Robots.txt
5-15 minIntermediate
Joomla includes a default robots.txt.txt file that you must rename to robots.txt to activate. Editing it is manual.
Prerequisites
- FTP or Hosting File Manager
Easy Recommended
Manual File Renaming & Editing
Joomla provides a template file you need to activate.
1
Activate File
1
Access site root via FTP.
2
Locate robots.txt.dist.
3
Rename it to robots.txt.
2
Edit Rules
1
Open robots.txt.
2
Review Disallow rules.
3
Joomla defaults block /administrator, /bin, /cache, etc.
4
Ensure /images and /media are ALLOWED if you want images indexed.
Best Practices
Do
- Keep /administrator blocked
- Unblock /images if it was blocked by old Joomla versions
Don't
- Block /templates directory (prevents mobile rendering)
Verification Checklist
- Check yoursite.com/robots.txt
Pro Tips
- Plugins like 'JSitemap' can also help manage this virtually.