ROBOTSTXT Software

robots.txt Editor

Edits the real robots.txt file on disk from wp-admin, using WP_Filesystem.

Information

Author:

ROBOTSTXT

Download

Price:

€0.00
Log in to download

A free ROBOTSTXT account is required. Log in, then install the Manager (by ROBOTSTXT) plugin on your site and connect it with your API key to install this plugin and receive updates — at no cost.

Requirements

Version:

1.0.4

WordPress:

4.0

–

7.1

PHP >=

7.1

Changelog

1.0.4

Release date: 2026-08-24

Highlights

  • Manager (by ROBOTSTXT) detection now uses the ecosystem presence constant, keeping the plugin in sync with the rest of the ROBOTSTXT ecosystem.

Changed

  • rtpe_is_manager_active() checks ROBOTSTXT_MANAGER_NOTICED first (defined as true by Manager 1.6.2+), so no plugin-list scan is needed on current Manager versions.
  • Falls back to a get_plugins() + is_plugin_active() scan when the constant is absent (older Manager versions); the fallback covers per-site, network, and single-file installs.
  • Declared minimum WordPress version raised from 4.0 to 4.7, the floor of the tested compatibility range (4.7-7.2); the highest WordPress version in the current support window is 7.1.

Compatibility

  • WordPress: 4.7 – 7.1
  • PHP: 7.1 – 8.5

Tests

  • PHP Coding Standards: 3.13.6
  • WordPress Coding Standards: 3.4.1
  • PHPStan: 2.2.9 (level 9)
  • PHPUnit: 9.6.36 (coverage > 80%)

1.0.3

Release date: 2026-08-18

Highlights

  • Reference templates on the editor page: click to view the code, copy it manually — nothing is applied automatically.

Added

  • Templates section below the editor with five reference robots.txt templates:
  • Allow everything
  • Block everything
  • Block generic bots, allow the major ones (Google, Bing, Yahoo…) — with a note that rule order matters
  • Block AI bots (training/RAG scraping) — with a note that ignoring bots must be handled at the firewall/WAF or fail2ban
  • Typical WordPress — with a reminder to replace the sitemap URL
  • Templates are display-only; the plugin never writes template content to the file.

Compatibility

  • WordPress: 4.0 – 7.1
  • PHP: 7.1 – 8.5

Tests

  • PHP Coding Standards: 3.13.6
  • WordPress Coding Standards: 3.4.1
  • PHPStan: 2.2.8 (level 9)
  • PHPUnit: 9.6.36 (coverage > 80%)

1.0.2

Release date: 2026-08-18

Highlights

  • Automatic updates are now delivered through Manager (by ROBOTSTXT); the plugin tells you when the manager is missing.

Added

  • Delete robots.txt button (with confirmation) next to Save: removes the physical file so WordPress serves its default virtual robots.txt again.
  • When the file is missing or empty, the editor pre-fills the required first line User-agent: .
  • Dismissible notice on the plugin list page (including the network plugins screen) when Manager (by ROBOTSTXT) is not installed and active, linking to https://www.robotstxt.software/plugins/robotstxt-manager/
  • Manager detection covers both per-site and network activation.
  • Permanent (non-dismissible) notice on the editor settings page with the same recommendation.
  • Network: true header — network-wide activation on Multisite.
  • Translations: Spanish (es_ES) and Catalan (ca), loaded from the /languages directory.
  • uninstall.php (the plugin stores no data; files on disk are always preserved).
  • Server-side 1 MiB limit on the robots.txt content; accessible textarea label.

Changed

  • Plugin renamed to robots.txt Editor (by ROBOTSTXT).
  • Plugin URI, Author URI and Update URI now point to https://www.robotstxt.software/.
  • Contributor list: robotstxt first, then javiercasares.
  • License declared as GPL-3.0-or-later.
  • Declared minimum versions reflect the real compatibility floor: WordPress 4.0, PHP 7.1.
  • The editor payload is preserved through the FTP/SSH credentials form.

Fixed

  • Hardened save/restore form handling (action value sanitized, nonce verified before processing).
  • File owner/group display no longer emits warnings when POSIX functions return no data.
  • Saving is aborted when the pre-save backup cannot be written, so the original file is never left unprotected.
  • Write-failure message is fully translatable.

Security

  • Multisite: editing the network-wide robots.txt now requires super-admin capability (manage_network_options); single sites keep manage_options.
  • Save/restore actions verified with a shared nonce and the proper capability on rendering and execution.
  • Admin notices built with esc_url()/wp_kses(); textarea output escaped with esc_textarea().

Compatibility

  • WordPress: 4.0 – 7.1
  • PHP: 7.1 – 8.5

Tests

  • PHP Coding Standards: 3.13.6
  • WordPress Coding Standards: 3.4.1
  • PHPStan: 2.2.8 (level 9)
  • PHPUnit: 9.6.36 (coverage > 80%)

1.0.1

Release date: unknown

  • Maintenance release.

1.0.0

Release date: unknown*

  • Initial release.