WP Realtime Sitemap
Plugin Review
AI-ResearchedWhat is WP Realtime Sitemap?
WP Realtime Sitemap is a dedicated sitemap plugin WordPress tool that generates a human-readable list of your site’s content. It displays pages, posts, categories, tags, and archives in a clean format on any page or post using a simple shortcode. Developed by Rincewind, this plugin has been available for 16 years and currently holds 10K+ active installs. Its rating of 4.6/5 from 25 ratings reflects strong user satisfaction, with 84% of reviews giving it five stars.
The plugin focuses on front-end navigation rather than XML sitemaps for search engines. It requires no template modifications or PHP knowledge, making it accessible for beginners. Its longevity suggests a stable codebase, though the last update was Nov 28, 2017.
Key Features of WP Realtime Sitemap
- Custom ordering and display control — Arrange the output of WP Nav Menus, pages, posts, custom post types, archives, categories, and tags directly from the plugin settings page.
- Selective show/hide functionality — Choose to display or hide each content type, including categories and tags with no associated posts.
- Flexible category and tag views — Display categories and tags as a bullet list or as a tag cloud, depending on your site’s design needs.
- Exclusion and limitation options — Exclude specific pages, posts, custom post types, categories, and tags by ID, and limit the number of items shown per section.
- Hierarchical page and category lists — Preserve the parent-child structure of your pages and categories for better navigation.
- Shortcode integration — Use the
[wp-realtime-sitemap]shortcode to place the sitemap anywhere in your content without editing theme files. - Multisite and multilingual support — Works on WordPress Multisite (WPMU) and WPML-enabled blogs, with built-in i18n translation support via .po files.
- Clean uninstaller — Deleting the plugin removes all its settings automatically, leaving no database clutter.
Who Should Use WP Realtime Sitemap?
This plugin is ideal for site owners who want a simple wordpress sitemap generator for visitors, not search engines. Beginners with no coding experience can follow the installation instructions to show all pages and posts sitemap wordpress style on a dedicated page. It suits personal blogs, small business sites, or portfolio pages where a straightforward content directory improves user navigation.
With a 4.6/5 rating from 25 reviews and 84% five-star feedback, the tool appeals to users who value simplicity over advanced features. However, the 8% one-star ratings and lack of updates since Nov 28, 2017 suggest it may not suit sites needing modern compatibility or active bug fixes. If you want a best sitemap plugin wordpress alternative that prioritizes visitor-facing navigation, this is a viable choice—provided your WordPress version stays near 4.8.
Installation & Setup
Installing WP Realtime Sitemap is straightforward for any user. You can download and upload the plugin folder to /wp-content/plugins/, or search for it directly from your WordPress admin panel under Plugins > Add New. After activation, create a new page, insert the shortcode [wp-realtime-sitemap], and publish it—no configuration needed to see results. The plugin requires WordPress 3.0 or higher, but its tested compatibility stops at version 1.5.7.
Support & Community
Support for WP Realtime Sitemap is effectively dormant. Over the last two months, the plugin forum shows 0 open threads and 0 resolved threads, giving a 0% resolution rate. This means users cannot rely on developer assistance for troubleshooting. The 84% five-star reviews indicate many users had smooth experiences, but the 8% one-star ratings likely reflect issues that went unaddressed. With version 1.5.7 last updated Nov 28, 2017, potential adopters should test the plugin thoroughly on a staging site before deployment. Donations and translation contributions remain the only community interaction channels.
Pros & Cons
- With over 10K+ active installs and a 4.6/5 rating from 25 reviews, this plugin is widely trusted and well-regarded by users.
- 84% of its 25 ratings are 5-star, indicating a high level of user satisfaction with its straightforward sitemap functionality.
- It supports ordering and display of WP Nav Menu, Pages, Posts, Custom Post Types, Archives, Categories, and Tags without requiring template edits or coding knowledge.
- The plugin includes a shortcode for embedding the sitemap into any page or post, and works with WordPress Multisite and WPML for multilingual setups.
- It offers granular control via options to exclude specific IDs, limit item counts, and choose between bullet lists or tag clouds for categories and tags.
- The plugin does not generate XML sitemaps for search engines, limiting its use to human-readable sitemaps only.
- It has zero resolved support threads out of zero total, suggesting either a lack of community support or that the developer is not actively monitoring the forum.
- With only 25 ratings total, the sample size is small, making the high rating less statistically reliable than plugins with hundreds or thousands of reviews.
- The plugin has not been updated recently (based on the provided facts), which may raise concerns about ongoing compatibility with the latest WordPress versions.
Technical Details
- Requires WordPress
- 3.0+
- Tested up to WP
- 4.8.28
- First Released
- 2010 (16+ years)
- Support (last 2 months)
- 0 threads
Feature Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, WP Realtime Sitemap is completely free and available on WordPress.org, with over 10K+ active installs and a rating of 4.6/5.
WP Realtime Sitemap has over 10K+ active installs, based on WordPress.org data, and has been rated 4.6/5 by 25 users.
WP Realtime Sitemap requires WordPress 3.0 or higher and has been tested up to WordPress 4.8.28, so it works with older but not the latest versions.
WP Realtime Sitemap was last updated on Nov 28, 2017 and is currently at version 1.5.7, but with 0 support threads in the last 2 months, updates are infrequent.
The plugin facts do not specify a required PHP version, but since it requires WordPress 3.0+, it likely works with PHP 5.2 or later, though you should check your server.
Support is limited: there have been 0 total support threads in the last 2 months, and 0 resolved, so most users rely on the plugin's settings and documentation.
Yes, it is designed for beginners with no HTML or PHP knowledge needed—you just install it, add the shortcode [wp-realtime-sitemap] to a page, and customize via the settings page.
Key features include ordering and showing/hiding pages, posts, custom post types, archives, categories, and tags, plus options for tag clouds, exclusion by ID, and hierarchical lists, all without template edits.