Thin pages and noindex
On this page
A translated page that is mostly in the original language is a poor result for a search in the new language. It can also hurt how search engines judge your site. The product therefore holds back such pages.
What happens on WordPress#
Every translated page has a coverage figure: the share of its text that has a translation. If the figure is below a limit, the page:
- gets a
noindexinstruction, so search engines do not list it, - is left out of the hreflang set, in both directions,
- is left out of the translated sitemap.
The default limit is 50 percent. The owner approved that default on 2026-10-28 (decision D49).
This has been tested in isolation and has not been tried on a real WordPress site: verify.
The page still works for visitors. They can read it and switch language as usual.
What happens in the framework kits#
The setting is minCoverage, and its default is 0, so every page is written. If you set a higher value, pages below it are not written at all and get no hreflang. The report lists the strings that are missing.
How to fix a held-back page#
- Open the editor and filter for Untranslated.
- Translate the strings of that page, then publish.
- Once the page passes the limit, the tags and sitemap entry appear.
What counts as translated#
Coverage is measured against your published translation files. Machine translations are included in those files, so they count even when nobody has read them. See Machine and reviewed translations.