The Playful Sparkle - Google Sitemap extension for OpenCart 3.x+, 4.x+ offers a refined XML sitemap generation solution that aligns with search engine standards and SEO best practices. This extension supports detailed customization, allowing OpenCart merchants to tailor sitemaps to include specific product pages (with images), category pages (with images), manufacturer pages and information pages (and CMS topics, article pages), all tagged to support complete, accurate indexing by search engines.

A key feature of the extension is its use of PHP’s XMLWriter class to generate standards-compliant XML sitemaps per the Sitemaps.org protocol. This ensures that search engines can efficiently crawl site content, aided by the <lastmod> attribute included on product and category pages. The <lastmod> attribute, which tracks the date of the most recent content update, allows search engines to prioritize updated pages, increasing the likelihood of timely indexing.

To streamline sitemap accessibility, the extension can automatically update the .htaccess file, enabling users and Google Search Console to access sitemaps using clean, SEO-friendly URLs like /en-gb/sitemap.xml instead of the default OpenCart URL format, such as index.php?route=extension/feed/ps_google_sitemap&language=en-gb. This improvement ensures compatibility with Google Search Console requirements and simplifies sitemap management.

Additionally, the extension validates the robots.txt file to verify whether the sitemap is allowed by Google. This proactive check notifies you early if adjustments to the file are needed, ensuring your sitemap is discoverable and functional for search engine indexing.

With multi-store and multi-language support, the extension allows merchants to create separate sitemaps for different store views and languages. This enables each store or language version of your site to have its own tailored sitemap, ensuring better indexing and visibility in search engines for audiences in different regions and languages.

Features

• Customizable Sitemap: Customize the sitemap to include product pages (with images), category pages (with images), manufacturer pages and information pages (and CMS topis, article pages), ensuring thorough indexing.
  
• Standards-Compliant XML Sitemap: Generates a fully compliant XML sitemap using PHP’s XMLWriter class, following the [Sitemaps.org protocol](https://sitemaps.org/protocol.html).
  
• Last Modified Tracking: Includes the `<lastmod>` attribute for product and category pages, helping search engines track updates for timely indexing.
  
• Compatible with Webmaster Tools: Fully compatible with commonly used webmaster tools such as Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools, and Yandex Webmaster Tools.
  
• Compatibility: Integrates smoothly with OpenCart 3.x+, 4.x+, supporting a range of online store setups.
  
• Multi-store Support: Supports multi-store setups by default, making it easy to integrate across multiple OpenCart stores.
  
• Multilingual Support: Ready for international use with languages including Čeština (cs-cz), Deutsch (de-de), English (GB) (en-gb), English (US) (en-us), Español (es-es), Français (fr-fr), Magyar (hu-hu), Italiano (it-it), Русский (ru-ru), Slovenčina (sk-sk), and فارسی (fa-ir).

Supported Sitemap Content

* Products (product images) (OpenCart 3.x+, 4.x+)
* Categories (category images) (OpenCart 3.x+, 4.x+)
* Manufacturers (manufacturer image) (OpenCart 3.x+, 4.x+)
* Informations (OpenCart 3.x+, 4.x+)
* CMS Topic (only in OpenCart 4.1.0.0)
* CMS Article (only in OpenCart 4.1.0.0)

For more information, visit the extension's GitHub page at https://github.com/playfulsparkle/oc3_google_sitemap.git or https://github.com/playfulsparkle/oc4_google_sitemap.git.







Installation Instructions

Installation Instructions for OpenCart 3.x+

1) Download the latest version from the OpenCart Marketplace.
2) Log in to your OpenCart admin panel.
3) Navigate to Extensions > Installer.
4) Click the Upload button and upload the ps_google_sitemap.ocmod.zip file.
5) Navigate to Extensions > Extensions and select Feeds from the Choose the extension type dropdown list.
6) Locate the extension in the Feeds list and click the Install button.
7) Click the Edit button, configure the extension parameters, and click the Save button to save your settings.

MD5 Checksum: fc2ce41fba946e95743e9acc541eabd7
SHA256 Checksum: fe9f44f231dc438d2f522cfed41656d41830d7f3ef17e10268974ce2fe0b8600

Installation Instructions for OpenCart 4.x+

1) Download the latest version from the OpenCart Marketplace.
2) Log in to your OpenCart admin panel.
3) Navigate to Extensions > Installer.
4) Click the Upload button and upload the ps_google_sitemap.ocmod.zip file.
5) Locate the extension in the Installed Extensions list and click the Install button.
6) Navigate to Extensions > Extensions and select Feeds from the Choose the extension type dropdown list.
7) Locate the extension in the Feeds list and click the Install button.
8) Click the Edit button, configure the extension parameters, and click the Save button to save your settings.

MD5 Checksum: f50e41e501c22e44c89a5539971046f7
SHA256 Checksum: e1dd07295bf16e1ee2590eb2e763c42df029e9c7ebff4e1545d2d700ac5ea4b1

Support & Inquiries

Our support services are exclusively dedicated to the extensions (software) developed by our team. This includes assistance with issues such as PHP errors, blank pages, unexpected outputs, non-functional features, or incomplete translations related to the use of our extensions.

Please note that we are unable to address issues arising from third-party services or external factors beyond our control. For example, errors reported by Google Search Console, such as "Could not fetch," fall under the responsibility of the relevant third-party service provider or your hosting provider. If the extension operates as intended, generating correct outputs without errors, our obligations are considered fulfilled.

For additional support beyond the scope of our standard services, we are happy to assist; however, such requests will be subject to additional charges. For inquiries or further assistance, feel free to contact us via email at support@playfulsparkle.com.