Stella SEO Plugin: Complete Documentation and User Guide

Stella SEO - Fast SEO + XML Sitemap plugin for WordPress

Stella SEO is a WordPress SEO plugin covering on-page SEO, XML sitemaps, metadata, schema, social sharing tags, and advanced technical SEO workflows.

This documentation covers both the free plugin and the Pro plugin, including installation, settings, metabox usage, sitemap controls, schema setup, diagnostics, bulk tools, and common troubleshooting.

1. Overview

Stella SEO is designed to give site owners and editors a practical SEO workflow directly inside WordPress. The plugin focuses on:

SEO titles and meta descriptions
Canonical and robots controls
Social metadata for Facebook, X, and LinkedIn
XML sitemap management
Structured data output
Diagnostics and SEO auditing
Bulk SEO editing and CSV workflows
Advanced Pro tools for redirects, schema, AI SEO, and specialized sitemaps

2. Free vs Pro

Free Plugin Includes

SEO title and meta description fields for posts and pages
Canonical tag output
Robots controls such as noindex and nofollow
Open Graph and Twitter/X metadata basics
Google snippet preview
Core XML sitemap controls
Post type and taxonomy sitemap controls
Exclude specific post IDs from sitemap output
Basic site schema (Organization + WebSite)
Integrations and technical tools
AI visibility checklist and basic diagnostics
Bulk editor lite / core bulk editing workflow

Pro Plugin Adds

Image, Video, News, Product, Date, and User/Author sitemaps
Schema Builder with advanced Organization and LocalBusiness controls
FAQ schema and HowTo schema in the post/page metabox
AI SEO Generation with provider/model settings
Redirect Rules manager
Advanced diagnostics and AI visibility checks
Bulk editor enhancements
CSV import/export for SEO metadata
Pro advanced tools and technical utilities

3. Installation

Free Plugin Installation

Upload the stella-seo plugin folder to /wp-content/plugins/.
Go to Plugins in WordPress admin.
Activate Stella SEO.
Open the Stella SEO menu in the admin sidebar.

Pro Plugin Installation

Install and activate the free Stella SEO plugin first.
Upload the stella-seo-pro plugin folder to /wp-content/plugins/.
Activate Stella SEO Pro.
The Pro features will extend the existing Stella SEO interface.

Important: The Pro plugin depends on the free plugin. If the free plugin is inactive, the Pro plugin should not be used alone.

4. Main Admin Pages

Stella SEO primarily works from these admin screens:

Stella SEO: main sitemap and core settings page
Integrations & Tools: technical settings, robots, schema baseline, diagnostics, bulk editing, import/export, and more
Pro Advanced Tools: Pro-only advanced controls such as schema builder and extended technical tools

5. Main Stella SEO Page

The main Stella SEO page focuses on sitemap and core SEO settings.

Sitemap Settings

Exclude Post IDs

Use this field to exclude specific posts or pages from sitemap output. Enter IDs separated by commas.

Example: 123, 456, 789

Sitemap Post Types

Select which post types should be included in the main WordPress sitemap output managed by Stella SEO.

Typical options include:

Posts
Pages
Any public custom post types registered on the site

Sitemap Taxonomies

Select which taxonomies should be included in the sitemap. Typical examples:

Categories
Tags
Custom taxonomies

Main Sitemap Fields

These options control which optional fields are added to the main sitemap URLs.

lastmod: Adds the last modified date for URLs.
changefreq: Adds a change frequency hint.
priority: Adds a priority hint.

Note: Search engines may ignore some sitemap hints such as changefreq and priority, but the fields are available if you want to include them.

Change Frequency Map

If changefreq is enabled, you can define different values for:

Home
Post
Taxonomy

Priority Map

If priority is enabled, you can define different values for:

Home
Post
Taxonomy

Main XML Sitemap Link

The page also shows the main sitemap URL so you can open and verify it quickly.

Data Cleanup

This option controls whether Stella SEO removes its saved data when the plugin is uninstalled.

Enabled: plugin data is deleted during uninstall
Disabled: plugin data is preserved

When Pro is active: the uninstall behavior should respect the plugin split, so free and Pro data can be managed independently.

6. Pro Sitemap Builder

When Pro is active, additional sitemap controls are shown in the Stella SEO interface.

Product Sitemap

Creates a sitemap for WooCommerce or product-type content.

Optional fields may include:

lastmod
image
title
caption

Image Sitemap

Creates a sitemap for images found in eligible content.

Optional fields may include:

lastmod
title
caption

Video Sitemap

Creates a video sitemap using required video fields for search engine compatibility.

Required fields are always included when video sitemap output is enabled.

Date Sitemap

Creates a date-based sitemap structure. This can help organize sitemap output by publication date.

User / Author Sitemap

Creates a user or author-based sitemap when enabled in Pro.

This is separate from the default WordPress user-related sitemap behavior and should only appear when the Pro feature is active.

News Sitemap

Creates a Google News style sitemap for eligible posts.

