Title: Does Robots Meta replace robots.txt?
Last modified: August 19, 2016

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# Does Robots Meta replace robots.txt?

 *  [billbennett](https://wordpress.org/support/users/billbennett/)
 * (@billbennett)
 * [16 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/does-robots-meta-replace-robotstxt/)
 * Does Robots Meta replace robots.txt?
 * I realise this may sound like a dumb question, but I can’t find anything in any
   documentation to answer the question. There are references to Robots Meta _conflicting_
   with robots.txt but that’s not quite the same.

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

 *  [s_ha_dum](https://wordpress.org/support/users/apljdi/)
 * (@apljdi)
 * [16 years, 9 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/does-robots-meta-replace-robotstxt/#post-1190535)
 * The way I understand it…
 * The robots protocols are sort-of _ad hoc_ and they have no teeth. They work entirely
   on a good faith basis. Whether a particular bot reads one, both, or neither depends
   upon the bot. Likewise, with whether a bot prioritizes one over the other. Its
   not like, for example, the `.htaccess` protocols that are enforced by the Apache
   web server. To defeat `.htaccess`, you have to defeat Apache or at least a small
   part of it. Robots instructions just sit in a file and the bot reads them and
   obeys them, or not, depending upon the bot. And something to think about, you
   can’t secure information with robots directives, but you can reveal away information
   with them.
 * I don’t think there is a good answer to your question.
 *  [eucopyright](https://wordpress.org/support/users/eucopyright/)
 * (@eucopyright)
 * [16 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/does-robots-meta-replace-robotstxt/#post-1190972)
 * They do different things in my book…
 * robots.txt tells a bot where NOT to go.
    sitemap.xml tells a bot where TO go.
 * Robots meta tags are just a more vague instruction that cannot go into details
   about particular folders, but must be put on each individual page.
 * Meta tags cannot tell bots not to index images, for example. Robots.txt can.
 * I don’t sweat it… I use a sitemap and generate my robots.txt file with a [robots generator](http://www.RobotsGenerator.com).
   
   🙂

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)

The topic ‘Does Robots Meta replace robots.txt?’ is closed to new replies.

 * In: [Installing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/installation/)
 * 2 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [eucopyright](https://wordpress.org/support/users/eucopyright/)
 * Last activity: [16 years, 1 month ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/does-robots-meta-replace-robotstxt/#post-1190972)
 * Status: not resolved

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