[Rank Math SEO Plugin] Sitemap Returning a Blank Page

[sankalan]

My sitemap URL is returning a blank page. The url is https://factslegend.org/sitemap_index.xml

On the search console segment of the plugin, I am getting the following error message: 'https://factslegend.org/sitemap_index.xml' is not a sitemap index.

I tried resetting the permalink structure but that did not work. What is the solution to this problem?

[Montgomerie]

Hello,

Thank you for contacting MyThemeShop and sorry for any inconvenience that might have been caused due to that.

Can you please check if your functions.php file has no blank lines in it?

Looking forward to helping you. Thank you.

[sankalan]

My site uses a child theme. The child theme also has a functions.php file. Should I be checking that?

[sankalan]

There are approx 3000 lines in the functions.php of the main theme. There are many blank lines in it. Now what? I don't think tampering with the functions.php file is a good idea. I am not a developer and if anything goes wrong, my site will go down.

The functions.php file of the child theme had one blank line that I removed but it returned no results. I am getting the same blank page for the sitemap.

[Montgomerie]

Hello,

Can you please change the theme to the default theme and then test if the things are working perfectly so we could be sure of the reason?

Looking forward to helping you. Thank you.

[sankalan]

I switched to Yoast SEO with exact same settings (albeit, deactivated the Rank Math SEO plugin). Cleared cache and checked the sitemap. The sitemap is working just fine.

I then switched to Rank Math, deactivated the Yoast plugin, cleared cache and checked sitemap. Now the sitemap is gone.

 

Before switching to Yoast though, i took your advice and switched to default theme from child theme. Still, there was no sitemap anywhere with Rank Math plugin. Only a blank page was showing up.

[sankalan]

I think I will stay with Yoast until you iron out all the plugin issues. I will not take risks on an active site with over 1000 posts and over 300,000 monthly visitors.

[Montgomerie]

Hello,

Sorry to hear that.

Can you please share your WordPress & FTP login details in the "Sensitive Data" section by editing your first post on this ticket and follow the instructions shown in the screenshot below:

Please make a reply once you update the details, so we get notified.

Looking forward to helping you. Thank you.

 

 

[sankalan]

I will, provided you can ensure me that you will not make any edits to any theme files or sitewide settings on my site. My site has specific settings for ads that run on it and specific settings for the Nginx server. Any changes are not welcome at all without prior information. Can you people do that?

Edited October 8, 2018 by sankalan

[Montgomerie]

Hello,

Maybe can you please create a staging site.

That would give us a freedom to try a few things.

Thank you.

[sankalan]

That is going to take a lot of time because I am not technically adept to do that without the aid of my developer. If the site was on a shared server with cPanel access, I could have done that but it runs on cloud infrastructure with no cPanel access. I don't know how to do that.

So, I will have to talk to my developer first.

Anyway, sir, I think I will live without RankMath for now. However, I will like to say that I do love the features that your plugin offers. They are just great. I will try out RankMath on a new site that will go live soon.

[Montgomerie]

Hello,

I'm really sorry to hear that.

The plugin's working fine on our end but the issue has to be something related to a conflict.

Please provide with the login details and we will make sure not to make any dramatic changes. We will try the following methods first:
"To help you faster, we would like you to perform a quick conflict check on your website using the instructions below. You can follow these instructions on your live website as well, as running this conflict check does not affect your website visitors.

Here are the steps for you to follow.

1. Log into your WordPress Administrator, and navigate to the dashboard
2. Navigate to 'Plugins', and go to 'add new'
   
3. On the next page, enter 'Health Check' in the search bar and wait for the screen to refresh
   
4. The official Health Check plugin by WordPress.org should be visible as the first result. Please install and activate the plugin
   
5. You will reach the plugin page automatically, and a notice will appear. Click 'I understand' to continue
   
6. On the WordPress Menu on the left, hover over the dashboard. You will notice a new 'Health Check' option, click on it
   
7. On the page that appears, there will be several tabs. Please navigate to the 'Troubleshooting' tab
   
8. Press the 'Enable Troubleshooting Mode' to start the troubleshooter
   

Once you complete these steps, you are in troubleshooting mode. All the plugins on your website have been disabled only for you. Your theme has also been disabled, but only for you.

To diagnose the root-cause of your problem, you would enable each plugin one by one until an issue is found. The last plugin that causes the issue will probably the cause of the conflict. Here are the steps in more detail.

1. With all plugins and the theme disabled, try reproducing the issue.
   1. If you still have the issue, your WordPress setup is the root of the problem.
   2. If not, then continue.
2. On the top bar, navigate to the 'Troubleshooting Mode', hover over it, and enable the MyThemeShop plugin in question. After that, try to reproduce the issue.
   1. If you have the issue, the plugin is conflicting with WordPress
   2. If not, then the plugin is not causing issues with WordPress. Continue to the next step
3. Navigate to the "Troubleshooting Mode" in the top bar again, and enable any other plugin. Then try reproducing the issue.
   1. If you have the issue, then the plugin you just activated is conflicting with the MyThemeShop Plugin
   2. If not, then this plugin is not causing issues with the MyThemeShop plugin

Repeat step no 3 by enabling one plugin at a time and checking if the problem exists. When the problem happens, the plugin you last activated is causing the issue.

 

If the issue is still not resolved, then it might be an issue with the theme you are using. Here is how you confirm if your theme and the MyThemeShop plugin are conflicting with each other.

1. Enter troubleshooting mode again using the instructions above.
2. Using the Troubleshooting mode, activate your regular theme by selecting the 'Use your current theme option'.
3. Activate the MTS plugin you want to check and try to reproduce the issue.
   1. If the issue appears, your theme conflicts with the MTS plugin.
   2. If not, then the issue is with another plugin. You can continue enabling other plugins to pinpoint the plugin and contact their support for a resolution."

 

Looking forward to helping you. Thank you.

[sankalan]

Okay, will try it out and get back to you.

[Montgomerie]

Hello,

Thank you for your understanding and patience, and sorry for any inconvenience that might have been caused due to that.

Looking forward to hearing from you once you have completed all the steps mentioned above.