django/djangoproject.com

Use noindex meta tag or header, not robots.txt, to block untranslated docs pages

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#877 opened on Mar 2, 2019

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 (8 comments) (1 reaction) (0 assignees)Python (2,001 stars) (1,100 forks)user submission
good first issue

Description

As far as I can tell, we're currently using robots.txt to block untranslated docs pages from being indexed by Google. Looking through Search Console, it appears that is not the correct approach and these pages are still being indexed:

That warning links to: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7440203#indexed_though_blocked_by_robots_txt

Which suggests using the noindex meta tag or header instead: https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/93710

Contributor guide

Tech stack
djangopythonhtmlcss
Domain
frontenddocumentationsearch
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Django basicsHTML meta tagsHTTP headers
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
70
Research direction
Investigate which Django templates or views serve the untranslated docs pages. Likely the base template or a custom middleware needs to be modified to include a noindex meta tag or X Robots Tag header. Refer to the Google Webmaster guidelines linked in the issue. Check existing templates in the repository for similar patterns.