You can restrict this to selected categories so only news-eligible content appears.

Sitemap Links

Only enabled sitemap links should be shown in the UI. Disabled sitemap modules should not display public links.

7. Integrations & Tools Page

This page combines core technical features and utility tools.

Basic Site Schema

Enables baseline JSON-LD schema for:

Organization
WebSite

When Pro is active, advanced organization details can be overridden in the Pro schema tools.

Robots.txt Editor

Lets you manage custom robots.txt content where supported by the plugin workflow.

Use this carefully. A bad robots rule can block important content from crawling.

Auto Submit Sitemaps

When enabled, Stella SEO can notify supported services when new content is published and sitemap-related signals need refreshing.

IndexNow

IndexNow support can notify supported search engines about updated URLs. This typically requires an API key.

The plugin should explain where the key is needed and what the feature does.

LLMs.txt and LLMs-full.txt

These features help publish machine-readable guidance for AI systems and crawlers.

llms.txt: concise, curated summary or index of important site content
llms-full.txt: broader URL inventory, often with more links and configurable limits

llms.txt

Usually includes a concise intro and selected important URLs or content summaries.

llms-full.txt

Usually includes a much broader inventory. Related fields should only appear when the feature is enabled.

8. SEO Diagnostics

Stella SEO includes diagnostics to help identify optimization gaps.

Typical Checks

Posts/pages missing SEO Title
Posts/pages missing Meta Description
Duplicate SEO titles
Duplicate meta descriptions
Broken canonical URLs
Orphan pages/posts

View Posts / Quick Edit

For supported diagnostics, clicking the related action should open an inline management section so you can review items without leaving the page.

This view may include:

ID
Title
SEO Title
Meta Description
Quick-edit style controls
Pagination

Orphan Pages / Posts

An orphan page or post is content that exists on your site but is not well linked internally from other important pages.

This can affect SEO because search engines and users may have a harder time discovering it through normal site navigation.

Why It Matters

Weaker internal link signals
Lower discoverability
Poorer crawl efficiency
Missed ranking opportunities for useful content

How to Fix Orphan Content

Add internal links from related pages or posts
Include content in menus, hub pages, or category pages
Link from cornerstone or high-authority pages
Review whether low-value orphan pages should stay indexed

9. AI Visibility Checklist

This checklist summarizes key signals that help search engines and AI systems understand your content.

Typical Signals Reviewed

SEO title coverage
Meta description coverage
Structured data baseline
Sitemap discoverability
Robots safety
AI optimization pipeline
Fast indexing signals
Advanced structured data coverage
Specialized sitemap coverage
Multilingual context signals

Statuses may include:

PASS
WARNING
NEEDS WORK

10. Bulk Editor

The bulk editor is designed to help you review and update SEO metadata across many posts or pages from one screen.

Typical Fields

Post ID
Title
SEO Title
Meta Description
Focus Keyword
Robots settings

Clickable IDs and titles may be available to open the original post/page editor directly.

Pagination

The bulk editor should use pagination or soft-pagination style controls so large datasets remain manageable.

11. CSV Import and Export

Pro includes CSV export and import workflows for bulk SEO updates.

Export SEO Data

Exports metadata fields such as:

post_id
title
seo_title
seo_description
focus_keyword
noindex
nofollow
noarchive
nosnippet

Import SEO Data

The import flow should analyze the CSV before applying changes.

Expected Review States

New: no matching current SEO data found
Conflict: current SEO data differs from CSV data
Duplicate: same content already exists
ID Mismatch: title matches but CSV ID does not match the current system ID
Skipped: invalid or non-importable row

Recommended Workflow

Upload CSV
Analyze CSV
Review conflicts
Import safe rows only, or choose override options for conflicts

Conflict review tables should clearly separate:

Current SEO
CSV SEO

Differences should be easy to compare line by line.

12. Redirect Rules

Pro includes a redirect manager for mapping outdated URLs to new targets.

Common Fields

Source URL
Target URL
Status code
Enable/disable state

Typical Uses

Fix broken internal links
Redirect deleted or renamed pages
Consolidate duplicate content paths
Preserve SEO signals after URL changes

For usability, redirect lists should support:

Pagination
Add row / empty row handling
Edit and delete actions

13. Schema Builder (Pro Advanced Tools)

The Schema Builder lets you control advanced structured data output.

Organization Name Override

Overrides the default site name used in Organization schema.

Organization Logo Override

Lets you choose a logo specifically for schema output. If not set, the plugin may fall back to the site icon or custom logo if supported.

LocalBusiness Schema

When enabled, Stella SEO can generate LocalBusiness schema from collected fields rather than requiring raw JSON input.

Common LocalBusiness Fields

Business Name
Business Type
Phone
URL
Street Address
City
Region / State
Postal Code
Country
Latitude
Longitude
Opening Hours

Important: If LocalBusiness schema is enabled, required fields such as the business name should be validated and the UI should clearly show any missing required field.

14. Post/Page SEO Metabox

The metabox is where editors manage per-post or per-page SEO settings.

