Manage Sitemaps

Manage Sitemaps discovers website sitemaps and controls which pages Wheremore can use across connected content and website-analysis features.

Overview

A sitemap provides Wheremore with a structured list of pages belonging to a website. Manage Sitemaps connects that source to a project, keeps its page list current and lets teams decide which pages remain active.

Active sitemap pages provide a controlled page source for downstream features, including content organisation and internal-link analysis. Each downstream feature applies its own rules, so an active page is available for use rather than guaranteed to appear in every feature.

Sitemaps, projects and websites are workspace-scoped. A sitemap can only be added to a project in the active workspace, and its domain must match a website attached to that project.

Access and permissions

A signed-in account with access to the destination project can view and manage its sitemaps. This includes discovering, refreshing, enabling, disabling and deleting sitemaps, as well as changing page status.

Only projects available in the active workspace appear in the project selector. Changing workspace reloads the project and sitemap lists.

Quick start

Select the workspace containing the destination project.
Select the project and enter its website domain or a sitemap URL.
Select Discover Sitemaps.
Choose the sitemap files to add and confirm the selection.
Expand a sitemap and review which pages should remain active.

Discover and add sitemaps

Select a project before entering the website domain or URL. Examples include:

example.com
https://example.com
https://example.com/sitemap.xml

The entered domain must be a website attached to the selected project. Wheremore does not add an external or unrelated website through Manage Sitemaps.

Select Discover Sitemaps to search the public website for an available sitemap. When Wheremore finds a sitemap index, it presents the sitemap files contained within it. Select the relevant files and add them to the project.

Discovery accepts safe, publicly accessible HTTP or HTTPS locations. Private network addresses, unsafe destinations and inaccessible sitemap files are rejected.

Adding a sitemap:

Connects it to the selected project and matching website
Imports its available page URLs
Makes those pages available for activation and organisation
Prevents the same sitemap URL being added twice to one project

It does not publish, edit or remove content from the website.

Understand the sitemap list

Each sitemap row shows:

Sitemap URL: The public location of the sitemap file.
Page summary: The total number of imported pages and the active/inactive split.
Project: The project receiving the page source.
Updated: The most recent discovery or successful refresh time.
Status: Whether background handling of the sitemap is enabled.
Refresh: Whether sitemap changes are checked automatically or only on request.
Structure: The preferred method for organising imported pages.
Refresh action: Runs an immediate reconciliation.
Delete action: Removes the sitemap source and its associated page records.

Use Search across all sitemaps to filter by sitemap URL or project information. Use All Projects to focus the list on one accessible project.

Status: Enabled or Disabled

Set Status to Enabled when Wheremore should continue handling the sitemap in the background.

Set it to Disabled to pause background refresh and new organisation work without deleting the sitemap. The imported page list and its existing settings remain stored.

Disabling a sitemap is useful during a website migration, when a sitemap is temporarily unreliable or when a source needs reviewing before it is used again.

Refresh: Automatic or Manual

Refresh controls how Wheremore checks the sitemap for page changes.

Automatic

Wheremore checks the sitemap periodically. New URLs are imported, existing URLs are updated and URLs no longer present in the sitemap are removed from that sitemap’s page list.

Use Automatic for live sitemaps that should stay synchronised without routine manual work.

Manual

Wheremore refreshes the sitemap only when the refresh action is selected.

Use Manual for controlled migrations, infrequently changing sources or situations where page-list changes need reviewing at a chosen time.

Automatic and Manual do not decide whether an individual page is active. Page status remains the control for downstream availability in both refresh modes.

Refresh a sitemap now

Select the circular refresh action to reconcile the sitemap immediately.

During a refresh, Wheremore:

Retrieves the latest sitemap content
Adds newly listed pages
Updates available last-modified information
Preserves the active/inactive status of existing pages
Applies saved category rules to new pages
Removes page records no longer listed in that sitemap

Keep the page open until the refresh response appears. Large sitemap files take longer to reconcile.

Structure: AI Cluster or Sitemap

Structure controls how Wheremore organises active pages for connected content features.

AI Cluster

AI Cluster groups pages by their inferred subject and relationship. Use it when the website’s URL structure does not reliably describe its content or when topic-led organisation is preferred.

Sitemap

Sitemap follows the hierarchy indicated by URL paths. Use it when folders and page paths already represent the intended website structure.

Changing the structure preference does not change the website or rewrite its URLs.

Review and filter pages

Select the arrow beside a sitemap to expand its page list.

The expanded view includes:

Search pages: Finds a URL within the selected sitemap.
All Categories: Filters pages by a detected URL-path category.
All Pages: Shows all, active or inactive pages.
Per-page selector: Changes the number of rows displayed.
Last Modified: Shows the date supplied by the sitemap when available.
Status switch: Activates or deactivates an individual page.

Pagination moves through the imported page list without refreshing the sitemap.

Manage categories and page groups

Wheremore derives sitemap categories from URL folders. For example, pages under /guides/ can be managed as one group when that path contains child pages.

