How does Drupal Simple XML Sitemap handle translations?

Definition: As of 17 October 2026, Drupal Simple XML Sitemap supports multilingual XML sitemaps, files that list a site's URLs for search engines. Its hreflang annotations connect a page's language-specific URLs as alternate versions of the same content.

Key facts

• Drupal's project documentation describes multilingual sitemap support for entities, views and custom links. Entities are Drupal content objects, such as nodes and taxonomy terms.
• The module's release README identifies default_hreflang as a supplied sitemap type and /sitemap.xml as the default sitemap address.
• The language settings form offers “Skip non-existent translations” and “Exclude languages” to control which language URLs are generated.

Which language URLs are included?

In the settings implementation, enabling “Skip non-existent translations” restricts entity links to languages into which the entity has been translated, subject to language exclusions. With this option disabled, entity links are generated for every installed language except excluded languages. The same setting's help text specifies that non-entity paths, such as the homepage, receive URLs for every non-excluded language.

When filtering to available translations, the entity URL generator checks whether a translated entity is viewable by an anonymous user before including its translation URL. It attaches the same set of alternate URLs to each generated language variant. Reviewing both translation availability and anonymous access therefore helps explain a missing entity URL.

Does each language need a separate sitemap?

The module's README describes separate sitemap instances, each with its own links and address, and a supplied default_hreflang sitemap type. An instance is a configured sitemap; a language variant is a language-specific page URL within its content. The supplied hreflang format can represent language alternatives together in a sitemap.

The same documentation places sitemap management at the following administration path:

/admin/config/search/simplesitemap

Content inclusion also needs configuration. The README states that the default sitemap initially contains only the homepage, and directs administrators to admin/config/search/simplesitemap/entities to enable entity types.

How can the generated language annotations be checked?

The usage instructions describe manual generation from the sitemap administration page and viewing the XML source with Ctrl+U. After regeneration, the default output is available at /sitemap.xml.

Google's localized-page documentation, updated 21 September 2026, specifies a separate <url> element for each language URL, with a <loc> identifying that page and <xhtml:link> children listing every alternate, including itself. This annotation uses the English URL from Google's example:

<xhtml:link rel="alternate" hreflang="en"
            href="https://www.example.com/english/page.html"/>

Each page's entry needs the complete alternate set. The surrounding sitemap also declares xmlns:xhtml="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml".

Related terms

• XML sitemap
• hreflang
• How do I generate a sitemap with Drupal Simple XML Sitemap?
• How do I exclude a Drupal entity from Simple XML Sitemap?

FAQ

Why are alternate links absent even though languages are installed?

The module's multilingual check requires Drupal's Language module, an enabled URL language negotiation method and more than one non-excluded language. Check those prerequisites if your sitemap lacks language alternatives.

Can I keep hreflang annotations in both HTML and the sitemap?

Yes. Google's documentation treats HTML, HTTP headers and sitemaps as equivalent methods and permits simultaneous use. It states that combining the methods adds no Search benefit and can make maintenance harder.

Sources

1. Drupal.org, "Simple XML sitemap" project record, undated
2. Simple XML Sitemap project, "README.md", release 4.2.3
3. Simple XML Sitemap project, "SettingsForm.php", release 4.2.3
4. Simple XML Sitemap project, "EntityUrlGeneratorBase.php", release 4.2.3
5. Simple XML Sitemap project, "SimpleSitemap.php", release 4.2.3
6. Google Search Central, "Tell Google about localized versions of your page", 21 September 2026

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