Has XMLRPC is a boolean signal that returns 1 when a page’s rendered head advertises an XML-RPC discovery endpoint through an EditURI link relationship, and 0 when it does not. It detects only the discovery link in the markup — it does not confirm that XML-RPC is actually enabled, reachable, or secure.
| Factor ID | RG-TEC-018 |
|---|---|
| Family | Tech & platform |
| Measurement | Boolean presence (0 / 1) |
| Measured zone | Link tags in the rendered document head |
What it measures
Has XMLRPC indicates whether the document head advertises an XML-RPC discovery endpoint through an EditURI link relationship. That link is how a page announces to blogging clients and publishing tools where its XML-RPC interface can be discovered. The factor records only the presence of that advertisement in the head, not any behaviour behind it.
How RankGear measures it
RankGear parses the head link tags and returns 1 when a complete rel value equals edituri, matched case-insensitively. The comparison is against the whole rel value rather than a substring within it. RankGear does not fetch the endpoint or verify that XML-RPC is enabled or secure — it reads the markup and nothing more.
What RankGear looks for
<link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" title="RSD" href="https://example.com/xmlrpc.php?rsd" />| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | The head contains a link tag whose rel equals edituri (any case). |
| 0 | No such link relationship was found in the head. |
How to optimize it
Treat this as an observation about your markup, not a target to chase. Keep the XML-RPC discovery link only when an active publishing workflow genuinely requires it. Otherwise, consider removing or disabling unused endpoints to reduce legacy exposure and maintenance burden. The presence of this link is not an SEO advantage, so there is no ranking reason to add it.
Important considerations
- Presence is not an SEO advantage — a 1 neither helps nor harms position on its own.
- A score of 0 does not prove that no server endpoint exists; the discovery link can be absent while XML-RPC is still reachable.
- Security and functionality require separate tests — this factor reads markup, not behaviour.
- Do not enable XML-RPC merely to match competitors.
- Like every RankGear factor, this is a measured signal that correlates with patterns across a result set; it does not cause or guarantee rankings.
Related factors
Part of the Factors reference · how RankGear measures · glossary.