Support

Canary Visual Sitemap Support

Need help with Canary Visual Sitemap? Use this page for installation help, browser permissions, crawling, visual maps, reports, exports, and troubleshooting.

Created by Max LuongChrome and FirefoxCurrent Canary release: 1.0.0

Canary product page

See screenshots and a complete overview of Canary features on the Canary Visual Sitemap project page.

Getting started

Install Canary.
Open the Canary extension.
Choose or enter a website.
Allow site access when requested.
Start the crawl.
Open the dashboard.
Explore the Visual Map.
Select a page to inspect it.
Review the SEO Action Plan or SEO Report when needed.

Chrome

Install from the Chrome Web Store once the listing is available
Open Canary from the browser toolbar
Canary can run in the Chrome Side Panel
Chrome asks for permission before Canary can access a site

If the side panel does not appear, close and reopen Canary from the toolbar, then retry.

Developer testing (Chrome)

For unpacked builds during development, load the extension folder from the browser extensions page and reload it after each change. This is not needed for store installs.

Firefox

Install from Firefox Add-ons once the listing is available
Open Canary from the browser toolbar
Canary can run in the Firefox Sidebar
Firefox asks for permission before Canary can access a site

If the sidebar does not open, open it from the toolbar button again, then reload the Canary dashboard.

Developer testing (Firefox)

A temporary add-on can be loaded from the browser debugging page for local testing. Temporary add-ons are removed when the browser restarts.

Crawl controls

Scan Site
Pause Scan
Resume Scan
Stop Scan
Scan New Site

Canary can preserve crawl state for supported paused workflows.

Site behavior, network conditions, robots rules, permissions, browser limitations, or authentication can affect crawl results. Not every page on every website can be discovered.

Visual maps

Galaxy

Visual network view focused on site relationships and hierarchy.

Tree

Structured hierarchy view.

Nested List

Compact hierarchical list suited to scanning many URLs.

Accordion

Expandable section-based view for browsing site structure.

Link relationship controls

These controls become useful once a page is selected.

Off: removes the relationship visualization while keeping the normal map structure.
Incoming: shows discovered internal links pointing to the selected page.
Outgoing: shows discovered internal links from the selected page.
Both: shows both directions.

Matching relationship controls are also available in the selected page's Links & Technical section.

Page Inspector

Clicking a page or node selects it for inspection. Opening a page in the browser requires the explicit Open Page action.

Overview

Copy URL, Site Path, and basic page details.

SEO

Metadata, headings, canonical information, and indexability.

Content & Accessibility

Content signals and accessibility information found during the crawl.

Links & Technical

Links, technical information, and live rendered analysis where supported.

SEO Action Plan

The SEO Action Plan turns detected findings into a working checklist.

To Do
In Progress
Fixed - Unverified
Verified Fixed
Ignored

Verified Fixed depends on Canary no longer detecting the issue after an appropriate later crawl. Marking an item by hand does not verify it.

SEO Report

The SEO Report summarizes crawl findings in a presentation-friendly format.

Pages
Tracked findings
Open findings
Critical findings
Verified fixes

Use Print / Save as PDF to keep a copy of the report.

Exports and generated files

Review

SEO Action Plan, Compare Previous Crawl.

Export

Crawl Data JSON, Crawl Data CSV, SEO Action Plan Excel, SEO Report / PDF.

Generate

Sitemap.xml.

Exported files may contain information from the crawled website. Store and share them accordingly.

Browser permissions

Canary asks for website access, tabs, storage, scripting, and web request permissions so it can crawl the site you select and keep your work between sessions.

Each permission and the reason for it is explained on the Canary Visual Sitemap privacy policy.

Troubleshooting

Canary cannot access the site

The browser permission for that site may not be granted, or the site may block automated requests.

Open Canary and start the scan again so the permission prompt appears.
Approve site access when asked.
Check that the URL is reachable in a normal browser tab.

A crawl finds fewer pages than expected

Pages can be missed when they are not linked internally, are blocked by robots rules, or are behind a login.

Check the crawl settings and starting URL.
Review robots rules for the site.
Compare against the site's own sitemap.xml if one exists.

The site requires authentication

Pages behind a login may not be reachable during a crawl. Only crawl areas you are authorized to access.

A page uses heavy JavaScript rendering

Some content only exists after the page renders. Select the page and use live analysis where supported to inspect the rendered version.

Visual Map appears empty

Confirm the crawl has discovered at least one page.
Switch map styles to confirm data is present.
Reload the Canary dashboard and retry.

A scan is paused

Use Resume Scan to continue, or Stop Scan to end the crawl and keep results.

Map style does not change as expected

Select the map style again.
Reload the Canary dashboard.
Confirm Canary is updated to the latest version.

A selected page does not show link relationships

Check that the relationship control is not set to Off.
Try Incoming, Outgoing, or Both.
A page with no discovered internal links in that direction will show none.

An export does not download

Check the browser download settings and any blocked download notice.
Retry the export.
For large crawls, allow extra time before the file appears.

Firefox sidebar does not open

Open Canary from the toolbar button.
Reload the Canary dashboard.
Restart the browser and retry.

Chrome side panel does not open

Open Canary from the toolbar button.
Reload the Canary dashboard.
Restart the browser and retry.

Browser permission was denied

Canary cannot crawl a site without access to it. Start the scan again and approve the prompt, or grant site access from the browser's extension settings.

If an issue continues after updating Canary, reloading the dashboard, and retrying the action, report it using the section below.

Report a Problem

Helpful information to include:

Canary version
Chrome or Firefox
Browser version
Website URL if it can be shared
What you were doing
What you expected
What happened
Error message
Screenshot if useful

You do not need to share confidential URLs or private data. Redact private information from screenshots and logs before sending them.

Support contact

Support contact information will be available here.

Please do not send passwords, authentication tokens, private crawl exports, or other sensitive information by email.

Privacy questions are answered on the Canary Visual Sitemap privacy policy.

Version information

Current Canary release: 1.0.0