Title: Google Webmaster Tools Errors – Missing Author, Missing Updated
Last modified: August 24, 2016
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# Google Webmaster Tools Errors – Missing Author, Missing Updated
* [asianblackcouples](https://wordpress.org/support/users/asianblackcouples/)
* (@asianblackcouples)
* [11 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/google-webmaster-tools-errors-missing-author-missing-updated/)
* I have searched the internet high and low for a couple of months now to find
ways to eliminate the Missing Author and Missing Updated errors that show up
in the Google Webmaster Tools Structured Data test. These errors are apparently
related to your theme and I have seen many themes in my research that create
these errors including the TwentyFifteen theme which I use. I have considered
changing themes, but fixing all the related minor formatting issues produced
by changing themes was not my idea of a good time. Also apparently most, if not
all of the WP default themes produce these errors – not sure why WP doesn’t address
this.
* Through trial and error using the bits and pieces of information I found on the
web (using a child theme of course), I have reduced my original 250 errors down
to about 100 errors. My remaining errors are all either missing author on category
pages OR missing updated on pages. Does anyone know how to fix these errors on
category pages or pages? All of my post pages are now error free at this point.
Also even if you don’t know how to fix these errors, if you can point me to where
the category pages are handled in the theme files, I can do more trial and error
from there.
* Thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide.
Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
* [Luke Chiodo](https://wordpress.org/support/users/lukechiodo/)
* (@lukechiodo)
* [10 years, 10 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/google-webmaster-tools-errors-missing-author-missing-updated/#post-6144227)
* Anyone got a solution to this recurring problem? I’m desperate, and most posts
talking of a fix don’t seem to work on the Twenty Fifteen theme.
**Please help!**
Luke. Australia.
* [colefire88](https://wordpress.org/support/users/colefire88/)
* (@colefire88)
* [10 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/google-webmaster-tools-errors-missing-author-missing-updated/#post-6144260)
* I’m In the same boat. Updated missing and author missing on my pages.
* [albdarned](https://wordpress.org/support/users/albdarned/)
* (@albdarned)
* [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/google-webmaster-tools-errors-missing-author-missing-updated/#post-6144263)
* Same here … have searched & tried many bits of code to fix this error, all to
no avail:( Also considering scrapping all the work done on this theme so far
and starting over. I’m surprised it’s so hard to find a fix for such a popular
base theme.
* [Luke Chiodo](https://wordpress.org/support/users/lukechiodo/)
* (@lukechiodo)
* [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/google-webmaster-tools-errors-missing-author-missing-updated/#post-6144264)
* Hello. I’m using a modified version of Twenty Eleven Theme. This will work on
Twenty Fifteen, or any theme that doesn’t employ Author, Post Date etc. It works
for me perfectly!
* 1. Add this at the end of the ‘function.php’ file:
* /* Fix “Missing Author” and “Missing Updated” issue – START */
add_filter( ‘
the_content’, ‘custom_author_code’); function custom_author_code($content) {
if (is_singular() || is_single()) { return $content . ‘’ ; } else {
return $content; } } /* Fix “Missing Author” and “Missing Updated” issue – END*/
* /* Fix “Missing Entry Title” issue – START */
//add hatom data function add_suf_hatom_data(
$content) { $t = get_the_modified_time(‘F jS, Y’); $author = get_the_author();
$title = get_the_title(); if (is_home() || is_singular() || is_archive() ) {
$content .= ‘’; } return $content; } add_filter(‘the_content’, ‘add_suf_hatom_data’);/*
Fix “Missing Entry Title” issue – END */
* 2. Add this to your ‘Custom CSS’. If you don’t have it, just search and install**
WP Add Custom CSS plugin** (author daniele de santis):
* /* Customise hatom structure */
.hatom-extra { font-style: none; color: #444444;
font-size: 10px; margin-top: 6px; margin-bottom: 6px; padding-top: 10px; padding-
left: 0px; }
* 3. Jump onto Google Webmaster Console and fetch your website. Wait a couple of
days, and slowly but surely, the Google console errors will disappear as Google
crawls your site.
* Good luck.
Luke.
* [albdarned](https://wordpress.org/support/users/albdarned/)
* (@albdarned)
* [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/google-webmaster-tools-errors-missing-author-missing-updated/#post-6144265)
* Thank you Luke!!!
* This is the best result I’ve had so far from trying numerous bits of code (I
am far from being a competent coder myself, but I can cut & paste ok and I’m
starting to slowly absorb a few whiffs of what does what).
