I think if we're going to call it out explicitly, then it needs to be a REQUIREMENT; otherwise, we can simply let the Guidelines handle it implicitly, under the existing guidelines regarding proper implementation of features.<div>
<br></div><div>Note: putting rel="canonical" in a Theme *breaks* Plugin functionality AND core functionality.</div><div><br></div><div>My only issue is the granularity of adding a new Guideline. Such an approach does not scale well (see also: the US Code of Federal Regulations). I would recommend that we put the underlying *principle* in the Guidelines, rather than explicitly state every little thing that falls under that principle. So, if we are going to add to the Guidelines, I propose that we add wording such as the following:</div>
<div><br></div><blockquote class="webkit-indent-blockquote" style="margin:0 0 0 40px;border:none;padding:0px"><div><b>Presentation Vs. Functionality</b></div><div><b>Themes are required to define the presentation of user content, and must not be used to define the generation of user content, or to define Theme-independent site options or functionality.</b></div>
</blockquote><div><br></div><div>This wording could probably use improvement, but it covers a lot of bases, including rel="canonical", and anything else that would be considered as "Plugin territory".</div>
<div><br></div><div>Chip<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 6:28 AM, Edward Caissie <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:edward.caissie@gmail.com">edward.caissie@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Since this is such an easily identifiable bit of code (rel="canonical") are we talking a REQUIREMENT that it not be used, if that is the case I'm sure it can be dropped into the uploader/Theme-Check to manage ... otherwise I would say putting it into the guidelines as a RECOMMENDATION not to use under the section @Justin suggested, due to its potential impact on SEO, would be more appropriate.<br>
<br><br clear="all">Cais.<div class="HOEnZb"><div class="h5"><br>
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 2:09 AM, Emil Uzelac <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:emil@themeid.com" target="_blank">emil@themeid.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<font color="#333333"><font><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">It's definitely safe to say that rel="canonical" should be done via plugins, if we're all in agreement let's put that into Theme Review?</font></font></font><span><font color="#888888"><div>
<font color="#333333"><font><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br></font></font></font></div></font></span><div><span><font color="#888888"><font color="#333333"><font><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Emil<br>
</font></font></font></font></span><div><div><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On Wed, Mar 7, 2012 at 12:43 AM, Joost de Valk <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:joost@yoast.com" target="_blank">joost@yoast.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
Yes. That effectively blocks all custom taxonomies from indexation. I think that's plugin territory :-)<br>
<div><br>
Best,<br>
Joost<br>
<br>
Sent from my iPhone<br>
<br>
</div><div><div>On 7 mrt. 2012, at 04:09, Doug Stewart <<a href="mailto:zamoose@gmail.com" target="_blank">zamoose@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>
<br>
> I forget where I picked this nugget up but it's been in my header for ages:<br>
><br>
> if((is_single() || is_category() || is_page() || is_home()) &&<br>
> (!is_paged())){<br>
> ?><br>
> <!-- ok google, index me! --><br>
> <?php<br>
> }else{<br>
> ?><br>
> <!-- google, please ignore - thanks! --><br>
> <meta name="robots" content="noindex,follow"><br>
> <?php<br>
> }<br>
><br>
> Assuming it goes under the same rubric, no?<br>
><br>
> Also, if we still have Joost's ear: do you see any SEO impact in<br>
> having that functionality in the head?<br>
><br>
> On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 5:45 PM, Angelo Bertolli <<a href="mailto:angelo@bertolli.org" target="_blank">angelo@bertolli.org</a>> wrote:<br>
>> Yes, you guys are right... I can't think of any good reason for a theme<br>
>> to use this.<br>
>><br>
>> On 03/06/2012 05:42 PM, Chip Bennett wrote:<br>
>>> Let me ask a different way: what does rel=canonical or rel=nofollow have<br>
>>> to do with *presentation* of content?<br>
>>><br>
>>> Let me ask yet another way: what is the potential impact of changing<br>
>>> Themes, if rel=canonical or rel=nofollow are defined *by the Theme*?<br>
>>><br>
>>> Chip<br>
>>><br>
>>> On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 4:30 PM, Angelo Bertolli <<a href="mailto:angelo@bertolli.org" target="_blank">angelo@bertolli.org</a><br>
>>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:angelo@bertolli.org" target="_blank">angelo@bertolli.org</a>>> wrote:<br>
>>><br>
>>> So are theme developers also restricted from using nofollow? It is<br>
>>> functional.<br>
>>><br>
>>> I don't think theme developers should be restricted from using<br>
