[wp-meta] [Making WordPress.org] #5290: Requests containing 'cat=-1' omit canonical (and hreflang) tags

[Making WordPress.org]

#5290: Requests containing 'cat=-1' omit canonical (and hreflang) tags
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 Reporter:  jonoaldersonwp  |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  defect          |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal          |   Milestone:
Component:  General         |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  seo             |
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Old description:

> Requests such as https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/web-application-
> firewall/?cat=-1
> andhttps://wordpress.org/themes/tags/blog/?example=example&cat=-1 omit
> canonical URL tag and hreflang tags.
>
> These should be (re)included, and the parameter ignored.

New description:

 Requests such as https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/web-application-
 firewall/?cat=-1 and
 https://wordpress.org/themes/tags/blog/?example=example&cat=-1 omit
 canonical URL tag and hreflang tags.

 These should be (re)included, and the parameter ignored.

--

Comment (by dd32):

 Unfortunately `?cat=-1` is a valid request, as is
 `/tag/tagname/?cat=-1234`, which is just as valid as
 `/tag/tagname/?category_name=catname`

 This is an unfortunate scenario where WordPress's flexibility is
 incredibly hard to handle.

 The challenge with multi-taxonomy queries like this, is which is the
 canonical? `/tag/tagname/?category_name=catname` or
 `/category/catname/?tag=tagname`?

 If the QV should just be excluded from the canonicalisation, the further
 question that's raised is "Does what the canonical is actually set to
 matter at all? Should it just be set to the homepage for a multi-taxonomy
 query if one should be ignored?"

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/5290#comment:2>
Making WordPress.org <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/>
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