thematic_create_robots taxonomy and archive

[GoogleCodeExporter]

What steps will reproduce the problem?
1. Go to a page where taxonomy is used.
2. View Source page.
3. Meta tag for robots is set to noindex,follow.

What is the expected output? What do you see instead?
Expecting index,follow but seeing noindex,follow for the meta tag robots.

What version of the product are you using? On what operating system?
Thematic version 0.9.7.7, debian squeeze.

Please provide any additional information below.

Just wondering if the next version will have this meta tag set to index,follow 
for archive and taxonomy pages. I've already patched my thematic by over-riding 
the thematic_create_robots function.

Original issue reported on code.google.com by bgreenac...@gmail.com on 18 Apr 2011 at 2:34

[GoogleCodeExporter]

This is the default behavior of the parent theme. If you need to change it 
build a child theme that filters 
thematic_create_robots 

Original comment by eugene.m...@gmail.com on 17 Jan 2012 at 8:29

• Changed state: WontFix

[GoogleCodeExporter]

I think that is what the OP did, and he is suggesting to change the behaviour 
of the parent theme.

I actually agree on this. When googling "thematic" (in Sweden), the second 
result is an article called "Warning for thematic" with a rant because of this. 
This article is even ranking higher than the link to download thematic on 
wordpress.org! 

It is written in 2009 by one of Sweden's big authorities on SEO, so I don't 
think the page rank will change in the forseeable future. He is even 
recommending altering the core files, no mentioning of child themes or anything 
like htat. I vote for adding  is_tag() and is_category() to the list of index, 
follow so I can contact him and ask him to update the article so say that the 
information is no longer valid. 

Original comment by invistr...@gmail.com on 17 Jan 2012 at 9:08

[GoogleCodeExporter]

@bgreenacre42

I hope that overriding / patching thematic means that you're using a child 
theme. If not  and you edited thematic directly there is the chance that future 
upgrades to thematic will overwrite your changes. Using a child theme would be 
the right way to go for this. If you need help setting the sep setting the way 
you like them come by the support forums and we'll help you along.

@invistruct

Ok, I've read the article here: http://www.lindqvist.com/varning-for-thematic/

 I'm sorry to see that someone (of authority in SEO) will change themes without first looking at the code within or at least inspecting the html it produces upon activation. That was an amateurish lapse in foresight and planning on his part.

It's sad that he didn't and possibly still doesn't get the concept of child 
themes and that he recommends that people change the core files of a parent 
theme. It's ok for us to have differing opinions on SEO; but blog posts like 
this do more harm than good to the WP community by instructing bad practices 
propelled by the emotion.

Bottom Line:

I believe that Thematic's robots indexing choices were made from the school of 
thought that the multiple archives (date, tag, category, author, etc) all 
present a risk for a duplicate content penalty. That is why they are no-indexed.

Similar school of thought: http://yoast.com/articles/wordpress-seo/#advancedseo

I'm hesitant to change established behaviors for fear of causing problems with 
upgrading users. I think if we make this change to Thematic the next thing is 
we'll see is a report or another impassioned rant about duplicate content 
penalties.

There is room for an enhancement to the theme options with regard to user 
controlled SEO settings but that may be better considered in another ticket.

Original comment by eugene.m...@gmail.com on 18 Jan 2012 at 3:47

[GoogleCodeExporter]

Fair enough.

I just read the article more closely and the weird thing is that he *does* 
mention child themes in the article, so he is aware of them. But still 
recommends people  to alter the file.  And he claims that the fear of duplicate 
content thing is exaggerated, but I don't know what he bases that on. I would 
trust Yoast more on this matter, even though I am swedish myself. :-)

Original comment by invistr...@gmail.com on 18 Jan 2012 at 7:33

[GoogleCodeExporter]

The problem with our looking at this now and with my criticism of the author is 
that 2 years have passed since he published the article. 

Child Theming is widely understood now but at that time it was just getting 
it's legs. The filter did exist for that function even before the post was 
authored but he apparently did not know where and what it was or how to use it.

That said... It's  bothersome to see how a blog post written in frustration 
could continue to defame Thematic and spread bad advice on how to make changes 
to it's code. It's sad, really.

Original comment by eugene.m...@gmail.com on 18 Jan 2012 at 7:59