>>> rel="canonical" just because some of them may use it wrong, or because<br>
>>> Google treats it a certain way for search results.<br>
>>><br>
>>> On 03/06/2012 05:24 PM, Chip Bennett wrote:<br>
>>> > The criterion for me is Presentational vs Functinoal. I think that<br>
>>> > rel=canonical clearly falls under "Functional", and therefore is Plugin<br>
>>> > territory.<br>
>>> ><br>
>>> > Chip<br>
>>> ><br>
>>> > On Tue, Mar 6, 2012 at 4:23 PM, Emil Uzelac <<a href="mailto:emil@themeid.com" target="_blank">emil@themeid.com</a><br>
>>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:emil@themeid.com" target="_blank">emil@themeid.com</a>><br>
>>> > <mailto:<a href="mailto:emil@themeid.com" target="_blank">emil@themeid.com</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:emil@themeid.com" target="_blank">emil@themeid.com</a>>>> wrote:<br>
>>> ><br>
>>> > I was reading from my phone....<br>
>>> ><br>
>>> > I agree that Themes should not mess with rel="canonical" at all.<br>
>>> > Majority people are devs not SEO consultants. Required not to<br>
>>> use is<br>
>>> > what I believe we should do.<br>
>>> ><br>
>>> > On Mar 6, 2012 4:17 PM, "Joost de Valk" <<a href="mailto:joost@yoast.com" target="_blank">joost@yoast.com</a><br>
>>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:joost@yoast.com" target="_blank">joost@yoast.com</a>><br>
>>> > <mailto:<a href="mailto:joost@yoast.com" target="_blank">joost@yoast.com</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:joost@yoast.com" target="_blank">joost@yoast.com</a>>>> wrote:<br>
>>> ><br>
>>> > It has nothing to do with using my plugin or not. It's<br>
>>> something<br>
>>> > even my plugin can't fix :-)<br>
>>> ><br>
>>> > Best,<br>
>>> > Joost<br>
>>> ><br>
>>> > Sent from my iPhone<br>
>>> ><br>
>>> > On 6 mrt. 2012, at 23:14, Emil Uzelac <<a href="mailto:emil@themeid.com" target="_blank">emil@themeid.com</a><br>
>>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:emil@themeid.com" target="_blank">emil@themeid.com</a>><br>
>>> > <mailto:<a href="mailto:emil@themeid.com" target="_blank">emil@themeid.com</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:emil@themeid.com" target="_blank">emil@themeid.com</a>>>> wrote:<br>
>>> ><br>
>>> >> If they do not use your plugin would this hurt the SEO?<br>
>>> >><br>
>>> >> On Mar 6, 2012 3:47 PM, "Joost de Valk" <<a href="mailto:joost@yoast.com" target="_blank">joost@yoast.com</a><br>
>>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:joost@yoast.com" target="_blank">joost@yoast.com</a>><br>
>>> >> <mailto:<a href="mailto:joost@yoast.com" target="_blank">joost@yoast.com</a> <mailto:<a href="mailto:joost@yoast.com" target="_blank">joost@yoast.com</a>>>> wrote:<br>
>>> >><br>
>>> >> Hi all,<br>
>>> >><br>
>>> >> tldr version: I would like a guideline that tells theme<br>
>>> >> developers to /not/ include a rel=canonical link in their<br>
>>> >> theme as it hurts people more than it helps in a lot<br>
>>> of cases.<br>
>>> >><br>
>>> >> long version:<br>
>>> >><br>
>>> >> As some of you probably know, I do a lot of SEO<br>
>>> >> consultancy. Some of it is related to people who have<br>
>>> >> suddenly lost all their rankings and want me to help fix<br>
>>> >> it for them. Today I helped out a blogger, unpaid because<br>
>>> >> I just liked his blog as it was about children with Down<br>
>>> >> Syndrome.<br>
>>> >><br>
>>> >> He had recently switched themes /and /started using my<br>
>>> >> WordPress SEO plugin, and of course he was blaming my<br>
>>> >> plugin for his sudden loss of rankings. What I found out<br>
>>> >> though, was that the theme had the following rel=canonical<br>
>>> >> link in the header.php:<br>
>>> >><br>
>>> >> <link rel="canonical" href="<?php echo home_url(); ?>" /><br>
>>> >><br>
>>> >> above the call to wp_head. This was causing each<br>
>>> >> individual post to have a canonical point back to the<br>
>>> >> homepage. Now you should know that Google especially sees<br>
>>> >> a canonical as somewhat of a "soft 301 redirect". It<br>
>>> >> basically takes a page that has a canonical pointing<br>
>>> >> elsewhere out of the rankings. The effect is quite<br>
>>> dramatic.<br>
>>> >><br>
>>> >> This was a premium theme, whose authors I have since<br>
>>> >> emailed. It got me thinking though: is this in the WP.org<br>
>>> >> <<a href="http://WP.org" target="_blank">http://WP.org</a>> guidelines? Apparently, it's not.<br>
>>> >> WordPress itself adds a rel="canonical" through wp_head on<br>
>>> >> single pages, and there's a patch in Trac to add it on<br>
>>> >> more pages. There are several themes in the repository<br>
>>> >> though that have absolutely 100% wrong canonical links in<br>
>>> >> their header.<br>
>>> >><br>
>>> >> This one: <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/digu" target="_blank">http://wordpress.org/extend/themes/digu</a> is an<br>
>>> >> example. It's not popular and hasn't been updated in ages<br>
>>> >> so I wouldn't normally care too much, but I wanted to use<br>
>>> >> it as an example. It has the following code:<br>
>>> >><br>
