Yoast SEO sitemap – XML declaration allowed only at the start of the document

[Zsolt Edelényi]

XML sitemap broken. Please open kezikonyvunk.hu/sitemap_index.xml!

YÍou will receive the following error message:

This page contains the following errors:
error on line 2 at column 6: XML declaration allowed only at the start of the document
Below is a rendering of the page up to the first error.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><?xml-stylesheet type="text/xsl" href="//www.kezikonyvunk.hu/main-sitemap.xsl"?>
^

I went through all the troubleshooting steps:
– change the theme to twenty sixteen
– deactivated each plugin except SEO
– flush rewrite rule (it is set to show %postname%)
– PHP settings are the same as other WP hosts, where sitemap works fine.

The sitemap did not showed up. Please help me out! Is there any idea why sitemap is broken?

[AITpro Admin]

You have whitespace/blank space at the top of your Sitemap XML file.  Do standard WordPress plugin troubleshooting steps:  deactivate your plugins one by one to find the plugin that is causing the problem.  When you find that plugin that is causing the problem then contact that plugin author for a solution/fix.  Also check your wp-config.php file for any code that should not be in the wp-config.php file or code in the wrong place in your wp-config.php file.  Look at the wp-config-sample.php file to compare the code to your wp-config.php file.

Google search results for search:  XML declaration allowed only at the start of the document

https://wordpress.org/support/topic/xml-declaration-allowed-only-at-the-start-of-the-document-4/
https://kb.yoast.com/kb/xml-sitemap-error/
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/21261627/error-on-line-1-at-column-6-xml-declaration-allowed-only-at-the-start-of-the-do

[Zsolt Edelényi]

I did do all troubleshooting steps. Even if all plugins are deactivated, sitemap is not working!!!

wp-config.php: OK. It is the same as the sample except this two inserted:

define('DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true);
define( 'AUTOMATIC_UPDATER_DISABLED', true );

And of cours the BPS Pro ini_set Setting are in wp-config.php

Please help!

[AITpro Admin]

I rechecked your Source Code and I see that this Yoast js script is being blocked by the Plugin Firewall.  Do these steps below and see if it works.

1. Copy and paste this plugin script/whitelist rule: /wordpress-seo/js/(.*).js  into the Plugins Script|File Whitelist Text Area.
Note: When manually creating plugin script whitelist rules, each plugin script/file path that you add MUST be separated by a comma and a space. Example: /plugin-folder-name/example-file-name.js, /example-plugin-folder-name/api/paypal-ipn-script.php, /another-example-plugin-folder-name/example-script-name.php.
2. Click the Save Whitelist Options button.
3. Turn AutoPilot Mode On (if you want to allow AutoPilot Mode to automatically create Plugin Firewall whitelist rules).
4. Click the Plugin Firewall BulletProof Mode Activate button.

[Zsolt Edelényi]

No, not this one. Thank you. It wont work even if I deactivate BPS Pro. So I will try to find out the error with Yoast.

[AITpro Admin]

BPS Pro is a very advanced plugin with built-in troubleshooting capability.  All BPS Pro security features can be turned On or Off individually to confirm, eliminate or isolate which BPS Pro security feature is causing a problem.  Use the BPS Pro troubleshooting steps here:  http://forum.ait-pro.com/forums/topic/read-me-first-pro/#bps-pro-general-troubleshooting instead of deactivating the BPS Pro plugin.  Deactivating the BPS Pro plugin does not turn off all security features.

[iHuongDan]

I also had the same error on my website. And I have followed this tutorial. It will help you fix 100% errors there https://goo.gl/YDxTX6

[Author]

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