Citelayer® Markdown Configuration — Post Types, Archives & Exclusions
What the Markdown Protocol Does (Brief Recap)
Citelayer®’s Markdown protocol generates a clean, plain-text Markdown version of each page at a predictable URL: append .md to any page URL and you get the Markdown version. AI crawlers increasingly prefer this format because it strips navigation, sidebars, and HTML noise, leaving only the actual content.
You can verify that Markdown output is working on your site by visiting your homepage with .md appended:
https://yoursite.com/.mdIf you see raw Markdown text instead of your designed page, the protocol is active and working.
The configuration options described in this article control which pages get Markdown versions and which pages are excluded.
Choosing Post Types
Under Citelayer® → Settings → Markdown, the Post Types section shows all public post types registered on your WordPress installation. Each one has a checkbox. Enable the post types you want to expose as Markdown.
Default: page and post are enabled.
These two cover most sites. If you run a site with custom post types — a portfolio, a knowledge base, an events calendar — you can enable those too by checking the corresponding box.
WooCommerce and EDD Post Types
If WooCommerce is active, the product post type appears in the list. If Easy Digital Downloads is active, the download post type appears. These are available with the WooCommerce Addon and EDD Addon respectively.
Enabling Markdown for products gives AI agents structured access to your product content. A product page converted to Markdown includes the title, description, pricing, and other textual data without the surrounding store interface. This is particularly useful when combined with the Product Feed, which provides structured data in a separate format.
If you’re running WooCommerce or EDD without the corresponding addon, the post type checkbox is visible but disabled, with a note indicating it requires the addon. There’s no partial access — you either have the addon or you don’t.
Archive Pages
In addition to individual post and page URLs, Citelayer® can generate Markdown versions of WordPress archive pages. Archives collect content by taxonomy term, author, date, or custom post type.
The Archive Types section lets you enable Markdown for:
- Category archives — e.g.,
yoursite.com/category/news/.md - Tag archives — e.g.,
yoursite.com/tag/wordpress/.md - Author archives — e.g.,
yoursite.com/author/jane/.md - Date archives — monthly and yearly archives
- Custom post type archives — if a custom post type has an archive enabled
Archive Markdown output lists the content items in the archive with titles, dates, excerpts (if available), and links. For AI systems trying to understand the shape of your site’s content, archive pages provide a useful overview that individual post pages don’t.
None of these are enabled by default. Most sites won’t need them. If you have a content-heavy site where taxonomy structure matters — a recipe blog organized by cuisine, a news site organized by topic — enabling category archives is worth considering.
Excluding Individual Pages
Not every page should get a Markdown version. Contact forms, checkout pages, account areas, and private landing pages are examples of content that has no value in Markdown form and that you wouldn’t want AI systems to freely index.
The Exclusions section provides a search interface for finding specific posts and pages and adding them to the exclusion list. Type a title or URL fragment, select from the autocomplete suggestions, and the page is added. Excluded pages return a 404 for .md requests.
The exclusion list is stored in the WordPress option citelayer_markdown_exclude as an array of post IDs.
Per-Post Control with the Metabox
For finer control, Citelayer® adds a metabox to the post editor called Citelayer® Settings. It appears in the sidebar alongside other post-specific settings.
The metabox contains a single toggle: Disable Markdown for this post. Checking it excludes the current post from Markdown output, equivalent to adding it to the global exclusion list — but more convenient when you’re already editing the post.
This per-post override is useful for content that’s temporarily not ready for AI indexing: drafts promoted to published, time-sensitive content being revised, posts with embargoed information. Enable Markdown globally for the post type, and use the metabox to exclude the exceptions.
Feature Introduction Card
If you’ve just enabled the Markdown protocol and want to understand the technical mechanics, the settings page includes a What does this do for me? card at the top. It explains the protocol in plain language and links to this documentation.
The card has a collapsible Technical Details section for developers who want to understand the underlying rewrite rules and URL structure without leaving the admin.
SEO Plugin Compatibility
Citelayer®’s Markdown protocol works alongside SEO plugins, not against them. Markdown URLs (.md extensions) are separate from your canonical HTML URLs and don’t compete with them in search index terms.
The settings page displays a Compatibility Banner indicating the current mode:
Enhancement Mode — Citelayer® is running alongside your SEO plugin without conflicts. Both operate on their respective domains.
Override Mode — A setting interaction has been detected that could cause conflicts. The banner explains what the conflict is and how to resolve it.
If you see Override Mode, check whether your SEO plugin has any rules that affect custom URL patterns or rewrite rules. In most configurations, Enhancement Mode is the natural state.
Checking That Markdown Is Working
After configuring your post types and exclusions, the simplest verification is visiting a post URL with .md appended. You should see plain Markdown text in your browser.
For a more systematic check, the AI Readiness Scanner includes a verification step. You can also check which AI bots are reading your Markdown endpoints using the Bot Analytics dashboard — filter the Crawler Logs by URL path to see .md requests specifically.