What the WordPress discourage-search-engines setting does and what to verify before launch.
Why this check matters
The search visibility setting can ask compliant search engines not to index a site. That is useful for a private build and easy to forget when a site goes live.
How to review it
- Open Reading Settings and confirm the intended visibility.
- Check robots directives and the XML sitemap after changing it.
- Review the homepage while logged out.
- Submit the canonical site to search tools only after launch checks pass.
Keep the change safe
This setting is not a security boundary. Keep private or staging sites protected with access controls as well as search directives.
How WPVitals uses this signal
WPVitals checks this setting locally and reports the result in the WordPress dashboard. The check is a maintenance signal, so review the site context before changing a setting and test the visitor experience afterwards.