Add a sitemap

[cloewen8]

Describe the project you are working on

Non-project related. I was looking for a list of Godot's Corporate Sponsors.

Describe the problem or limitation you are having in your project

I found it difficult to locate a specific webpage I was looking for (Godot's list of Corporate Sponsors).

Describe the feature / enhancement and how it helps to overcome the problem or limitation

Adding a sitemap.xml file would allow me to quickly locate the page I am looking for at a glance.

Describe how your proposal will work, with code, pseudo-code, mock-ups, and/or diagrams

Adding a sitemap is incredibly easy. It is an xml file at the root of the domain that has a urlset containing the location of each url (optionally the last modified date, change frequency, and priority). Here is an example by Google (https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/sitemaps/build-sitemap#sitemapformat):

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"> 
  <url>
    <loc>http://www.example.com/foo.html</loc>
   <lastmod>2018-06-04</lastmod>
  </url>
</urlset>

Optionally a link in the footer can be added to let users know it is available. Although uncommon, XML can be styled using CSS. For better presentation this can be embedded into a page using the websites layout.

If this enhancement will not be used often, can it be worked around with a few lines of script?

Even a simple text file in a repository is better then nothing (although less users are likely to benefit from it).

Is there a reason why this should be core and not an add-on in the asset library?

Unrelated, this is a documentation proposal.

[Calinou]

I found it difficult to locate a specific webpage I was looking for (Godot's list of Corporate Sponsors).

Right now, there's no dedicated page for sponsors – they're listed on the homepage. See #183 which adds a dedicated Funding page.

[ZodmanPerth]

I came to this page while trying to find a page on the Godot website that indexes all the /articles on the website. While the /News and DevBlog pages do list these articles, they cannot be filtered by date or searched.

Having a sitemap.xml would allow me to use Google to search for the Godot articles I'm interested in. As it stands, I currently am using the WebStats page, showing the Viewed | FullList, and using a page search to look for key words.

For users like me who haven't been with Godot since the early days, reading the articles gives a lot of crucial context. It should be easier for users to find this content. Really, there should be an indexed page of all articles, but I feel a sitemap would provide more value.

Without a sitemap, these older articles are lost forever. ☹

[YuriSizov]

I'm not sure news articles are ever put into a sitemap, being dynamic content that can have thousands of entries. Besides, filtering our blog entries is a separate issue and should be solved by introducing proper UI for that.

Also note, that many articles have lost their actuality and you should refer to the documentation instead, as it lists only actual information. There are some older articles that are outdated to the point of hurting your understanding and knowledge.