openedx / openedx/axim-engineering

Our Sandboxes are getting indexed by Google

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github-request
Dominant language
Python
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4
Forks
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Description

Our sandboxes login pages are getting indexed and confusing search results. Can we add a directive to prevent this going forward?

The Semrush page data shows that sandbox.openedx.org/login is the second highest traffic page across all Open edX properties. Its top keyword is edx login.
Apply noindex at the subdomain level. Alternatively, use Disallow: / in a subdomain robots.txt file and submit removal requests. Confirm the ownership first. These subdomains may belong to engineering and not to the website vendor.

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First steps

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  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by confirming ownership of the sandbox subdomains, especially sandbox.openedx.org, and determine whether engineering or the website vendor controls their robots.txt or page directives. Compare applying a subdomain-level noindex with Disallow: / in robots.txt; the work is done when sandbox login pages stop appearing in search results and any needed removal requests are submitted.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
search
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Active
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
48/100

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