* Using the Google structured data testing tool, your instructions seem to have
added the author/updated fields to all but one of my pages. I’ll poke around
later to try to figure out why the last one hasn’t been fixed.
* The code has also however appended another line to the bottom of each page –
along the lines of “Services was last updated by Al” where ‘services’ is the
name of the page and ‘Al’ is the author.
* Site is handyal.ca btw.
* Anyway, this is clearly the best step forward so far so thanks again Luke!!!
* [Luke Chiodo](https://wordpress.org/support/users/lukechiodo/)
* (@lukechiodo)
* [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/google-webmaster-tools-errors-missing-author-missing-updated/#post-6144266)
* Hey again.
Happy it worked.
* [albdarned](https://wordpress.org/support/users/albdarned/)
* (@albdarned)
* [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/google-webmaster-tools-errors-missing-author-missing-updated/#post-6144267)
* Update – I don’t know why the one page wasn’t working on the structured data
tool originally, when I went to check again later they were all working, so even
better!
* I seem to have gotten rid of the extra text line appearing at the bottom of the
pages by making two changes to the functions.php code posted by Luke above. First
I added this bit found in the second section of that code:
* style=”display:none;visibility:hidden;”
* to the corresponding location in the first section. Then I added these bits from
the second section:
* is_home() ||
|| is_archive()
* to the corresponding locations in the first section as well.
* So that whole piece of code then now looks like this:
* /* Fix “Missing Author” and “Missing Updated” issue – START */
add_filter( ‘
the_content’, ‘custom_author_code’); function custom_author_code($content) {
if (is_home() || is_singular() || is_single() || is_archive()) { return $content.‘
’ ; } else { return $content;}}/*
Fix “Missing Author” and “Missing Updated” issue – END */
* /* Fix “Missing Entry Title” issue – START */
//add hatom data function add_suf_hatom_data(
$content) { $t = get_the_modified_time(‘F jS, Y’); $author = get_the_author();
$title = get_the_title(); if (is_home() || is_singular() || is_archive() ) {
$content .= ‘’; } return $content; } add_filter(‘the_content’, ‘add_suf_hatom_data’);/*
Fix “Missing Entry Title” issue – END */
* As noted above, I am no coder so use at your own risk & I probably broke something
else that I just haven’t noticed yet, but my fingers are crossed that this has
done the trick:)
* Thanks again Luke!!!
* [albdarned](https://wordpress.org/support/users/albdarned/)
* (@albdarned)
* [10 years, 4 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/google-webmaster-tools-errors-missing-author-missing-updated/#post-6144268)
* Further update, the hatom author & updated errors have indeed cleaned themselves
up in the google console structured data.
* [chasndav](https://wordpress.org/support/users/chasndav/)
* (@chasndav)
* [10 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/google-webmaster-tools-errors-missing-author-missing-updated/#post-6144269)
* I have the same issue but only with tags, categories and authors (category/news
for example). I am using a plugin to fix the problem everywhere else on my site(
i.e. I am not getting any missing:updated, missing:author or missing:entry-title
errors on any pages on my site) but when I use the Sturctured Data Testing tool
any one of these:
* /category/(name of category)
/tag/(name of tag) /author/(name of author)
* has the “missing:updated” error.
* Since each of these can have several posts associated with them (i.e. the “author”
could have written several posts) when you do the structured data test you see
a published date for each, but not an updated date; however, you do see the entry-
title and author information of the individual posts associated with the author/
category/tag in question yet and thus I am not getting the missing:author and
missing:entry title errors for any of these, just the missing:updated.
* If however you test the individual posts that are attached to any of these, you
see an “updated” date as opposed to a “published” date and thus the posts themselves
to not have errors.
* Been searching high and low for answers and have gotten a bunch….but no actual
fix.
Viewing 9 replies - 1 through 9 (of 9 total)
The topic ‘Google Webmaster Tools Errors – Missing Author, Missing Updated’ is closed
to new replies.
* 
* Twenty Fifteen
* [Support Threads](https://wordpress.org/support/theme/twentyfifteen/)
* [Active Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/theme/twentyfifteen/active/)
* [Unresolved Topics](https://wordpress.org/support/theme/twentyfifteen/unresolved/)
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## Tags
* [missing author](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/missing-author/)
* [Missing Updated](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/missing-updated/)
* [structured data errors](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/structured-data-errors/)
* 9 replies
* 5 participants
* Last reply from: [chasndav](https://wordpress.org/support/users/chasndav/)
* Last activity: [10 years, 2 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/google-webmaster-tools-errors-missing-author-missing-updated/#post-6144269)
* Status: not resolved