2h ago
Add Native Controls for Author Links and Author Archives
Hello XTemos Team,
I would like to suggest adding three separate options to Woodmart for controlling author links and author archive pages. These options would be particularly useful for websites that want to manage author archives for SEO purposes without having to add custom PHP snippets to the child theme.
1. Disable Author Links Throughout the Theme
Currently, even when author archives are disabled in Rank Math, Woodmart continues to generate links to author archive URLs wherever author names are displayed.
I found a workaround by redefining the woodmart_post_meta_author() function in my child theme. This removes the link while preserving the author name and the existing display. It works, but it would be much better to have this as a native theme setting.
For reference, this is the exact PHP code I currently use as a workaround:
/**
* St - Remove author archive links in Woodmart.
*/
if ( ! function_exists( 'woodmart_post_meta_author' ) ) {
function woodmart_post_meta_author( $avatar = true, $label = 'short', $author_name = true, $size = 18 ) {
if ( 'short' === $label ) {
echo '<span>' . esc_html__( 'By', 'woodmart' ) . '</span>';
} elseif ( 'long' === $label ) {
echo '<span>' . esc_html__( 'Posted by', 'woodmart' ) . '</span>';
}
if ( $avatar && $size ) {
echo get_avatar( get_the_author_meta( 'ID' ), $size, '', 'author-avatar' );
}
if ( $author_name ) {
echo '<span class="author">' . esc_html( get_the_author() ) . '</span>';
}
}
}
Suggested option: Link Author Names to Author Archives
When disabled, the author name should remain visible wherever Woodmart displays it, but it should no longer be clickable or link to an author archive.
This option should apply consistently across all relevant Woodmart blog components, including:
Blog archives and post cards
Grid, list, masonry and carousel layouts
Single post metadata
Related posts and other blog elements that display author information
Woodmart and Elementor blog elements that use the theme's author metadata output
The option should remove the actual author link from the HTML output rather than simply hiding it with CSS. It should preserve the existing layout, typography, author name, avatar and other metadata.
It must work independently of whether Rank Math, Yoast SEO or any other SEO plugin is installed.
2. Disable Author Archives
Suggested option: Enable Author Archives
WordPress creates an archive page for each author. Some websites do not need these pages and prefer to disable them entirely.
Rank Math and Yoast SEO already provide this functionality, including redirecting disabled author archives to the homepage.
It would be useful to have equivalent functionality in Woodmart, so that author archive endpoints can be disabled without requiring an SEO plugin.
When disabled, author archive URLs should no longer serve archive pages and should be handled appropriately, such as by redirecting to the homepage, following the established behavior of Rank Math and Yoast SEO.
This should work whether or not an SEO plugin is installed. When Rank Math or Yoast is active, Woodmart should integrate with the plugin's supported functionality and avoid duplicate redirects, redirect loops or conflicting behavior.
3. Noindex Author Archives
Suggested option: Noindex Author Archives
Some websites want to keep author archive pages accessible to visitors while preventing search engines from indexing them.
This is different from disabling author archives entirely, so it should be a separate setting.
When enabled, author archive pages should remain accessible but output the appropriate robots directive, normally noindex, follow, so search engines are instructed not to index those pages.
The implementation should work with Rank Math, Yoast SEO or neither plugin. When an SEO plugin is active, Woodmart should use the appropriate integration or hooks to avoid generating duplicate or contradictory robots meta tags.
The setting should affect author archive pages only, not individual blog posts or other archive types. Sitemap behavior should also remain consistent with the active SEO plugin's handling of noindexed author archives.
Compatibility and Implementation
The three settings should be independent, clearly labelled and available in Woodmart Theme Settings, ideally under the Blog or an appropriate SEO-related section.
Most importantly, these features should be implemented natively and in a way that remains compatible with future theme updates. Users should not need to override theme functions in a child theme or maintain custom PHP snippets.
The settings should work whether Rank Math or Yoast SEO is installed or not. When either plugin is active, Woodmart should integrate with its existing functionality rather than generating duplicate redirects, conflicting robots directives or inconsistent author archive behavior. If the theme and SEO plugin both expose related settings, their interaction should have clear, predictable behavior.
For reference, Rank Math and Yoast already provide author archive controls:
Rank Math: https://rankmath.com/kb/titles-and-meta/
Yoast SEO: https://yoast.com/help/disable-enable-author-archives/
There is also an existing discussion on your support forum regarding the author link issue and the PHP workaround:
https://xtemos.com/forums/topic/how-to-remove-a-link-to-auth…
I believe these additions would provide much better control over author links and archives, improve SEO configuration flexibility, and eliminate the need for workarounds in child themes.
Thank you for considering this feature request.
Pending