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New Search Console Discussion forum fails

+1 vote
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in Q2A Core by
Maybe you haven't notice but there is a new "Discussion forum" thing in Google Search Console.

Since this was introduced, it marks as "invalid" all the URLs because:

1- Missing field "author"

2- "Comment" object must be nested inside a "CreativeWork" object

Traffic will go to cero if this is not fixed quick in Q2A and Themes.

Anyone knows a fix for this?
Q2A version: 1.8.8

1 Answer

+4 votes
by
edited by

Q2A is not a discussion forum. The Google Search Console has a specific type of structured data for sites using the Q&A format. Make sure to use that instead.

The type should be featured in the <html> tags of question pages like this, since Q2A by default has schema.org microdata enabled:

<html lang="en" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/QAPage">

by
And I understand, my question is for looking into how to update a theme or what to modify to fix the problem.

People will start to ask and ask about this.

https://www.question2answer.org/qa/111681/

https://www.question2answer.org/qa/111663/

Because Q&A is being treated as a forum by Google, so as I am pretty sure that no author will update their abandoned themes and no one will update all existing themes, a little guide in what to fix and where to fix things may help.

Thanks.
by
Q2A by default includes schema.org microdata information, which correctly indicates "QAPage", at least on my own site. According to Google's own documentation (https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/sd-policies#format ) microdata is supported by them.

If this doesn't work for you then you need to check if you disabled microdata (Administration center > Viewing > Use schema.org microdata) or have something in place that changes it in some way.
by
I have microdata enabled.

Any idea how and where to fix the specific problems mentioned?

1- Missing field "author"

2- "Comment" object must be nested inside a "CreativeWork" object

Happy New Year!

Thanks.
by
Please view the source of your question pages and check if the <html> tags contains the attributes itemscope (without value) and itemtype="https://schema.org/QAPage". If they don't you need to find out why your install doesn't render the correct microdata. If they do you need to ask Google why they incorrectly identify your question pages as DiscussionForumPosting.
by
I don't have itemscope or itemtype anywhere and I don't have anything that prevents that.

Can be a themes problem as also happens in the other opened questions.

Maybe there is something required in the themes missing and knowing what and where can help.

Thank you.
by
Q2A automatically adds the microdata information to the content data structures from where the attributes are usually rendered automatically by base theme methods. However, should your theme (which you elected to not disclose) override the respective base theme methods without handling the microdata attributes, you need to modify the theme. That's all I can tell you, since my crystal ball is currently at the cleaner's.
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