[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #18841: Sites with default permalinks do not return 'robots.txt'

[WordPress Trac]

#18841: Sites with default permalinks do not return 'robots.txt'
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 Reporter:  mbijon        |       Owner:
     Type:  defect (bug)  |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal        |   Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Permalinks    |     Version:  3.3
 Severity:  major         |  Resolution:
 Keywords:                |
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Old description:

> Currently there is no .htaccess file when Permalinks are on the default
> (ie: /?p=123) setting.
>
> Without an .htaccess file Apache does not direct requests for non-
> existent files to WordPress. Directing the request to WP is needed so the
> 'do_robots' or 'do_robotstxt' actions can respond with the rules set by
> the user in Permalink Settings.
> * Browsers other than Apache likely have the same problem, but I have not
> tested them
> * This occurs in 3.2.1 and 3.3
>
> I've marked severity 'major' since this undermines the Privacy Settings
> panel & may not meet user expectations. Please modify if this is not
> appropriate.

New description:

 Currently there is no .htaccess file when Permalinks are on the default
 (ie: /?p=123) setting.

 Without an .htaccess file Apache does not direct requests for non-existent
 files to WordPress. Directing the request to WP is needed so the
 'do_robots' or 'do_robotstxt' actions can respond with the rules set by
 the user in Permalink Settings.
 * Servers other than Apache likely have the same problem, but I have not
 tested them
 * This occurs in 3.2.1 and 3.3

 I've marked severity 'major' since this undermines the Privacy Settings
 panel & may not meet user expectations. Please modify if this is not
 appropriate.

--

Comment (by dd32):

 The "Privacy" settings are really named incorrectly to start with, They're
 simply a request, and not one which Bots have to respect (and certainly
 don't).

 As you've noted, without Pretty Permalinks enabled, robots.txt is unable
 to be processed, There's another ticket to enable them by default,
 however, for technical reasons, it's not always possible to enable them,
 thus, they're not enabled by default.

 One option would be to disable the Privacy settings when mod_rewrite isn't
 enabled.

 See also: #16416

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Ticket URL: <http://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/18841#comment:1>
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