Issue with noindex meta tags being inconsistent with sitemap inclusion/exclusion options

[bzcomputers]

Affected version

2.2.15

There are inconsistency issues in XenForo setting noindex meta tags for pages that have sitemap inclusion/exclusion options.

Example 1 - Tags:
A. Turn tags off: tag page shows no permission notice, but it does not include the noindex meta tag (not expected for a non-content notice page)
B. Turn tags on: tag pages include the noindex meta tag (as expected)
C. Turn tags on and select them to be included in sitemap: tag pages still include the noindex meta tag (not expected)

Example 2 - Members:
A. Select members pages to be included in sitemap: member pages do not include the noindex meta tag (as expected)
B. Select members pages to be excluded from sitemap: member pages still do not include the noindex meta tag (not expected)

 

[Kirby]

A. Turn tags off: tag page shows no permission notice, but it does not include the noindex meta tag (not expected for a non-content notice page)

That no permission page has status code 403; it doesn't really need noindex as 403 pages are not indexed anyway.

C. Turn tags on and select them to be included in sitemap: tag pages still include the noindex meta tag (not expected)

Hmm ... doesn't seem to be the case (at least on xenforo.com):

sitemaps

xenforo.com

B. Select members pages to be excluded from sitemap: member pages still do not include the noindex meta tag (not expected)

Why should a page have noindex just because it is not included in the sitema?
It is perfectly fine for a page to be indexable without being included in the sitemap.
But pages that are not indexable should not be included in sitemaps.

 

[bzcomputers]

C. Turn tags on and select them to be included in sitemap: tag pages still include the noindex meta tag (not expected)

Hmm ... doesn't seem to be the case (at least on xenforo.com):

​

Appears it is just the main tag page: /community/tags/ that still contains the noindex tag

Why should a page have noindex just because it is not included in the sitema?
It is perfectly fine for a page to be indexable without being included in the sitemap.
But pages that are not indexable should not be included in sitemaps.

It is true, it is perfectly fine for a page to be indexable without being included in the sitemap. That being said, any admin that purposefully removes a page/group of pages from the sitemap does not typically want those pages to still be indexed.