Thread

I have a site that does not use any of the member features. But, in a google search, the member templates show up and can be viewed. For example:

http://www.example.com/member/forgot_password

How do I hide the ENTIRE “member” template group from search engines?

Just change the “member” trigger word to something obscure and unguessable. And make sure, of course, to not link to it anywhere on your site.

Thanks. I was surprised to see lots of google results for my member pages, since the site in question doesn’t use members. I usually keep the “site” and “search” template groups in my EE installation, even if I am not using them. What’s the best strategy to keep Google from indexing those areas?

Hi Rory,

If you are not using the default site and search template groups then it’s best to delete them. However, if you wish to retain them for some reason then you can use the template access controls to disallow access by anyone other than a Super Admin.

Cheers

Greg

I guess I can just remove the “site” and “search” templates if I am not using them. Before I do that, I’d like to make sure there is a way to obtain those files if I ever need them in the future. Can you tell me if those are available for download anywhere? Thanks!

Hi Rory,

They are not I’m afraid. The best thing to do would be to save those templates as files and store them somewhere safe.

Cheers

Greg

They are not I’m afraid. The best thing to do would be to save those templates as files and store them somewhere safe.

Well they are available if you reinstall a version of ExpressionEngine somewhere say on a localhost install and then you can always get to them although you could just (if you’re not using the template group at all) change the name of the template group to something no-one would ever guess and as long as you don’t link to them online they won’t get found.

That or exactly as Greg said and use the Template Access Restrictions so that people just get redirected somewhere else if they try to access them.

Best wishes,

Mark

Hi Rory,

Was that helpful? Do you have a suitable system for preserving or restricting access to those templates?

Cheers

Greg

@Mark, thanks for helping out.