Add x-default meta tag for multilingual sites#3845
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Yeah good change I think. |
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I'm certainly not as experimented as Joost, but as discussed in withastro/docs#13361 I think It's worth a try!
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Explanation sounds reasonable, but I'm not familiar with this property fwiw. |
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I mean the Google docs still state that x-default was designed for language select pages, but I'm in favour of trying it out.
Do you think adding some kind of comment in the code linking to the Google docs or stating that we want to try it out would make sense? I wouls just like to avoid leaving a head link in there in the long-term where we forgot why it was added in the first place... 🤔 So maybe linking to this PR would also make sense...
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This PR contains the following updates: | Package | Change | [Age](https://docs.renovatebot.com/merge-confidence/) | [Confidence](https://docs.renovatebot.com/merge-confidence/) | |---|---|---|---| | [@astrojs/starlight](https://starlight.astro.build) ([source](https://github.com/withastro/starlight/tree/HEAD/packages/starlight)) | [`0.38.5` → `0.39.2`](https://renovatebot.com/diffs/npm/@astrojs%2fstarlight/0.38.5/0.39.2) |  |  | --- ### Release Notes <details> <summary>withastro/starlight (@​astrojs/starlight)</summary> ### [`v0.39.2`](https://github.com/withastro/starlight/blob/HEAD/packages/starlight/CHANGELOG.md#0392) [Compare Source](https://github.com/withastro/starlight/compare/@astrojs/starlight@0.39.1...@astrojs/starlight@0.39.2) ##### Patch Changes - [#​3890](withastro/starlight#3890) [`2d05e18`](withastro/starlight@2d05e18) Thanks [@​tats-u](https://github.com/tats-u)! - Fixes CSS selector for `text-autospace` styles in Chromium browsers ### [`v0.39.1`](https://github.com/withastro/starlight/blob/HEAD/packages/starlight/CHANGELOG.md#0391) [Compare Source](https://github.com/withastro/starlight/compare/@astrojs/starlight@0.39.0...@astrojs/starlight@0.39.1) ##### Patch Changes - [#​3885](withastro/starlight#3885) [`010eed1`](withastro/starlight@010eed1) Thanks [@​ArmandPhilippot](https://github.com/ArmandPhilippot)! - Fixes the version mentioned in an error message related to autogenerated sidebar groups support. - [#​3887](withastro/starlight#3887) [`b3c6990`](withastro/starlight@b3c6990) Thanks [@​delucis](https://github.com/delucis)! - Adds 13 new icons: `clock`, `desktop`, `mobile-android`, `window`, `database`, `server`, `code-branch`, `notes`, `question`, `question-circle`, `analytics`, `padlock`, and `solidjs`. ### [`v0.39.0`](https://github.com/withastro/starlight/blob/HEAD/packages/starlight/CHANGELOG.md#0390) [Compare Source](https://github.com/withastro/starlight/compare/@astrojs/starlight@0.38.5...@astrojs/starlight@0.39.0) ##### Minor Changes - [#​3618](withastro/starlight#3618) [`dcf6d09`](withastro/starlight@dcf6d09) Thanks [@​HiDeoo](https://github.com/HiDeoo)! - **⚠️ BREAKING CHANGE:** This release changes how autogenerated links work in Starlight’s sidebar configuration. If you have sidebar groups using the `autogenerate` key, you must now wrap that configuration in an `items` array: ```diff { label: 'My group', - autogenerate: { directory: 'some-dir' }, + items: [{ autogenerate: { directory: 'some-dir' } }], } ``` This change unlocks the possibility to mix autogenerated links and other links in a single group, for example: ```js { label: 'Mixed group', items: [ 'example-page', { autogenerate: { directory: 'examples' } }, { label: 'More examples', link: 'https://example.com' }, ], } ``` This release also updates the shape of autogenerated sidebar entries in route data. Autogenerated links and groups in `Astro.locals.starlightRoute.sidebar` now include an `autogenerate` object with the [configured `directory` value](https://starlight.astro.build/guides/sidebar/#autogenerated-groups): ```js { type: 'link', label: 'Example', href: '/examples/example/', isCurrent: false, autogenerate: { directory: 'examples' } } ``` - [#​3618](withastro/starlight#3618) [`dcf6d09`](withastro/starlight@dcf6d09) Thanks [@​HiDeoo](https://github.com/HiDeoo)! - **⚠️ BREAKING CHANGE:** This release changes the default collapsed state of autogenerated sidebar subgroups. Autogenerated subgroups no longer inherit the `collapsed` value from their parent group. They are now expanded by default unless explicitly configured with [`autogenerate.collapsed`](https://starlight.astro.build/reference/configuration/#collapsing-groups). If