>>> >> <?php if(is_single()){ ?><link rel="canonical" href="<?php<br>
>>> >> echo get_permalink($post->ID),"\n";?>" /><?php }?><br>
>>> >> <?php if(is_home() || is_tag() || is_category() ||<br>
>>> >> is_month() || is_year()){ ?><br>
>>> >> <link rel="canonical" href="<?php bloginfo('url');?>"<br>
>>> >> /><?php echo "\n"; }?><br>
>>> >> …. snip ….<br>
>>> >> <?php } ?><br>
>>> >><br>
>>> >> Using that theme on a live site could kill your rankings<br>
>>> >> instantly, as it would make all category listings etc have<br>
>>> >> canonicals linking back to the homepage. In most cases<br>
>>> >> this would prevent Google from spidering the links to the<br>
>>> >> posts on those pages.<br>
>>> >><br>
>>> >> Now some themes, like Thematic and Hybrid, have somewhat<br>
>>> >> more sensible canonical functions, which makes this a hard<br>
>>> >> discussion. I would vote to call it plugin territory<br>
>>> >> though and keep it out of themes completely. Would love to<br>
>>> >> hear your opinions.<br>
>>> >><br>
>>> >> Best<br>
>>> >> Joost<br>
>>> >><br>
>>> >><br>
>>> >> _______________________________________________<br>
>>> >> theme-reviewers mailing list<br>
>>> >> <a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
>>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a>><br>
>>> >> <mailto:<a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
>>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a>>><br>
>>> >><br>
>>> <a href="http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers" target="_blank">http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers</a><br>
>>> >><br>
>>> >> _______________________________________________<br>
>>> >> theme-reviewers mailing list<br>
>>> >> <a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
>>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a>><br>
>>> >> <mailto:<a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
>>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a>>><br>
>>> >> <a href="http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers" target="_blank">http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers</a><br>
>>> ><br>
>>> > _______________________________________________<br>
>>> > theme-reviewers mailing list<br>
>>> > <a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
>>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a>><br>
>>> > <mailto:<a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
>>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a>>><br>
>>> > <a href="http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers" target="_blank">http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers</a><br>
>>> ><br>
>>> ><br>
>>> > _______________________________________________<br>
>>> > theme-reviewers mailing list<br>
>>> > <a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
>>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a>><br>
>>> > <mailto:<a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
>>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a>>><br>
>>> > <a href="http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers" target="_blank">http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers</a><br>
>>> ><br>
>>> ><br>
>>> ><br>
>>> ><br>
>>> > _______________________________________________<br>
>>> > theme-reviewers mailing list<br>
>>> > <a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
>>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a>><br>
>>> > <a href="http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers" target="_blank">http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers</a><br>
>>> _______________________________________________<br>
>>> theme-reviewers mailing list<br>
>>> <a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
>>> <mailto:<a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a>><br>
>>> <a href="http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers" target="_blank">http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers</a><br>
>>><br>
>>><br>
>>><br>
>>><br>
>>> _______________________________________________<br>
>>> theme-reviewers mailing list<br>
>>> <a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
>>> <a href="http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers" target="_blank">http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers</a><br>
>> _______________________________________________<br>
>> theme-reviewers mailing list<br>
>> <a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
>> <a href="http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers" target="_blank">http://lists.wordpress.org/mailman/listinfo/theme-reviewers</a><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> --<br>
> -Doug<br>
> _______________________________________________<br>
> theme-reviewers mailing list<br>
> <a href="mailto:theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org" target="_blank">theme-reviewers@lists.wordpress.org</a><br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br></div></div></div>
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<br></blockquote></div><br></div>