Template:INDEX/doc

Usage

This template sets the __INDEX__ behavior switch, a magic word which instructs search engines to index the page. The only difference between the template and the magic word is that the template may optionally display a message.

On English Wikipedia, __INDEX__ and {{INDEX}} should only be used on User and User talk pages, where they override the default, which is not to index these pages.

Optional parameters

• |visible = yes : makes the template display a line of plain text to inform editors that the page is included in search engine indexing, e.g. {{INDEX|visible = yes}} shows the message:

This page has been added to search engine indexes.

• Note: regardless of this parameter, if the template is used in an unsupported namespace, the following will be displayed instead:

• |demo = yes : makes {{INDEX}} work even if it is placed in the wrong namespace so that examples of the template can function, e.g. on this doc page – {{INDEX|visible = yes|demo = yes}} renders as:

This page has been added to search engine indexes.

Technical details

__INDEX__ overrides $wgNamespaceRobotPolicies, but not robots.txt. It obeys the $wgExemptFromUserRobotsControl variable. On English Wikipedia, MediaWiki:Robots.txt is used in lieu of $wgArticleRobotPolicies.

On English Wikipedia, the default robot policy for the entire wiki is to index all pages. This default has been overridden in these namespaces:

• User talk is not indexed, as of September 2008
• Draft and Draft talk are not indexed, as of December 2013
• User is not indexed, as of November 2015

Additionally certain selected pages, primarily in Wikipedia and Wikipedia talk, are not indexed, as defined in MediaWiki:Robots.txt.

Mainspace, Draft and Draft talk are exempt from user control, so __INDEX__ is disabled in these namespaces; such use is not tracked (see below), and this template consequently has no effect there.

As all other namespaces are indexed by default, and robots.txt cannot be overridden by __INDEX__, the only namespaces where it overrides the default are User and User talk; however use in other namespaces is tracked.

Usage tracking

This template was originally used as a tracking mechanism for __INDEX__ usage; valid uses are now tracked by Category:Indexed pages.

History

• Added $wgNamespaceRobotPolicies to allow customisation of robot policies on a per-namespace basis (June 4, 2006)
• Added $wgContentNamespaces, which allows for articles to exist in namespaces other than the main namespace, and still be counted as valid content in the site statistics (June 12, 2006)
• Added $wgArticleRobotPolicies (May 31, 2007)

  These override the per-namespace robot policies; en.wiki uses MediaWiki:Robots.txt in lieu of this configuration setting

• The default robot policy for the entire wiki is now configurable via the $wgDefaultRobotPolicy setting (February 6, 2008)

  The default policy is to encourage indexing and following of links: $wgDefaultRobotPolicy = 'index,follow';

• Wikimedia blog: robots.txt (April 29, 2008)
• Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals)/Archive 25  Stopping search engines from indexing the user talk namespace? (April 29–30, 2008)
• Template:Phab: add user talk namespace of En.Wikipedia to Robots.txt (April 30, 2008)
• Added $wgExemptFromUserRobotsControl (July 23, 2008)

  New magic words __INDEX__ and __NOINDEX__ control whether a page can be indexed by search engines, Wikipedia Signpost, July 28, 2008

• Template:NOINDEX is created on August 9, 2008‎
• Template:INDEX is created on August 30, 2008‎
• Search engine indexing updates (Sept 13, 2008)
  1. Control en.wiki's robots.txt file from the wiki at MediaWiki:Robots.txt
  2. Update InitialiseSettings.php: 'wgNamespaceRobotPolicies' => array('enwiki' => array(NS_USER_TALK => 'noindex,follow',)), implementing Template:Phab
• Wikipedia:Search engine indexing, a January 2009 proposal which failed to achieve consensus
• Template:Phab: Tracking category for the NOINDEX and INDEX behavior switches (Jan. 11, 2009)
• On February 22, 2009, {{NOINDEX}} begins populating Category:Wikipedia noindex pages. {{INDEX}} does not populate any categories
• Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals)/Archive 44  Require use of NOINDEX template instead of directly using magic word (Feb. 27–March 5, 2009)
• Add tracking categories for __INDEX__ and __NOINDEX__ • code review (Sept. 20, 2009)
• Category:Noindexed pages is created on October 7, 2009; concurrent with this discussion. See also: Wikipedia:Village pump (technical)/Archive 66  Noindex categories
• Category:Indexed pages is created on October 9, 2009
• Per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2010 June 15  Noindexed pages, Category:Wikipedia noindex pages is deleted on July 18, 2010
• Create "Draft" namespace on the English Wikipedia (Dec 17, 2013)
• Template:Phab: prevent search engines from indexing userspace on enwiki (July 5, 2015)
• noindex user namespace on en.wikipedia.org (Nov 23, 2015)

See also

• Articles using the INDEX magic word
• Drafts using the INDEX magic word
• Template:NOINDEX
• Wikipedia:Controlling search engine indexing

MediaWiki

• MediaWiki:Robots.txt
• mw:Manual:Configuration settings
• Default robot policy (github.com)
• Default robot policy (git.wikimedia.org)