There are two types of sitemap: human-friendly sitemaps and machine-friendly (XML) sitemaps.

An XML sitemap is an automatically generated list of web pages, which allows search engines to 'read' a website, so that pages appear in search results.

XML site maps show:

  • the URL of every published page on a site
  • how often each page is updated
  • the date of the last update
  • priority settings.

Each UQ Standard site has an XML sitemap, which is automatically updated about every 7 hours.

Information Technology Services also submits XML sitemaps to Google and Bing to help them index websites faster and more effectively.

Pages included in the sitemap

On UQ Standard sites, the XML sitemap will show:

  • all published panel pages in the main menu
  • all published content types under the Drupal 'Content' menu, whether they're in the main menu or not.

On UQ Standard sites, the XML sitemap won't show:

  • orphan panel pages (i.e. panel pages not in the main menu)
  • pages restricted to UQ staff or students only (i.e. pages behind a log in).

Orphan panel pages aren't included in the XML sitemap to help avoid marketing campaign landing pages from being easily found by search engines. Generally, these pages are only found by direct links from campaign material.

How to view

To see the XML sitemap for a UQ Standard site, add /sitemap.xml to the end of your site's URL. For example, to see the XML sitemap for the Current staff site, go to https://staff.uq.edu.au/sitemap.xml

A human-friendly sitemap is an automatically generated list of web pages arranged hierarchically, showing the site menu structure.

All UQ Drupal sites have a human-friendly sitemap. It is based on the main menu and changes whenever you update the menu.

Human-friendly sitemaps let users see the structure of a site and can be used to navigate to pages. They can be especially important for users who use assistive technologies.

In some cases search engines may also use the human-friendly sitemap to better understand the structure of your site.

Pages included in the sitemap

On UQ Drupal, human-friendly sitemaps will show:

  • all pages in the main menu, including panel pages and pages restricted to UQ staff and students.

Restricted pages will only appear in the sitemap for users who are logged in with relevant access.

On UQ Drupal, human-friendly sitemaps won't show:

  • orphan pages (i.e. pages not in the main menu).

How to view

To see the human-friendly sitemap for a UQ Drupal site, add /sitemap to the end of the site's URL. For example, to see the human-friendly sitemap for the Current staff site, go to https://staff.uq.edu.au/sitemap