vectormapper

Smart Sitemap Lite by VectorMap is a lightweight XML sitemap generator designed for real-world content-heavy sites.
The plugin extracts full image metadata from the WordPress Media Library.
This means search engines receive the actual SEO data you entered: 
– image titles 
– ALT texts 
– captions 
– descriptions
Most sitemap plugins only insert the file name — Smart Sitemap Lite includes real metadata.
It focuses on three things:
<ul>
<li>clean, predictable sitemap URLs;</li>
<li>separation of content types (posts, pages, products, taxonomies, images);</li>
<li>fast generation with minimal overhead, even on large archives.</li>
</ul>
The plugin does not try to be an all-in-one SEO suite. 
It does one job: provides search engines with a clear map of your content.
<h3>Key features</h3>
<ul>
<li>Generates a main sitemap index with links to child sitemaps.</li>
<li>Separate sitemaps for:
<ul>
<li>posts</li>
<li>pages</li>
<li>custom post types (including WooCommerce products)</li>
<li>taxonomies (categories, tags, custom taxonomies – if enabled)</li>
<li>images attached to posts and products</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Includes rich image metadata:
<ul>
<li> is taken from the WordPress media title</li>
<li> from the attachment caption</li>
<li> from the ALT text (if present)</li>
<li> from the media description</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Works out of the box with most themes and page builders.</li>
<li>Minimal, clear settings page.</li>
<li>No frontend output, no shortcodes needed.</li>
<li>Respects WordPress visibility rules (drafts, private posts, noindexed content etc. are not included).</li>
<li>Compatible with major SEO plugins (Yoast, Rank Math, All in One SEO). 
You can use Smart Sitemap Lite as the primary sitemap or as an additional technical sitemap.</li>
</ul>
<h3>How it works</h3>
After activation, the plugin registers a standard sitemap index URL:
https://example.com/sitemap_index.xml
This index contains links to all child sitemaps (posts, pages, products, taxonomies, images).
Search engines discover this index either from:
<ul>
<li>a direct ping, or</li>
<li>submission in Google Search Console / Bing Webmaster Tools, or</li>
<li>a link from <code>robots.txt</code> (you can add it manually).</li>
</ul>
The plugin uses standard WordPress APIs to fetch content and generate XML, so it respects your existing visibility logic and caching.
<h3>Who is it for?</h3>
<ul>
<li>Site owners who need a clear technical sitemap without a full SEO suite.</li>
<li>Stores and catalogues with many products or images.</li>
<li>Developers and agencies who want a predictable, debuggable sitemap structure.</li>
</ul>
The plugin is built and tested on real-world sites with thousands of attachments and products.

VectorMap Smart Sitemap Lite

Lightweight XML sitemap generator for posts, pages, WooCommerce products, taxonomies and images. Simple settings, fast output, SEO-friendly structure.

Kybernetik Services

WP Cool Tools

Martin Stehle

Since WordPress 5.5, an XML sitemaps functionality is provided in the WordPress core. These sitemaps let search engine crawlers find all URLs quickly and comprehensively.
But there is not any configuration interface. This plugin provides an option page for all XML sitemaps generated by the WordPress core.
WP Sitemaps Config let you easily
<ul>
<li>disable the XML sitemaps completely with a single click</li>
<li>remove the sitemaps for all public posts, pages, categories, tags, post formats and users </li>
<li>remove the sitemaps for all public custom post types and custom taxonomies</li>
<li>add the entries Priority, Change Frequency and Last Modification Date to each URL</li>
<li>exclude single posts and pages from the XML sitemaps</li>
<li>set the priority and change frequency for each post and page manually</li>
</ul>
This plugin is ready for multi sites. It requires WordPress 5.5 or higher. To use the XML sitemaps the PHP extension SimpleXML must run on your server.
<h4>Demo</h4>
You want to test WP Sitemaps Config before installing on your site? Try it out on your free WordPress playground and <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-sitemaps-config/?preview=1" rel="ugc">click here</a>.
Read also more on <a href="https://ays-pro.com/blog/best-sitemap-plugins-for-wordpress-in-2023" rel="nofollow ugc">Best Sitemap Plugins for WordPress in 2023</a>

WP Sitemaps Config


As many already have written here: This is the badly missing user interface for the sitemap feature in Core.



Sometimes a custom post type or taxonomy is badly registered and has a sitemap, although there is no public facing page available or WP core is generating an author sitemap by default ...



With this plugin, you can disable those unwanted sitemaps with one simple checkbox.



Additionally, you can enable the last modification date/time which is highly recommended (because crawler now can better plan their work). There is a ticket milestoned for WordPress 6.3 which is discussing this to be part of the core sitemap.



And it seems there is a feature planned for custom additions to "priority" and "change frequency". 



This would be worth a sixth star ;)


The missing UI

Configure all XML sitemaps generated by the WordPress core with ease

VectorMap Smart Sitemap Lite vs WP Sitemaps Config