Simple XML Sitemap Generator PHP Script

A lightweight PHP script that turns a list of page URLs into a clean XML sitemap file.

What this script does —

This PHP script turns a plain list of page URLs into a basic XML sitemap.

Paste one URL per line, submit the form, and copy the generated XML into a file named sitemap.xml.

Why it is useful —

A sitemap helps search engines find the important pages on your site. This is useful for small websites, static pages, simple PHP sites, landing pages, and projects without a full CMS.

This version keeps things simple. No database, no API, no crawling, and no complicated setup.

The PHP script —

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

function h(string $value): string {
  return htmlspecialchars($value, ENT_QUOTES, 'UTF-8');
}

function clean_url(string $url): string {
  $url = trim($url);

  if ($url === '') {
    return '';
  }

  if (!filter_var($url, FILTER_VALIDATE_URL)) {
    return '';
  }

  $parts = parse_url($url);

  if (!$parts || empty($parts['scheme']) || empty($parts['host'])) {
    return '';
  }

  $scheme = strtolower((string)$parts['scheme']);

  if (!in_array($scheme, ['http', 'https'], true)) {
    return '';
  }

  return $url;
}

$input = trim((string)($_POST['urls'] ?? ''));
$urls = [];
$errors = [];
$sitemap = '';

if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] === 'POST') {
  $lines = preg_split('/\R+/', $input) ?: [];

  foreach ($lines as $line) {
    $url = clean_url($line);

    if ($url !== '') {
      $urls[] = $url;
    }
  }

  $urls = array_values(array_unique($urls));

  if (!$urls) {
    $errors[] = 'Enter at least one valid URL.';
  }

  if (!$errors) {
    $today = date('Y-m-d');

    $sitemap .= "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n";
    $sitemap .= "<urlset xmlns=\"http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9\">\n";

    foreach ($urls as $url) {
      $safeUrl = htmlspecialchars($url, ENT_XML1, 'UTF-8');

      $sitemap .= "  <url>\n";
      $sitemap .= "    <loc>" . $safeUrl . "</loc>\n";
      $sitemap .= "    <lastmod>" . $today . "</lastmod>\n";
      $sitemap .= "  </url>\n";
    }

    $sitemap .= "</urlset>\n";
  }
}
?>
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <title>Simple XML Sitemap Generator</title>
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <style>
    body {
      max-width: 760px;
      margin: 30px auto;
      padding: 0 16px;
      background: #fff;
      color: #111;
      font: 16px/1.5 Arial, sans-serif;
    }

    textarea {
      width: 100%;
      min-height: 180px;
      padding: 10px;
      box-sizing: border-box;
      font: 14px/1.5 Consolas, Monaco, monospace;
    }

    button {
      margin-top: 10px;
      padding: 10px 14px;
      border: 0;
      background: #111;
      color: #fff;
      cursor: pointer;
      font: inherit;
    }

    .error {
      padding: 10px;
      background: #ffdede;
      border: 1px solid #aa0000;
    }
  </style>
</head>
<body>

<h1>Simple XML Sitemap Generator</h1>

<p>
  Paste one URL per line. The script removes blanks, skips invalid URLs, removes duplicates, and generates a basic XML sitemap.
</p>

<form method="post" action="">
  <textarea
    name="urls"
    placeholder="https://example.com/&#10;https://example.com/about&#10;https://example.com/contact"
    required
  ><?= h($input); ?></textarea>

  <br>

  <button type="submit">Generate sitemap</button>
</form>

<?php if ($errors): ?>
  <div class="error">
    <?php foreach ($errors as $error): ?>
      <p><?= h($error); ?></p>
    <?php endforeach; ?>
  </div>
<?php endif; ?>

<?php if ($sitemap !== ''): ?>
  <h2>Your sitemap.xml</h2>

  <textarea readonly><?= h($sitemap); ?></textarea>

  <p>
    Copy this into a file named <strong>sitemap.xml</strong> and upload it to your website root.
  </p>
<?php endif; ?>

</body>
</html>

How to use it —

Save the script as something like sitemap-generator.php and upload it to your site.

Open the file in your browser, paste your page URLs, generate the XML, then copy the result into a file named sitemap.xml.

The finished sitemap should usually live here:

https://example.com/sitemap.xml

Example input —

https://example.com/
https://example.com/about
https://example.com/contact
https://example.com/blog/post

Common mistakes —

Do not add private admin pages, login pages, duplicate URLs, search-result URLs, or pages blocked by robots.txt.

Also make sure your URLs use the same version of your site. Do not mix http and https or www and non-www unless you really use both.

When to use it —

Use this for small websites, hand-built PHP sites, static pages, simple tool directories, landing pages, or any project where you already know the URLs you want in the sitemap.

When to skip it —

Skip this version if you need automatic crawling, image sitemaps, video sitemaps, news sitemaps, huge sitemap indexes, or automatic updates for thousands of URLs.

Related pages —

Browse more webmaster tools, scripts, or webdev examples.

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