|

Docs

Getting Started
Migration to SureRank
Sitemaps
SEO settings
Schema
↳ See all 28 articles
Hands-Free SEO
Site SEO Analysis
↳ See all 22 articles
Page SEO Analysis
Miscellaneous
↳ See all 11 articles
Troubleshooting
Developers Documentation
↳ See all 20 articles
SureRank AI Guide
/ Documentation /Getting Started/ Breadcrumbs Feature in SureRank Pro

Breadcrumbs Feature in SureRank Pro

This Feature Is Part of Pro Plan

Breadcrumbs help users understand where they are on your website and make navigation easier. They also help search engines understand your site structure, which can improve SEO.

This document explains how to enable, configure, and use the Breadcrumbs feature in SureRank Pro.

What Are Breadcrumbs?

Breadcrumbs show a navigation path, usually at the top of a page or post.

Example: Home > Category > Subcategory > Post

Benefits:

  • Help users navigate back easily
  • Improve internal linking
  • Improve SEO and search appearance

How to Access Breadcrumb Settings

  1. Go to your WordPress Dashboard.
  2. Navigate to SureRank → Advanced Settings.
  3. Click on Breadcrumbs.
breadcrumbs

Enable Breadcrumbs

  1. On the Breadcrumbs screen, you will see a toggle option.
  2. Enable the toggle to turn on breadcrumbs.
  3. This enables breadcrumbs globally across your website.

Once enabled, breadcrumbs will be available for use on your site.

enable breadcrumbs

Enable Ancestor (Parent) Categories

SureRank Pro allows you to display parent categories in breadcrumbs.

  1. Enable the Ancestor Categories toggle.
  2. This displays the full category hierarchy.

Example:
Home > Category > Subcategory > Post

This helps users clearly understand your content structure.

enable ancestor categories

Display Breadcrumbs on Your Website

SureRank Pro provides two ways to display breadcrumbs.

Option 1: Using Shortcode

  1. Copy the breadcrumb shortcode from the Breadcrumbs settings screen.
  2. Open the page, post, or template where you want to display breadcrumbs.
  3. Paste the shortcode into the content editor.
  4. Save the page.

This method works well with page builders and block editors.

breadcrumb shortcode copy

Shortcode Added to Page

shortcode added to page

Breadcrumbs Display on Page

shortcode add breadcrumbs to page

Option 2: Using Template Tag

Using a template tag is ideal if you want breadcrumbs to blend seamlessly with your theme layout.

When to use this method:

  • You want breadcrumbs to appear automatically
  • You are working with a custom or classic WordPress theme
  • You prefer theme-level control instead of shortcodes

Where to add the template tag:
Add it to your child theme template files where breadcrumbs should appear.

Common files:

  • single.php – Blog posts
  • page.php – Pages
  • archive.php – Category and archive pages
  • header.php – Below the header across the site
template tag

1. Shortcodes

SureRank Pro offers flexible shortcode options to customize breadcrumb output.

Basic Usage

[surerank_breadcrumbs]

With Custom Separator

[surerank_breadcrumbs separator="/"]

Custom Home Label

[surerank_breadcrumbs home_label="Start"]

Hide Post Title

[surerank_breadcrumbs hide_post_title="true"]

Hide Home Crumb

[surerank_breadcrumbs show_home="false"]

With Prefix

[surerank_breadcrumbs prefix="You are here:"]

Disable Schema

[surerank_breadcrumbs enable_schema="false"]

Custom 404 Label

[surerank_breadcrumbs 404_label="Page Not Found"]

Custom Search Format

[surerank_breadcrumbs search_format="Search: %s"]

Custom Archive Format

[surerank_breadcrumbs archive_format="Archive: %s"]

Combined Example

[surerank_breadcrumbs
    separator="»"
    home_label="Home"
    prefix="Navigation:"
    hide_post_title="false"
    show_blog_page="true"
]

2. Filters

SureRank Pro provides multiple filters for advanced control and customization.

