XMLWriter extension.
#### Developer filters
* `sitemapster_post_types` filters the public post types included in sitemap queries.
* `sitemapster_query_args` filters query arguments for an individual sitemap type.
* `sitemapster_is_post_indexable` allows individual content entries to be excluded.
* `sitemapster_post_images` filters the image URLs associated with a content entry.
* `sitemapster_generator_classes` registers custom sitemap generators.
### Privacy
Sitemapster publishes URLs and media URLs belonging to public, indexable WordPress
content in XML sitemap responses. Password-protected and supported noindex content
is excluded.
The bundled Freemius SDK may send basic profile, website, product, theme, and plugin
information after the administrator explicitly opts in. Free users can skip or later
revoke this opt-in. License, purchase, update, and account operations for Sitemapster
Pro communicate with Freemius.
The plugin stores settings, a cache-version value, short-lived generation locks,
and generated XML transients in the WordPress database or configured object cache.
Primary plugin settings and version options are removed when Sitemapster is uninstalled.
Cached values expire according to the configured cache lifecycle.
## Installation
1. Install Sitemapster from Plugins > Add New, or upload the `sitemapster` directory
to `/wp-content/plugins/`.
2. Activate Sitemapster from the Plugins screen.
3. Open Sitemapster from the top-level WordPress admin menu.
4. Enable the sitemap types you want to publish and save the settings.
5. Open the sitemap index link shown on the settings page to verify the generated
XML.
If a sitemap URL returns a server-level 404, confirm that your web server passes
non-existent `.xml` requests to WordPress. Some custom nginx configurations treat
every `.xml` request as a physical static file.
## FAQ
### Is Sitemapster another all-in-one SEO suite?
No. Sitemapster does one job: create dependable XML sitemaps that help search engines
discover your public content and media. It does not add keyword scores, advertising,
analytics, or unrelated menus to your WordPress dashboard.
### WordPress already includes a sitemap. Why use Sitemapster?
WordPress Core provides a basic sitemap at `/wp-sitemap.xml`. Sitemapster gives
you separate content and image sitemaps, independent enable controls, cached output,
a readable browser view, and explicit compatibility with read-only hosting. Pro
adds precise exclusions, specialized sitemaps, diagnostics, cache warming, and WooCommerce
support.
Avoid publishing duplicate sitemap sets. Enable only the sitemap solution you intend
search engines to use.
### Does Sitemapster create XML files on the server?
No. Sitemapster generates XML on demand and stores cached responses in an external
object cache or WordPress transients. This supports read-only hosting environments.
### Will an XML sitemap improve my search rankings?
A sitemap helps search engines discover eligible URLs and media, but it does not
guarantee indexing or higher rankings. Search engines still evaluate content quality,
accessibility, relevance, internal linking, and other signals.
### Can I disable only one sitemap type?
Yes. The sitemap index, content sitemap, and image sitemap have separate controls
in the Sitemapster admin screen. The index lists only enabled child sitemap types.
### Can I use Sitemapster alongside an SEO plugin?
Yes. Sitemapster uses its own `/sitemapster_index.xml` endpoint to avoid conflicts
with sitemap routes owned by SEO plugins. However, avoid publishing duplicate content
sitemaps: disable the corresponding Sitemapster sitemap if your SEO plugin already
provides it. Sitemapster also respects common noindex, redirect, and canonical metadata
from Yoast SEO, Rank Math, SEOPress, and The SEO Framework.
### Does Sitemapster work for large sites?
Yes. Sitemapster paginates generated sitemaps automatically, caches their XML, and
can use a persistent WordPress object cache when one is available. Sitemapster Pro
can also pre-warm every enabled sitemap cache manually, on a daily schedule, or
through WP-CLI.
### What does the WooCommerce sitemap include?
When enabled in Sitemapster Pro, the dedicated WooCommerce sitemap lists published
product URLs and removes those products from the regular sitemap to avoid duplication.
You can exclude products hidden from the catalog or out of stock. Product galleries
and variation images are also added to the image sitemap.
### A sitemap URL shows the wrong content or no content at all. Why?
Sitemap filenames are a shared namespace, so another plugin or the web server may
already answer a URL such as `/sitemap-news.xml`. Sitemapster then generates correct
XML that nobody ever receives, which looks exactly like an empty sitemap. Sitemapster
Pro reports this in the “Delivery” column of Sitemap Health. Sitemapster-served
responses always carry an `X-Generator: Sitemapster` header and a `Generated by
Sitemapster` comment, so you can also check with your browser’s network panel. To
resolve it, disable the duplicate sitemap in one of the two plugins, then save Settings
> Permalinks.
### Why is the sitemap shown as raw XML instead of a readable table?
The readable view relies on an XSL stylesheet served from `/sitemapster.xsl`. If
that URL returns a 404, save Settings > Permalinks to refresh the rewrite rules.
Browsers also apply a stylesheet only when it is delivered from the same domain
as the sitemap, so avoid rewriting Sitemapster URLs to a different host.
### How do I regenerate a sitemap?
Sitemapster automatically invalidates its cache when relevant content is published,
updated, deleted, or when settings change. You can also select “Clear sitemap cache”
from the Sitemapster admin screen.
### Which images are included?
The image sitemap includes each content entry’s featured image and images attached
to that entry in the Media Library. Images found only inside post content are not
detected automatically. Developers can add other image sources with the `sitemapster_post_images`
filter.
