I switched the theme of this blog from GeneratePress to Kadence about two months ago, and then reverted back to GeneratePress yesterday. After switching to the Kadence theme, I encountered some issues with Google Search Console, where the number of 'Breadcrumbs' items drastically decreased, and the 'Discussion Forum' items dropped to zero.
The breadcrumb issue was resolved by replacing Kadence's breadcrumbs with those from Rank Math, but the Discussion Forum issue persisted with a count of zero.
After switching back to the GeneratePress theme, the number of Discussion Forum items began to increase. It appears that the drop to zero discussion forum items was a problem inherent to the Kadence theme. Additionally, there was one invalid forum item, which I identified and removed.
Google Search Console Breadcrumb Issues
After applying the Kadence theme to my WordPress blog, the number of breadcrumb items continuously declined. Suspecting that Kadence's breadcrumbs were the cause, I switched to Rank Math's breadcrumbs, which began to improve the situation.
If you are using the Kadence theme, I recommend not using its breadcrumb feature. Instead, opt for the breadcrumb functionality provided by Rank Math or Yoast SEO for better results.
Google Search Console Discussion Forum Issue
After switching to the Kadence theme, the number of discussion forum items plummeted to zero.😥
I switched back to the GeneratePress theme the day before yesterday, and today, I noticed that the number of Discussion forum items has started to increase.
After switching to the Kadence theme, the discussion forum item count in Google Search Console dropped from over 9,700 to zero. However, after reverting to the GeneratePress theme yesterday, today I observed an increase in items, reaching 2,500. I anticipate that the original count will be restored within a month.
Invalid Discussion Forum Items
One item in the discussion forum section was marked as invalid. This issue was present even before the theme change.
The following issues were identified for the invalid item:
- The 'datePublished' field is missing.
- The 'author' field is missing.
- The 'text' field is missing.
Upon investigation, it seems that the problem arose due to incorrect HTML tags included in a comment.
The problematic code section includes:
<li id="document-answer-6464" itemtype="http://schema.org/Comment" itemscope="">
<div class="document-answer" itemprop="description">
<p>In the /kboard/class/KBFileHandler.class.php file,</p>
<p>function upload($name, $extension=array(), $extension_type=1, <strong>$limit_file_size=10485760</strong>)</p>
<p>$limit_file_size - changing this value can adjust the upload capacity.</p>
</div>
</li>I noticed that this comment included incorrect tags, particularly problematic might have been the itemtype="http://schema.org/Comment" itemscope="" part.
It seems that WordPress has been updated to remove HTML tags from comment fields upon entry. However, the problematic comment was originally added in 2015, a time when WordPress did not filter HTML tags from comments.
To prevent issues, consider configuring warnings when HTML codes are entered in comments, as these tags are automatically removed. I have set up notifications on the Korean site of this blog to alert users when HTML tags are entered in comments.
To resolve the issue, the problematic comment could be deleted or the HTML tags removed. I opted to remove the HTML tags. To strip HTML formatting, copy the comment, paste it into Notepad, and then re-enter it into the comment field; this process removes all formatting.
Conclusion
The discussion forum in Google Search Console seems to be related to WordPress comments. Both valid and invalid items appeared related to comment issues.
While the Kadence theme offers fast performance and decent features even in its free version, it seems to have SEO issues. I experienced several SEO problems after switching to this theme, prompting me to revert to GeneratePress, which had been previously applied.
In hindsight, it would have been better if the theme developers had paid more attention to these issues. If your site is functioning well, you should be cautious about changing themes. I switched to the Kadence theme based on a recommendation from a local company, which unfortunately led to this setback. Understanding that such issues can occur with the Kadence theme might help in managing SEO recovery, which can be time-consuming.
If you are considering a theme for your WordPress blog, GeneratePress might be a good option. It is well-regarded for its speed and lightness and has been validated by many users. Kadence, while not yet widely used in our country, could pose unexpected issues.