Is XML Sitemap & Google News still maintained?
Yes, but it is drifting. XML Sitemap & Google News is still getting releases, so somebody is there. What has slipped is its support forum, where 0% of threads are marked resolved, and that is usually the first visible sign of a plugin heading towards neglect rather than proof that it has arrived.
The evidence
Every figure below is read from the WordPress.org plugin directory. Nothing here is our assessment of the code.
| Last release | 10 June 2026 (3 months ago) |
|---|---|
| Current version | 5.7.7 |
| Tested up to | WordPress 7.0.4 (current is 7.1, 1 releases ahead) |
| Requires PHP | 5.6 |
| Active installs | At least 100,000 sites (the directory reports a rounded floor, not an exact count) |
| Support threads resolved | 0% of 1 in the last two months |
| Directory status | Listed |
| Read from the directory | 16 September 2026 |
What these signals mean
The "tested up to" field is the author telling you which WordPress version they last checked against. It goes stale on its own: WordPress ships roughly three times a year, so a field left alone falls behind whether or not the plugin itself has changed. A few releases behind usually means nobody has re-tested rather than that anything is broken.
The support forum is the more telling of the two. A plugin whose threads go unanswered is telling you what will happen when you have a question, and the answer usually arrives before the code stops working rather than after it.
What to do about it
Nothing to do today. This is a plugin to keep an eye on rather than one to replace.
What is worth doing is checking it again before your next major WordPress upgrade, and testing it on a staging copy rather than assuming. A tested-up-to version several releases behind is the author telling you they have not checked, which is exactly the thing staging exists to check for yourself.
Is a site you look after running XML Sitemap & Google News?
Our free WordPress plugin checker reads any public site and lists the plugins it loads, with the same maintenance signals as the table above for each one. No login and no signup, so it works on a client’s site before you have access to it.
Maintained alternatives
From the same category in the WordPress.org directory, filtered to plugins that have shipped a release in the last year and are installed on at least 10,000 sites. Chosen by those rules rather than by us, and worth checking against the same signals before you commit to one.
- Dynamic XML Sitemaps Generator for Google at least 20,000 sites, last updated 29 August 2026
- GN Publisher: Google News Compatible RSS Feeds at least 20,000 sites, last updated 9 September 2026
Questions
What does "tested up to 7.0.4" actually mean?
It is the author's own statement of the most recent WordPress version they checked the plugin against. It is not a compatibility guarantee and it is not enforced by anything: WordPress ships roughly three times a year, so the field goes stale on its own unless somebody re-tests and updates it. A plugin several releases behind has usually not been re-tested rather than been found to break.
Is XML Sitemap & Google News still safe to install?
It is still being released, so somebody is there, and nothing on this page says otherwise. What the signals suggest is drift rather than abandonment. Treat it as a plugin to re-check before your next major WordPress upgrade, and test it on a staging copy rather than assuming, which is what a stale tested-up-to version is telling you to do.
Is XML Sitemap & Google News a security risk?
We do not know, and nothing on this page is a security finding. Vulnerability data for WordPress plugins sits behind paid commercial APIs, and guessing at it from a version number either alarms people about plugins that are fine or implies that everything unflagged has been checked and is safe. Both are worse than saying nothing. What this page reports is maintenance: when the plugin last shipped, which WordPress version its author last tested against, how much of its support forum gets answered, and whether the directory still lists it. Those are facts the directory publishes, and they are what predicts whether a plugin will still work after the next core release.
Read from the WordPress.org plugin directory on 16 September 2026, and refreshed weekly. We report maintenance signals only, and never claim a plugin is insecure. All plugins we cover.