Wordpress-seo: Metabox does not appear in the page editor. In the post editor it is.

[cesare2017]

• [x] I've read and understood the contribution guidelines.
• [x] I've searched for any related issues and avoided creating a duplicate issue.

Please give us a description of what happened.

The metabox does not appear in the page editor. Nor can I add it through Screen Options. Strange enough It is available in the post editor.

By the way I have an almost identic (same theme, plugins activated, wp & yoast version: don't really know whats different from the production version) test installation that doesn't show this behaviour. I mean I am using the plugins for years now...this must have happened lately. Any idea what is going on?

img: 1: No metabox on the page editor

img. 2: Metabox not available in the Screen Options (in the post editor it is..)

Please describe what you expected to happen and why.

To have the Metabox available also in the page editor. I am using your plugin for years and it was always there. I noticed the lack of it lately. Maybe it has to do with the latest Wordpress/Yoast update.

img. 3: Metabox available in the post editor, same I would expect in the page editor

How can we reproduce this behavior?

1. Honestly no idea but to give you access to my WordPress backend
2. I did the conflict check using using the unaltered default WordPress theme Twenty Seventeen and only activating your plugin. The issue persists.
3. I am using this Wordpress theme: https://www.templatemonster.com/de/wordpress-themen-tipo-52373.html
4. No errors in the console

Technical info

• WordPress version: 4.9.1.
• Yoast SEO version: 5.9.1.
• Relevant plugins in case of a bug:

`Debug Information
Current option: wpseo

array(25) {
["blocking_files"]=>
array(0) {
}
["ms_defaults_set"]=>
bool(false)
["version"]=>
string(5) "5.9.1"
["company_logo"]=>
string(0) ""
["company_name"]=>
string(0) ""
["company_or_person"]=>
string(0) ""
["disableadvanced_meta"]=>
bool(false)
["onpage_indexability"]=>
bool(true)
["googleverify"]=>
string(0) ""
["msverify"]=>
string(0) ""
["person_name"]=>
string(0) ""
["website_name"]=>
string(0) ""
["alternate_website_name"]=>
string(0) ""
["yandexverify"]=>
string(0) ""
["site_type"]=>
string(0) ""
["has_multiple_authors"]=>
bool(false)
["environment_type"]=>
string(0) ""
["content_analysis_active"]=>
bool(true)
["keyword_analysis_active"]=>
bool(true)
["enable_setting_pages"]=>
bool(true)
["enable_admin_bar_menu"]=>
bool(true)
["enable_cornerstone_content"]=>
bool(true)
["enable_text_link_counter"]=>
bool(true)
["show_onboarding_notice"]=>
bool(false)
["first_activated_on"]=>
bool(false)
}
`

[CarolineGeven]

Thank you for reporting this issue. Could you please confirm the meta box is set to 'shown' in the SEO -> Titles & Metas -> Post Types tab for pages as shown below? It's odd that the meta box is showing for posts, but not for pages.

Could you please let us know of the result?

[cesare2017]

Yes its odd. on pages its set to 'show'. the same as on posts. even setting it to hide and then back to show doesn't help.

[jphorn]

I have the exact same issue for a custom post type. All settings are correct, but since 5.9.1 (or 5.9?) there is no Yoast metabox for our /deals/ custom post type, whereas it showed perfectly fine before the update.

[CarolineGeven]

@jphorn Could you also please check for errors in your JavaScript console on the page the plugin is not working properly? Additionally, could you perform a plugin/theme conflict check? If you are unsure how to do so, we've written articles about this:
How to find JavaScript errors in your console
How to check for plugin conflicts

Please let us know of the results.

[CarolineGeven]

Possibly related to #8435

[CarolineGeven]

Additionally, could you let us know which browser you are using and check if the issue still persists in another browser?

[cesare2017]

@CarolineGeven sure. makes sense:
safari 11.0.2 (mac): issue persists
chrome 62.0.3202.94 (mac): issue persists
firefox 57.0.1 (mac): issue persists

[jphorn]

@CarolineGeven There are no Javascript errors in our console, because the complete Yoast meta box is missing from edit-post.php for this custom post type, despite being enabled in the settings.

• Safari 11.0.2 (macOS): issue persists
• Chrome 62.0.3202.94 (macOS): issue persists
• Firefox 57.0.1 (macOS): issue persists

I have tested this in my local dev environment with all plugins but Yoast disabled, and the issue still persists. The Yoast metabox just won't show for this particular post type. I can make the metabox reappear by rolling back to Yoast SEO 5.8.

[CarolineGeven]

@jphorn I've just consulted one of my coworkers and we noticed that your post type is set to no-index. @cesare2017 Is this the case for your pages as well? When your post type is set to no index, it's not relevant to display the Yoast SEO metabox for your focus keyword.

This means that this is, for now, intended behavior. We'll discuss the confusion this causes and if perhaps the readability analysis should still be shown. As soon as I know more, I'll let you know.

[cesare2017]

@CarolineGeven: Hi Caroline, good point but no the issue persists even with pages that are supposed to be indexed.
I will give the beta plugin a try right now and let you know.

[jphorn]

But what if we wanted to set this custom post type to index later? To be honest this makes no sense, and is also not documented in the changelog AFAIK. Why is there even a setting to hide/show the metabox in the first place then?
This decision really should be reverted.

[cesare2017]

@CarolineGeven: The test beta version hasn't done the trick with me unfortunately. By the way: thanks a lot for such a speedy reaction.

[CarolineGeven]

There is a patch release planned for this Monday which will make sure the meta box will return. We agree that this leads to confusing behavior and will therefore be fixed.

[CarolineGeven]

I'm closing this in favor of #8445, which has the exact issue and the solution explained.

[cesare2017]

@CarolineGeven: ok but my issue is independent from noindex...

[CarolineGeven]

I understand. Would you mind waiting for the patch release and if that doesn't fix your issue, let us know again? For now, we don't have any direction what might cause your issue, other than the patch that will come out on Monday. If it still exists then, please reply here and I'll reopen the issue.

[cesare2017]

@CarolineGeven: The new version did the trick. Everything OK. Thanks a lot for your help.

[CarolineGeven]

@cesare2017 Good to hear and no problem 😄