Megamenu applies “nofollow” to internal link

Dear Elementskit Development Team,

I am writing to you regarding a persistent issue with the Elementskit-lite plugin, specifically with the elementskit nav-menu‘s handling of the “nofollow” attribute on internal links.

Issue Overview: It has come to my attention that the megamenu widget is applying rel="nofollow" to all links, including those pointing to internal pages. This is not in line with SEO best practices, as internal links should typically pass link equity without a “nofollow” attribute. UI only allows to manage the attributes of custom links, not for Pages. I would expect then Pages being linked to with “dofollow” as a default, but it is not the case.

This is how the code looks, when first link was created as “Page” and second link is set as custom url and checkboxes in settings are unchecked

Temporary Workaround Implemented: For the time being, I have configured all internal links within the megamenu to be custom links, and manually removed the rel="nofollow" attribute. While this serves as a temporary solution, it is not ideal for maintaining internal link integrity, especially in the event of future URL changes.

Previous Communications: Upon researching the support forum, I noticed a past thread (elements-menu needs change to “dofollow” status by @sinowheelabrator) that touches on a similar subject. However, it seems there was a misunderstanding regarding the nature of the issue. The concern was about the “nofollow” status for menu links, not the “noindex” status of template pages.

File in Question: The behavior seems to be dictated by the code within page-list.php. The logic checks whether a page is selected or a custom link is entered but applies “nofollow” in both cases. Here is a screenshot of the relevant code section for your reference.

Requested Action: I kindly request that the logic be updated to prevent the application of “nofollow” to internal page links within the megamenu (elementskit nav-menu) widget. This would ensure that the plugin adheres to SEO guidelines, contributing positively to the site’s search engine ranking potential.

Please let me know if further information is needed to address this issue. We are looking forward to a solution that corrects this behavior in a future update of the plugin.

Thank you for your time and understanding.

Best Regards,
Mila Ronkko