General Settings Filters

Modify All Breadcrumb Settings at Runtime (surerank_breadcrumbs_settings)

add_filter( 'surerank_breadcrumbs_settings', function( $settings ) {
    // Change separator
    $settings['separator'] = ' / ';

    // Change home label
    $settings['home_label'] = 'Start';

    // Add prefix
    $settings['prefix'] = 'Navigate: ';

    // Hide post title on single posts
    if ( is_single() ) {
        $settings['hide_post_title'] = true;
    }

    return $settings;
} );

Modify Separator Only(surerank_breadcrumbs_separator)

add_filter( 'surerank_breadcrumbs_separator', function( $separator ) {
    return ' → '; // Use right arrow
} );

Extended Settings Filters

Modify extended defaults (not stored in the database). (surerank_extended_breadcrumbs_defaults)

add_filter( 'surerank_extended_breadcrumbs_defaults', function( $extended_settings ) {
    // Extended settings are NOT stored in DB
    $extended_settings['separator']          = ' › ';
    $extended_settings['show_home']          = true;
    $extended_settings['home_label']         = 'Home';
    $extended_settings['hide_post_title']    = false;
    $extended_settings['hide_taxonomy_name'] = false;
    $extended_settings['show_blog_page']     = true;
    $extended_settings['prefix']             = 'You are here: ';
    $extended_settings['enable_schema']      = true;
    $extended_settings['search_format']      = 'Search results for: %s';
    $extended_settings['404_label']          = '404 - Page not found';
    $extended_settings['archive_format']     = 'Archives: %s';

    return $extended_settings;
} );

Schema Filters

Disable Schema Output (surerank_breadcrumbs_schema_enabled)

add_filter( 'surerank_breadcrumbs_schema_enabled', '__return_false' );

Conditional Schema Disable

// Conditional disable
add_filter( 'surerank_breadcrumbs_schema_enabled', function( $enabled ) {
    // Disable on certain pages
    if ( is_front_page() ) {
        return false;
    }
    return $enabled;
} );

Modify Schema Data (surerank_schema_data)

add_filter( 'surerank_schema_data', function( $data ) {
    // Modify breadcrumb schema data before output
    if ( isset( $data['current']['breadcrumbs'] ) ) {
        // Add additional schema properties
        foreach ( $data['current']['breadcrumbs'] as &$crumb ) {
            $crumb['item']['@type'] = 'WebPage';
        }
    }
    return $data;
}, 10 );

WooCommerce Filters

Change Product Primary Taxonomy (surerank_breadcrumbs_product_primary_taxonomy)

add_filter( 'surerank_breadcrumbs_product_primary_taxonomy', function( $taxonomy ) {
    // Use product_tag instead of product_cat
    return 'product_tag';
} );

Change Primary Product Term (surerank_breadcrumbs_primary_product_term)

add_filter( 'surerank_breadcrumbs_primary_product_term', function( $term, $terms ) {
    // Select highest priority term
    usort( $terms, function( $a, $b ) {
        return $a->term_id - $b->term_id;
    });
    return $terms[0];
}, 10, 2 );

Control Shop Page in Permalink (surerank_breadcrumbs_shop_in_permalink)

add_filter( 'surerank_breadcrumbs_shop_in_permalink', function( $has_shop, $shop_page ) {
    // Always show shop page in product breadcrumbs
    return true;
}, 10, 2 );

Display Control Filters

Control When Breadcrumbs Display (surerank_breadcrumbs_should_display)

add_filter( 'surerank_breadcrumbs_should_display', function( $enabled ) {
    // Hide on homepage
    if ( is_front_page() ) {
        return false;
    }

    // Show only on specific post types
    if ( ! is_single() && ! is_page() ) {
        return false;
    }

    return true;
} );

Remove Breadcrumbs from Specific Pages

add_filter( 'surerank_breadcrumbs_should_display', function( $enabled ) {
    // Exclude specific pages by ID
    $excluded_pages = [ 42, 123, 456 ];
    if ( is_page( $excluded_pages ) ) {
        return false;
    }
    return $enabled;
} );

Summary

The Breadcrumbs feature in SureRank Pro offers flexible display options, powerful shortcode controls, and advanced filters for developers. This allows you to create clear navigation paths that improve both user experience and SEO.

Was this doc helpful?
What went wrong?

We don't respond to the article feedback, we use it to improve our support content.

Need help? Contact Support
%title %title
On this page
Scroll to Top