Sitemap having line errors but formatting is correct

  • Resolved adroofing08

    (@adroofing08)


    5 months, 3 weeks ago

    We recently started having issues with our sitemap generated by Yoast, see here: https://www.roofingdirect.com/sitemap_index.xml

    Google Search Console reads it as a general http error. Nothing has been changed in Yoast settings. Robots.txt did get updated but nothing of note that would cause this error.

    The current error reads as the following:

    This page contains the following errors:

    error on line 1 at column 7: XML declaration allowed only at the start of the document Below is a rendering of the page up to the first error.

    The page source of the sitemap looks to follow the format on Yoast documentation. This is causing errors with our ads and merchant center products. I did try to disable the sitemap, clear all levels of cache and re-enable it and that did not fix the error.

    Thank you!

    The page I need help with: [log in to see the link]

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
  • Thread Starter adroofing08

    (@adroofing08)

    I did some additional testing. The XML file does have a whitespace before it. After looking through Yoast’s documentation on it possibly being a conflict I ran a full conflict test.

    I started deactivating smaller plugins first and the sitemap began to work. I quickly reactivated the plugins one by one and it stopped working. I narrowed it down to 3, disabled them all and the sitemap was still broken. After more testing with the initial group I came to the conclusion that none of them were causing it. They are currently all disabled on our stage site and the problem persists. The only plugins I left enabled for the test were Elementor, WooCommerce & Gravity Forms. I know GF had a previous conflict causing this issue and I was able to rule out that plugin.

    I then isolated Elementor & WooCommerce and the problem persisted. This led me to the theme which I swapped to the WordPress default. After all that the issue still persists. Not sure why the sitemap started working halfway through the conflict test. I had been clearing the cache after each disabled plugin to ensure I wasn’t getting outdated results.

    At least for us there seems to be no conflict with other plugins/themes. This issue began around May 15th, the same day we updated to Yoast 22.7. Reverting to 22.6 also did not work however. With all of this in mind I’m not sure what the issue could be. Any help with this additional info would be appreciated! ??

    Plugin Support Maybellyne

    (@maybellyne)

    Hello @adroofing08

    Thanks for using the Yoast SEO plugin. Please update to v22.8 of the plugin and perform a conflict check again if the issue persists.

    Thread Starter adroofing08

    (@adroofing08)

    Hi Maybellyne,

    We are already on v22.8, the conflict test was done on that version. Google Search Console told us when the sitemap was last scanned with the error which was the 15th – I believe just after the v22.7 update.

    Plugin Support Maybellyne

    (@maybellyne)

    I then isolated Elementor & WooCommerce and the problem persisted. This led me to the theme which I swapped to the WordPress default.

    Using the Health Check & Troubleshooting plugin, did you switch to troubleshooting mode and have only Yoast SEO and a default theme active? Do you mean the sitemap still shows that error with all plugins (including Elementor & WooCommerce) deactivated?

    If yes, the issue is with your specific setup. You may consider buying a Yoast SEO Premium plugin that comes with email support so we can take a closer look.

    Thread Starter adroofing08

    (@adroofing08)

    Hi Maybellyne,

    Yes, I used that plugin as well as just doing a full deactivation conflict test on a stage site. It ended with Yoast and Twenty Twenty Four active only the the sitemap was still having the issue. It showed the same whitespace error with all other plugins deactivated.

Viewing 5 replies - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
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