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WPBeginner» Blog» Plugins» How to Add an HTML Sitemap Page in WordPress

How to Add an HTML Sitemap Page in WordPress

Last updated on August 20th, 2015 by Editorial Staff
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How to Add an HTML Sitemap Page in WordPress

Are you looking to build a HTML sitemap in WordPress? Unlike XML sitemaps that you submit to search engines for better crawling, HTML sitemaps show an organized list of your pages for your users. In this article, we will show you how to add an HTML sitemap page in WordPress.

What’s The Difference Between XML and HTML Sitemaps

An XML sitemap is written or generated in XML markup language preferred by search engines. You can submit your site’s XML sitemap to webmaster tools to improve and control your site’s crawling rate by search engines.

An HTML sitemap on the other hand is supposed to be geared towards your actual website visitors. It is written or generated in plain HTML, and it usually lists all the pages/posts that are available on your WordPress site.

Now that you know the difference, lets add a HTML sitemap page in WordPress.

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If you don’t like the video or need more instructions, then continue reading.

Adding an HTML Sitemap With All Posts and Pages

First thing you need to do is install and activate the Hierarchical HTML Sitemap plugin. The plugin works out of the box and there is no settings page for it.

Simply create a new page where you want to display your sitemap. Next, add this simple shortcode inside the content area.

[htmlmap showpages]

This is how the plugin will show your sitemap. At top, it will show your categories with the number of posts in each category following by a list of your posts and then finally your pages.

HTML Sitemap in WordPress with categories and posts

Even though the plugin does not have a settings page, the shortcode itself comes with a number of parameters. This allows you to setup your HTML sitemap in anyway you want. See the plugin’s download page for a full list of parameters, and how to use them.

Creating an HTML Sitemap in WordPress Showing Only Pages

Many site owners use WordPress as a CMS with their main content served as pages (See our guide on the difference between posts and pages).

In this case, you would want to your HTML Sitemap to show pages in the proper hierarchical order. Here is how you can add HTML Sitemap with only pages.

First thing you need to do is install and activate the WP Sitemap Page. Upon activation, simply add this shortcode to the page where you want to display your HTML sitemap.

[wp_sitemap_page only=”page” display_title=”false”]

This is how it will display your HTML sitemap with all your WordPress pages listed in a hierarchical list.

HTML sitemap showing only WordPress pages

WP Sitemap Page comes with a lot of options and you can configure them by visiting Settings » WP Sitemap Page in your WordPress admin area.

We hope this article helped you learn how to add an HTML sitemap page in WordPress. You may also want to see our list of 9 best WordPress SEO plugins and tools that you should use.

If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.

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16 Comments

Leave a Reply
  1. Carol says:
    Sep 25, 2018 at 9:41 pm

    Cannot get POSTS to show like pages do, so it’s useless for me. On my site, pages are static stuff, About, etc. But posts are the new items that people want to see right away. I do research on various topics and that is the heart and soul of my blog. I want them to see the new stuff in order on that subject, in a list. I really don’t care about Pages, Privacy, Cookies, About, stuff you look at once, maybe, if ever

    I have experimented with the code, get only the CODE on the finished page.

    What can I do?

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Sep 26, 2018 at 9:21 pm

      Hi Carol,

      Please see our article on how to add topics in WordPress navigation menus.

      Reply
  2. Shawn says:
    Aug 30, 2018 at 8:38 am

    I’d like to generate a sitemap page with all my woocommerce shop categories and products. Can this plugin do that?

    Reply
  3. Raghvendra singh Jadon says:
    Dec 16, 2017 at 5:51 am

    can’t we make a sitemap page like privacy policy or contact us

    Reply
  4. deepa says:
    Aug 11, 2017 at 12:40 am

    is it possible if we can create our own sitemap

    Reply
  5. shirish says:
    Dec 27, 2016 at 10:48 am

    really very nice and useful article.

    Reply
  6. ibu solihatun says:
    Aug 16, 2016 at 10:51 am

    The article is very interesting. Helped me understand many things and will be happy soon to write like again.

    Reply
  7. Memory says:
    May 21, 2016 at 7:37 pm

    Thank you so very much, this site map is amazingly fine-tuned, absolutely perfect, and saved me a great deal of time.

    Reply
  8. srekanth says:
    Dec 19, 2015 at 3:11 am

    how can i create the xml sitemap like html site is there any possibilites

    Reply
  9. adilop says:
    Aug 12, 2015 at 5:15 pm

    Sir, sitemap of yoast plugin isn’t enough?

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Aug 13, 2015 at 3:55 pm

      Please read the section about the difference between XML and HTML sitemaps.

      Reply
      • adilop says:
        Aug 13, 2015 at 11:45 pm

        Thanks for your suggestion sir.

        Reply
  10. Blane Beckwith says:
    Aug 11, 2015 at 8:35 pm

    I added an HTML site map to my webpage, and it made a very nice looking, and functional archive page.

    Reply
  11. Connor Rickett says:
    Aug 11, 2015 at 6:31 pm

    Never a bad idea to have a sitemap for your visitors. Just as a side note, when/if you submit your sitemap to Google, make sure it’s the XML one!

    Reply
  12. Natascha says:
    Aug 11, 2015 at 11:22 am

    What I do miss though is, why would someone need a HTML sitemap or when is it recommended? Maybe a short pro and cons list would help. Thanks

    Reply
    • WPBeginner Support says:
      Aug 11, 2015 at 4:24 pm

      It is more useful for sites with static and non-chronological content, i.e. pages. A sitemap page can help users see all the pages in their hierarchical order.

      Reply

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