WordPress 2.0.3 is now available for download. If you are using my Google Sitemap Generator plugin, please update to speed up the generation process.
If you don’t want to update, you can apply this patch by hand. It will reduce the generation time significantly.
In June 2005, Google announced a new service called Google Sitemaps. This program allows webmaster to submit an index of URLs which they want to have included in Googles web search. It’s free to use and helps Google to get a more complete overview of your pages.
This FAQ answers the most asked questions reached me per mail. Feel free to contact me if you have suggestions or corrections for this page!
I had a little bit time this morning so I improved my Google Sitemaps Generator…
Features:
Note: This new version is still beta and I’m still at testing. You can try it out and report any errors/mistakes/suggest to my email. If you can, test it under an other copy/backup of you blog… It’s still beta and may have bugs!!
Installation:
Download the zip Archive and extract the sitemap.php and in your wp-content/plugins directory. Then look in your admin page under Plugins and activate it. Now you can click on Options -> Sitemap and configure your settings. Update or write a post to start the first sitemap generation.
Note: I’m not a WordPress expert and this is my first plugin. I read The Plugin API and Writing a Plugin at the WordPress pages. If you are more familiar with WordPress plugins and see something strange/not recommended please tell me! Also the registered actions (add_action) which start sitemap generation may be redundant.
Update: I included a Manual Rebuild button in the options page so you don’t need to edit a post to start the generation at the first time. Beta Testers are welcome 
Google announced yesterday a new tool for webmasters. The Google Sitemaps! You can submit you sitemap to Google and allow them to find all your pages without crawling every link. You can read more about this cool feature at searchenginewatch.com.
I created a small php file which will do the generation of the sitemap in a Google compliant format for you. At the moment, only posts, home page and static pages are supported. If you have better knowledge of WordPress than me, feel free to modify the script and include category pages etc.
Every URL in the sitemap may have a priority which represents the page priority on your website. My script calculates the it on the number of comments. This should be ok for most blogs, maybe i will add the post date to priority generation later.
Installation is easy! Just download the sitemap.php and place it in your blog directory. Then tell Google Sitemaps the URL and all should be fine
If you want you can alter the default configuration for various settings like the change frequenty of posts etc. Just have a look at the top of the php file.
I’ve tested it on this site ( WP1.5.1.1 ) and with a XML Schema validator. If you find an error or if it doesn’t work on your site, please drop me a mail or write a comment and I will have a look at your site.
UPDATE:
I included support for archive pages. Just download the new version 1.1 again.
Archive pages will have a predefined priority which can be customized.
UPDATE 2:
It get’s allmost complete 
Added support for categorie pages. They will also habe a predefined priority which can be customized.
Download the current version at the links above.
Suggestions / Todo
- Autogenerate priority of categories (maybe by postcount?)
- Use correct lastMod in categories and archives (find last post)
UPDATE 3:
Check the beta of the new version at Google Sitemap Generator v2 (BETA) which comes as a WordPress Plugin and a grahpical administration page!
