WordPress: Fix Tag Page Redirects to Homepage

Problem with Tag Page Redirects to Homepage in WordPress

The issue with tag page redirects to the homepage in WordPress is most often caused by conflicts between plugins, particularly Clearfy and Yoast SEO. The most likely cause is the “Remove Tags Archives” option enabled in Clearfy, which automatically removes tag pages and redirects them to the homepage.

Table of Contents

• Main Causes of Tag Page Redirect Problems
• How to Fix the Problem Through Clearfy
• Setting Up Yoast SEO for Proper Tag Functionality
• Checking Conflicts with Themes and Other Plugins
• Additional Methods to Solve the Problem
• Verifying Tag Page Functionality After Fixes
• Sources

Main Causes of Tag Page Redirect Problems

The main reasons why tag pages (/tag/…) might redirect to the homepage:

1. Clearfy PRO Plugin: Research shows that Clearfy has a “Remove Tags Archives” function that “removes tag archives and redirects to homepage” source. This option is enabled by default in some versions of the plugin.

2. Conflicts with Yoast SEO: The Yoast SEO plugin can create conflicts when working with archive pages, especially if certain redirect rules are configured source.

3. Theme Settings: The Jannah theme may have its own rules for handling archive pages that conflict with plugins.

4. Caching: Enabled caching plugins may preserve old redirect rules.

As noted in research, the problem occurs specifically with post tag pages, while WooCommerce product tags work normally, indicating a specific issue with post archive handling.

How to Fix the Problem Through Clearfy

The most common and effective solution is to disable the “Remove Tags Archives” option in Clearfy:

1. Go to the WordPress admin panel
2. Navigate to Settings → Clearfy
3. Select the “Performance” section
4. Find the “Remove Tags Archives” option
5. Uncheck this option
6. Save the changes

Important: As noted in Clearfy documentation, this option “removes tag archives and redirects to homepage” source. This is exactly what causes the redirects.

If you have Clearfy PRO, check similar settings in the premium version. Sometimes options may be in different sections depending on the version.

Setting Up Yoast SEO for Proper Tag Functionality

After fixing the issue in Clearfy, check your Yoast SEO settings:

1. Check redirect settings:

   • Go to SEO → Redirects
   • Ensure there are no automatic redirect rules for tag pages
   • In Yoast SEO Premium, redirects are usually automatically created when URLs are changed, but this shouldn’t happen for tags

2. Archive settings:

   • Go to SEO → Settings → Archives
   • Verify that options for tags are enabled
   • Make sure “Disable archive pages” is not activated for tags

3. robots.txt file:

   • Check that robots.txt doesn’t block indexing of tag pages
   • Yoast SEO typically manages robots.txt automatically

As explained by Yoast, their plugin “automatically creates and manages redirects when content is moved or deleted” source, including categories, tags, and custom post types.

Checking Conflicts with Themes and Other Plugins

If the problem persists after disabling the option in Clearfy, check for other possible conflicts:

1. Temporarily disable plugins:

   • Disable all plugins except Yoast SEO
   • Check if tag pages work
   • If they do, enable plugins one by one to find the conflict

2. Check Jannah theme:

   • Open the functions.php file of the active theme
   • Look for lines containing tag_redirect or similar functions
   • Check theme settings related to archives

3. Conflict with other optimization plugins:

   • Check plugins like WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache, etc.
   • Temporarily disable them for testing

As users note on forums, sometimes “the problem is solved by disabling conflicting options in multiple plugins simultaneously” source.

Additional Methods to Solve the Problem

If standard methods don’t help, try these additional approaches:

1. Manually Adding Redirect Rules

Add the following code to the functions.php file of your active theme:

// Disable Clearfy's automatic tag redirect
remove_filter('template_redirect', 'clearfy_tag_redirect');

// Or add your own handler for tag pages
function fix_tag_archive_redirect() {
    if (is_tag()) {
        $tag_id = get_query_var('tag_id');
        $tag_link = get_tag_link($tag_id);
        if (!is_wp_error($tag_link)) {
            wp_redirect($tag_link, 301);
            exit;
        }
    }
}
add_action('template_redirect', 'fix_tag_archive_redirect');

2. Check .htaccess File

Check the .htaccess file in your site’s root for redirect rules that might be blocking tag pages:

# Check for absence of such rules
Redirect 301 /tag/ http://your-site.com/

3. Clear Cache

Clear cache in all plugins and at the hosting level:

• Clearfy plugin cache
• Browser cache
• Your hosting cache (if using WP Rocket, LiteSpeed, etc.)

Verifying Tag Page Functionality After Fixes

After making changes, verify that tag pages work correctly:

1. Accessibility check:

   • Navigate to the URL https://your-site.com/tag/tag-name/
   • Ensure the page opens without redirects
   • Check the HTTP response code (should be 200, not 301)

2. Indexing check:

   • Add the tag page URL to Google Search Console
   • Verify that the page is indexed
   • Ensure there are no disallow directives for indexing in robots.txt

3. URL structure check:

   • Verify that the canonical URL points to the tag page itself, not the homepage
   • Check robots meta tags on the tag page

As recommended by Yoast, for proper indexing of archive pages, “it’s important to ensure that the canonical URL is set correctly and pages are available for indexing” source.

Sources

1. Clearfy Plugin Documentation - Remove Tags Archives Feature
2. Yoast SEO - Redirect Manager Documentation
3. Yoast Help - Page Redirects Unexpectedly
4. GitHub Issue - Category URLs Redirecting to Homepage
5. WordPress Stack Exchange - Wrong Canonical URL
6. Yoast Help - My Redirects Do Not Work
7. Clearfy Pro Documentation - How to Remove Meta Tags

Conclusion

Key findings and recommendations for solving tag page redirect issues:

1. Most common cause — The “Remove Tags Archives” option in the Clearfy plugin automatically redirects tag pages to the homepage. Disable this option in the plugin settings.

2. Check Yoast SEO — Ensure there are no automatic redirect rules for tag pages in the redirect settings and that archive options are enabled.

3. Temporary plugin disabling — If the problem persists, disable all plugins except Yoast SEO to identify conflicting components.

4. Check cache — After making changes, be sure to clear cache in all plugins and browsers.

5. Testing — After fixes, ensure that tag pages open without redirects and are indexable by search engines.

The problem with tag page redirects is a common issue when using optimization plugins, but it can be resolved by properly configuring plugins and checking for conflicts.