your sidebar configuration relies on a collapsed parent group to also collapse its autogenerated subgroups, update your configuration to set `autogenerate.collapsed` to `true`: ```diff { label: 'Reference', collapsed: true, items: [ - { autogenerate: { directory: 'reference' } }, + { autogenerate: { directory: 'reference', collapsed: true } }, ], } ``` - [#​3845](withastro/starlight#3845) [`4d755f5`](withastro/starlight@4d755f5) Thanks [@​delucis](https://github.com/delucis)! - Adds a `<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="...">` tag pointing to the default locale in multilingual sites. The `x-default` alternate is used as a signal of which language to fall back to if no other is available. Learn more in Google’s [SEO localization docs](https://developers.google.com/search/docs/specialty/international/localized-versions#xdefault). - [#​3862](withastro/starlight#3862) [`ec70630`](withastro/starlight@ec70630) Thanks [@​itrew](https://github.com/itrew)! - Makes spacing of items in nested lists more consistent - [#​3872](withastro/starlight#3872) [`417a66c`](withastro/starlight@417a66c) Thanks [@​tats-u](https://github.com/tats-u)! - Enables [the CSS property `text-autospace`](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/CSS/Reference/Properties/text-autospace) in Chinese and Japanese documents. If you would prefer to disable autospacing in Chinese and Japanese pages, you can add the following custom CSS to your site: ```css [lang]:where(:lang(zh, ja)) { text-autospace: initial; } ``` - [#​3797](withastro/starlight#3797) [`9764ebd`](withastro/starlight@9764ebd) Thanks [@​delucis](https://github.com/delucis)! - Avoids the risk of layout shift when users expand and collapse sidebar groups This release can introduce additional padding to the site sidebar on certain devices to reserve space for scrollbars. You may wish to inspect your site sidebar visually when upgrading. If you would prefer to keep the previous styling, you can add the following custom CSS to your site: ```css .sidebar-pane { scrollbar-gutter: auto; } ``` - [#​3858](withastro/starlight#3858) [`6672c35`](withastro/starlight@6672c35) Thanks [@​delucis](https://github.com/delucis)! - Updates `i18next`, used for Starlight’s localization APIs, from v23 to v26 There should not be any user-facing changes from this update </details> --- ### Configuration 📅 **Schedule**: (UTC) - Branch creation - At any time (no schedule defined) - Automerge - At any time (no schedule defined) 🚦 **Automerge**: Disabled by config. Please merge this manually once you are satisfied. ♻ **Rebasing**: Whenever PR becomes conflicted, or you tick the rebase/retry checkbox. 🔕 **Ignore**: Close this PR and you won't be reminded about this update again. --- - [ ] <!-- rebase-check -->If you want to rebase/retry this PR, check this box --- This PR has been generated by [Mend Renovate](https://github.com/renovatebot/renovate). <!--renovate-debug:eyJjcmVhdGVkSW5WZXIiOiI0My4xNjAuNyIsInVwZGF0ZWRJblZlciI6IjQzLjE3MC4yMCIsInRhcmdldEJyYW5jaCI6Im1haW4iLCJsYWJlbHMiOltdfQ==-->
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Description
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="...">meta tag to the existinghreflangalternates in multilingual sites.x-defaultsaying that “it was designed for language selector pages”.x-defaultmore liberally. Given his many years of SEO experience, I’m guessing that’s a sign this is a safe approach.Context
One reason for experimenting with this is to see if it helps with Starlight’s use of duplicate content. In multilingual Starlight sites that are not fully translated, the default language’s content gets reused to provide readers with something without leaving their locale. This leads to situations like
/en/content (but with German UI for navigation etc.)We’ve heard some reports that this reuse causes issues for search engines and can confuse them into using the non-default locale URL, so e.g. in this case a user searching in English gets suggested the
/de/URL.Factors:
<html lang="en/fr/de">to indicate localehreflangalternateslang="en"(or whatever the default locale is) attributeI’m curious to see if
x-defaulthelps at all here as a signal in these cases.The more extreme fix (and very likely to work) would be to use
canonicalto point back to the default locale for pages containing fallback content. However, this can have other unintended consequences. For example, site search indexers like Algolia skip indexing non-canonical pages by default, essentially removing this content if your language is not translated yet. So this change is an easier first step.