WordPress Privacy Default Option: Invisible
After my blog post last week about invisible blogs and sites, I started a couple of new sites using WordPress.
That’s when I discovered that the default for WP is
I would like to block search engines, but allow normal visitors
Yikes! That means unless you know to go under “Settings” and then “Privacy” and change it to the following:
I would like my blog to be visible to everyone, including search engines (like Google, Sphere, Technorati) and archivers
…the search engines will skip over your Wordpress blog or site. It really sucks that this is the default.
It’s okay, in fact a good idea, to block search engines like Google while you’re building the site, but make sure you change the privacy option when you’re ready to invite them in!
You can block the parts of your site that you don’t want seen by using the following code in your robots.txt file:
Sitemap: /sitemap.xml
User-agent: *
Disallow: /wp-content/cache/
Disallow: /wp-content/themes/
Disallow: /wp-content/plugins/
Disallow: /wp-admin/
Disallow: /wp-includes/
Disallow: /wp-login.php
I guess being on the default is not good for newbies. But I actually like it this way, as I don’t want my site becoming indexed until I am ready to make it public.
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Sorry its not related to the post but where did you get the share buttons from? They are ace!
If it is a plugin can you let me know.
Thank you!
Isn’t it cute? You get a few options with it…it’s a plugin called Sexy Bookmarks.
hmm, on both of my wordpress installs, the default was to be visible to everyone, including search engines. I guess this was only for older wordpress installs..
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I think the default was visible until one of the recent updates.
This feature is quite known, your piece of code not. Well, job! (It is already implemented in my blog, however…good catch!) By the way, you can also ban google and other search engines by blocking their googlebots or their ip
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Nice,
I just launched my site and could not figure out why after a week I wasn’t being indexed. Thank you!
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wow. i didn’t know that. i guess the assumption i made was that, if anything, i would have to block the google bots from crawling my page. good tip thanks.
Chicago Web Design´s last blog ..Shortening Your Own URL’s
Wow, didn’t know that! I just went and checked mine and found that it was actually visible as a default, but that may have to do with an SEO plugin that I’ve already added. Something to watch out for, thanks!
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It’s also a good tip to actually rename the wp-admin directory. It usually prevent the wordpress-hackers from getting into your system.
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Agaian the Diva Divulges. Its all these little tricks that make the difference and this is just one of them. Anyone can build a site, but few can get a site working to its best. Only those with the accumulated knowledge win. Well Done again Diva
Thanks for the post…thanks for bringing this to my notice.It’s very important to change the privacy option…otherwise it’s of no use.I have to face similar problems(privacy option) at times when i am submitting my business videos on different sites.O wow…you have given the code too..thanks again!!
Yeah well spotted i wasnt aware of this being the default setting
with wordpress all make easy to work, I guess the assumption i made was that, if anything, i would have to block the google bots from crawling my page. good tip thanks for sharing for me
This is kind of strange. Are you sure you did it right? I mean I just installed a fresh WP few days ago (all manually done), as soon as I was landed on it with admin account settings, I vaguely remember that it did ask for my confirmation on whether do I want to keep it invisible or not, and when I check on Privacy, it does show that I want to be visible to everyone.
And what was the WP version? I am using 2.8.4 (this was my first ever time I installed WP).
Sam Dodd
Saint George Short Sales´s last blog ..Hurricane Utah Real Estate
Hi Sam,
The most recent install I performed, 2 or 3 weeks ago, defaulted to no search engines. Maybe (hopefully) with 2.8.4 they changed the default back. I use Fantastico when I install; I’m wondering if a manual installation makes a difference.
In RuNet this robotts.txt options are very popular.
But users can’thurt you if they access some private pages, wordpress has no bugs in this way…
My company develops using mostly wordpress and this is definitely is an issue. Keeping the search engines out during development is a huge plus but thanks for making everyone aware this is happening!
I was quite shocked to discover this now seems to be the default setting – I only found out after Google webmaster tools kept telling me that my site was blocked.
This is a big mistake on Wordpress’ part and I hope they change it on the next release!
I use Fantastic o when I install, I am wondering if a manual installation makes a difference.it did ask for my confirmation on whether do I want to keep it invisible or not.any way nice post
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I think manual does make a difference in this respect. I typically use Hostgator’s Fantastico because it’s so easy, and then check all my settings.
Yeah i noticed this recently too and find it very annoying. I think this will hurt a lot of new webmasters who do not realize this, but i guess they may have to do it for legal reasons I am not sure…
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I can’t imagine why they made this the default. You’re right, it’s going to hurt a lot of newbies!
What in this way can also avoid duplicate content?
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Yes, but you won’t get any search rankings…
This was an interesting topic because, the company i work develops alot on wordpress and there have been numerous instances when we would be in the development process with our site invisible, forget to switch to visible and complete ruine our page rankings. good post!
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I missed one for a couple of weeks once, and was really bummed.
ty for share
Thanks for that info… had to run and check our blog when I saw this although we have been visible in Google so didn’t think it was a prob. I always install from Fantastico as it makes upgrading to newer versions easier aswell (the auto upgrade in Wordpress never seems to work right for me!). As per another comment here I do use a couple of SEO plugins so that might have set the privacy setting automatically since I don’t remember changing it manually.
Will be sure to check new installs to ensure the privacy is set right though.
Joe
I don’t think it changes with upgrades, only new installs with Fantastico.
I usually install Wordpress from the download (not using Fantastico) and in the Wordpress install it asks you if you want your blog to be visible to search engines (always yes). I almost think that this is something that Fantastico needs to fix. I usually don’t use Fantastico because it doesn’t upgrade the blog correctly, it can wipe out your settings/themes/data if you use the Fantastico upgrade– its far more safe to use the Wordpress upgrade within the Wordpress admin area – which has worked for me every time.
Jay
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