### What does Sitemapster Pro add?
Pro gives you tighter control over what search engines discover and better tools
for verifying delivery. It adds post type and taxonomy controls, per-content exclusions,
custom URL, video, news, and WooCommerce sitemaps, richer WooCommerce image support,
sitemap diagnostics, cache warming, and WP-CLI maintenance commands. Optional Pro
sitemaps remain disabled until you enable them.
### Why does a sitemap URL return 404?
First visit Settings > Permalinks and save the page to refresh WordPress rewrite
rules. If the web server handles `.xml` requests as static files, route sitemap
requests to WordPress with the appropriate configuration below.
For nginx, add this location inside the site’s `server` block:
```
location ~* ^/(?:sitemapster_index\.xml|wp-sitemap.*\.xml|sitemap(?:_index|-[a-z0-9_-]+)?\.xml(?:\.gz)?|[a-z0-9_-]+-sitemap(?:[0-9]+)?\.xml(?:\.gz)?)$ {
add_header Cache-Control "no-cache, must-revalidate, max-age=0" always;
add_header X-Content-Type-Options "nosniff" always;
try_files $uri /index.php?$args;
}
```
For Apache, add this rule to the site-root `.htaccess` file before the standard `#
BEGIN WordPress` block:
```
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^(?:sitemapster_index\.xml|wp-sitemap.*\.xml|sitemap(?:_index|-[a-z0-9_-]+)?\.xml(?:\.gz)?|[a-z0-9_-]+-sitemap(?:[0-9]+)?\.xml(?:\.gz)?)$ index.php [L,QSA,NC]
```
LiteSpeed and OpenLiteSpeed support the same `.htaccess` rewrite syntax. Add these
rules before the standard WordPress rules; the first rule also prevents LSCache
from serving stale sitemap XML:
```
RewriteEngine On
RewriteRule ^(?:sitemapster_index\.xml|wp-sitemap.*\.xml|sitemap(?:_index|-[a-z0-9_-]+)?\.xml(?:\.gz)?|[a-z0-9_-]+-sitemap(?:[0-9]+)?\.xml(?:\.gz)?)$ - [E=Cache-Control:no-cache,NC]
RewriteRule ^(?:sitemapster_index\.xml|wp-sitemap.*\.xml|sitemap(?:_index|-[a-z0-9_-]+)?\.xml(?:\.gz)?|[a-z0-9_-]+-sitemap(?:[0-9]+)?\.xml(?:\.gz)?)$ index.php [L,QSA,NC]
```
After changing nginx or LiteSpeed virtual-host configuration, reload the server.
Changes made only in `.htaccess` do not normally require a reload.
### Does the plugin send data to external services?
Sitemap generation remains entirely local. Sitemapster uses the Freemius SDK for
optional usage opt-in, licensing, purchases, updates, and account management. Free
users can skip data sharing, and the plugin’s sitemap functionality continues to
work. Premium license activation necessarily communicates with Freemius.
## Reviews
There are no reviews for this plugin.
## Contributors & Developers
“Sitemapster – Fast XML & Image Sitemaps” is open source software. The following
people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
* [ Matt Biscay ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/skyminds/)
[Translate “Sitemapster – Fast XML & Image Sitemaps” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/sitemapster)
### Interested in development?
[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/sitemapster/), check
out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/sitemapster/), or subscribe
to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/sitemapster/) by
[RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/sitemapster/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).
## Changelog
#### 1.5.0
* Added an opt-in WooCommerce product sitemap for Pro users at `/sitemap-woocommerce.
xml`.
* Products move out of the regular sitemap while the WooCommerce sitemap is enabled,
avoiding duplicate URL entries.
* WooCommerce sitemap pagination now respects catalog visibility and stock exclusions,
with integration across Pro settings, diagnostics, cache warming, and rewrite
management.
* Expanded sitemap exclusions to recognize supported noindex, redirect, and canonical
metadata from Yoast SEO, Rank Math, SEOPress, and The SEO Framework.
* Improved exclusion-query performance by replacing expensive metadata joins with
request-cached, indexed post exclusions.
* Redesigned the admin area as a single tabbed interface with clearer settings
groups, health information, navigation, and related plugin discovery.
* Made health diagnostics more responsive with shorter bounded requests, response-
size limits, local-environment handling, and visible running-state feedback.
* Fixed success notices shifting into the page header after WordPress finished
loading.
* Reworked the plugin readme around user benefits, clearer Free and Pro feature
groups, and common purchase questions.
## Meta
* Version **1.5.0**
* Last updated **10 hours ago**
* Active installations **Fewer than 10**
* WordPress version ** 6.4 or higher **
* Tested up to **7.0.4**
* PHP version ** 8.1 or higher **
* Language
* [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/sitemapster/)
* Tags
* [image sitemap](https://ory.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/image-sitemap/)[robots.txt](https://ory.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/robots-txt/)
[seo](https://ory.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/seo/)[sitemap](https://ory.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/sitemap/)
[xml sitemap](https://ory.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/xml-sitemap/)
* [Advanced View](https://ory.wordpress.org/plugins/sitemapster/advanced/)
## Ratings
No reviews have been submitted yet.
[Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/sitemapster/reviews/#new-post)
[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/sitemapster/reviews/)
## Contributors
* [ Matt Biscay ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/skyminds/)
## Support
Got something to say? Need help?
[View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/sitemapster/)
## Donate
Would you like to support the advancement of this plugin?
[ Donate to this plugin ](https://mattbiscay.com)