Use a category switch to activate or deactivate the matching path and its descendants. The setting is saved as a rule and is reapplied when later refreshes discover new pages under the same path.

A partially active category contains a mixture of active and inactive pages. Expand or filter the page list when individual exceptions need checking.

Activate or deactivate a page

Use the page’s status switch to control whether it remains available to downstream Wheremore features.

Active: The page is eligible to be used by connected features.
Inactive: The page remains visible in Manage Sitemaps but is excluded from new downstream processing that honours sitemap page status.

Deactivating a page does not remove it from the website or its sitemap. An automatic refresh also preserves the status of an existing page.

Delete a sitemap

Select the bin action and confirm the deletion.

Deleting a sitemap removes:

The sitemap connection
Its imported page records
Saved path rules for that sitemap
Outstanding organisation work associated with it

Deletion does not remove the sitemap file or any pages from the website. Because the imported records support other Wheremore features, confirm that the source is no longer required before deleting it.

Use Disabled instead when a reversible pause is more appropriate.

How Manage Sitemaps supports other features

Manage Sitemaps establishes the project, website and page identity used by connected features. It also provides the active/inactive decisions that allow unsuitable pages—such as policy, account or utility pages—to be excluded.

Examples of downstream use include:

Building and maintaining a content inventory
Organising pages into content topics or website sections
Supplying eligible pages for internal-link analysis
Identifying newly added or recently updated content

The exact behaviour is defined by the downstream feature. Manage Sitemaps supplies the trusted page source; it does not itself generate content, add links or change the website.

What should I do next?

If a website has no sitemap source, select its project and run discovery.
If the page list should stay current, choose Automatic refresh.
If changes need controlled review, choose Manual refresh.
If unwanted utility pages appear, deactivate them individually or by category.
If folder names accurately represent the site, choose Sitemap structure.
If topic-led organisation is more useful, choose AI Cluster.
If a source is temporarily unsuitable, disable it rather than deleting it.

Troubleshooting

No projects appear

Confirm that the correct workspace is active and that the account can access at least one project in it. Projects from other workspaces are not shown.

The entered domain does not match the project

The sitemap host must match a website attached to the selected project. Select the correct project or attach the website to that project before running discovery again.

No sitemaps are found

Confirm that the domain or URL is correct.
Open the sitemap URL in a browser to confirm that it is public.
Enter the direct sitemap URL when the website does not advertise it normally.
Confirm that the sitemap uses HTTP or HTTPS.
Contact Wheremore Support if a valid public sitemap is still rejected.

A sitemap is already present

The same sitemap URL cannot be added twice to one project. Find the existing row and refresh or re-enable it.

Refresh fails

Confirm that the sitemap remains publicly accessible and returns valid sitemap content. If it was recently moved, discover and add the replacement before deleting the old source.

Refresh is taking a long time

Large sitemap files and sitemap indexes take longer to retrieve and reconcile. Keep the page open and avoid repeatedly selecting Refresh.

A newly published page is missing

Confirm that the page appears in the public sitemap. Then run a manual refresh or wait for the next automatic refresh. Check category rules and page-status filters after it is imported.

A page keeps the wrong status after refresh

Existing page status is deliberately preserved. Change its switch in Manage Sitemaps. If a saved category rule controls the path, update that category rule as well.

A page disappeared after refresh

Wheremore removes a page record when it is no longer present in that sitemap. Confirm whether the website moved the page into another sitemap or removed it from the sitemap entirely.

Connected features do not show a page

Confirm that:

The sitemap is enabled.
The page is present and active.
The sitemap belongs to the correct project and website.
The connected feature has completed its own processing.

An active sitemap page is eligible for connected features, but each feature applies its own requirements.

Frequently asked questions

Does Manage Sitemaps change my website?

No. It reads public sitemap information and manages Wheremore’s imported page records.

Can I add a competitor’s sitemap?

No. Manage Sitemaps requires the domain to match a website attached to the selected project.

What is the difference between Disabled and Manual?

Disabled pauses background handling of the sitemap. Manual keeps the sitemap enabled but refreshes it only when the refresh action is selected.

Does Automatic make every page active?

No. It keeps the page list current. Existing page status is preserved, and saved category rules are applied to newly discovered pages.

Does Inactive remove a page from the sitemap?

No. It changes the page’s availability inside Wheremore only.

What happens when a URL is removed from the sitemap?

The next successful refresh removes that URL from the sitemap’s imported page list.

What is the difference between AI Cluster and Sitemap structure?

AI Cluster organises pages by inferred subject. Sitemap structure follows URL-path hierarchy.

Can a project contain sitemaps for different websites?

Yes, when those websites are attached to the project. Every sitemap remains explicitly linked to its matching website.

Does deleting a sitemap delete website pages?

No. It deletes only Wheremore’s sitemap connection and associated imported records.

Does Manage Sitemaps add links or create content?

No. It supplies a controlled page source to features that perform those tasks.

Getting help

Contact Wheremore Support if the same discovery, refresh or access error continues. Include the active workspace, project, website, sitemap URL and time of the request without sharing passwords or private access details.