Tabs

General
Advanced
Social
FAQ Schema (Pro)
HowTo Schema (Pro)

General Tab

Generate SEO with AI

When AI SEO Generation is enabled in Pro, editors can generate metadata suggestions from AI directly in the metabox.

SEO Title

The SEO title used for search snippets and document title output.

Meta Description

The short search snippet description shown to search engines and social fallbacks.

Focus Keyword

A reference keyword used to guide optimization and editorial focus.

Advanced Tab

Noindex
Nofollow
Noarchive
Nosnippet
Canonical URL Override
Max Snippet
Max Image Preview
Max Video Preview

Canonical URL Override

Use this only when you intentionally want search engines to treat another URL as the canonical version.

Max Snippet

Controls snippet length hints. Use -1 for no limit.

Max Image Preview

Typical values: none, standard, large.

Max Video Preview

Maximum video preview duration in seconds. Use -1 for no limit.

Social Tab

Sync social title/description from SEO fields
Social Title
Social Description
Social Image URL
Twitter Creator

When sync is enabled, changes to SEO title and meta description should automatically update the corresponding social fields.

Preview Panels

The metabox also includes previews for:

Google snippet preview
Facebook preview
X/Twitter preview
LinkedIn preview

15. FAQ Schema Tab (Pro)

The FAQ Schema tab is used to add FAQPage schema to individual posts or pages.

Modes

Builder: guided field entry
JSON: manual JSON entry

Builder Mode

Use one line per item in the format:

Question || Answer

Example:

What does Stella SEO Pro do? || It adds advanced SEO tools like schema, redirects, diagnostics, and specialized sitemaps.
Do I need technical skills to use it? || No. Most features are available through guided settings and editor controls.

JSON Mode

For advanced users, you can provide raw FAQ schema JSON.

16. HowTo Schema Tab (Pro)

The HowTo Schema tab is used to add HowTo schema to individual posts or pages.

Modes

Builder
JSON

Builder Mode Fields

HowTo Name
Description
Total Time
Steps

Steps can be entered one line at a time, for example:

Write SEO title || Add a clear title with the main keyword near the beginning.
Write meta description || Summarize the page clearly and match search intent.
Review output || Check the snippet and social preview before publishing.

JSON Mode

Advanced users can paste manual HowTo schema JSON directly.

17. AI SEO Generation (Pro)

AI SEO Generation allows the plugin to connect to supported AI providers for generating metadata suggestions.

Typical Workflow

Enable AI SEO Generation in Pro settings
Select provider
Add API key
Fetch models
Select a model
Check connection
Use Generate SEO with AI in the metabox

Typical Provider Support

OpenAI
Claude
Gemini
OpenRouter

The plugin should clearly explain what provider is selected, where to add the API key, how to fetch models, and how to verify the connection.

18. User Guide / Help

Stella SEO can include a help panel or contextual documentation in the admin interface. This is useful for explaining each field directly where users need it.

A good help section should explain:

What each setting does
When to enable or disable it
Whether the field is optional or required
Whether the feature is free or Pro

19. Common Troubleshooting

My meta description did not change on the frontend

Check whether the SEO Meta Description field in the metabox already has a saved value. If it does, that value overrides fallback content such as the excerpt or post content.

My social description is not syncing

If sync is enabled, editing the SEO title and meta description should update the social title and description automatically. If it does not, check that the sync option is enabled and that the metabox JavaScript is loading correctly.

Why does a sitemap link return 404?

Make sure the sitemap type is enabled. Disabled sitemap modules should not be expected to resolve. If needed, refresh permalinks in WordPress.

Why is a logo not appearing in schema?

The plugin uses available logo sources such as schema override, site icon, or custom logo depending on the configuration. If no valid logo URL is found, the logo field should be omitted from schema.

Why are some values not showing in import conflict review?

Check whether the imported row is a duplicate, conflict, or ID mismatch. ID mismatch rows should compare against the current system post even if the CSV post ID is different.

20. Best Practices

Write unique SEO titles for important landing pages
Write meaningful meta descriptions instead of relying on auto-generated excerpts
Use noindex carefully; do not noindex valuable pages by mistake
Keep your sitemap focused on indexable, useful URLs
Use redirects when changing permanent URLs
Add FAQ or HowTo schema only when the page genuinely contains that content
Use LocalBusiness schema only when it accurately describes your organization
Review diagnostics regularly to catch missing metadata and orphan content

21. Support Workflow

When troubleshooting Stella SEO, start with this order:

Check plugin settings
Check the post/page metabox fields
Check generated source output
Check sitemap URLs
Check diagnostics and bulk tools
Clear site and browser cache if output appears stale

22. Final Notes

Stella SEO is designed so that the free plugin provides the shared core SEO experience, while the Pro plugin extends the same admin workflow with advanced tools. This keeps the interface familiar while allowing you to scale from simple on-page SEO to more advanced sitemap, schema, AI, redirect, and bulk SEO workflows.