Breadcrumbs Setup (Shortcode and Theme Integration)

SEOvault AI includes a breadcrumb system that generates navigational trails for posts, pages, archives, and taxonomy pages. Breadcrumbs help users understand their location on your site and improve SEO by providing structured data for search engines.

Go to SEOvault AI > General > Breadcrumbs in your WordPress admin. The tab includes options for enabling breadcrumbs, customizing labels and separators, and controlling trail behavior.

How breadcrumbs work

The breadcrumb trail is built dynamically based on the current page context. The plugin supports:

Singular posts and pages – home, post type archive, blog page, primary taxonomy, ancestors, and current post
Taxonomy archives – home, blog page, taxonomy name (optional), term ancestors, and current term
Date archives – home, year, month, and day breadcrumbs
Author archives – home and author name
Search results – home and search query
404 pages – home and 404 label
WooCommerce – shop page, product categories, and product-specific trails

The plugin also outputs BreadcrumbList JSON-LD schema for search engines.

Integration methods

You can add breadcrumbs to your site in three ways:

Shortcode

Use the [seovault_breadcrumb] shortcode in any post, page, or widget area:

[seovault_breadcrumb]

The plugin also registers compatibility shortcodes for migration from other SEO plugins:

[wpseo_breadcrumb] – Yoast SEO compatibility
[aioseo_breadcrumbs] – All in One SEO compatibility

Template tag

Add the template tag to your theme template files:

<?php seovault_the_breadcrumbs(); ?>

Or get the HTML as a string:

<?php $breadcrumbs = seovault_get_breadcrumbs(); ?>

Both functions accept an optional $args array to override default rendering options:

<?php
seovault_the_breadcrumbs( array(
    'separator'   => '>',
    'wrap_before' => '<div class="my-breadcrumbs">',
    'wrap_after'  => '</div>',
) );
?>

Auto-injection

Enable Auto-inject before content in the breadcrumb settings. The plugin automatically inserts breadcrumbs before the main content on singular posts and pages (not the homepage).

Step-by-step: configure breadcrumbs

Go to SEOvault AI > General > Breadcrumbs.
Check Enable Breadcrumbs to turn on the breadcrumb system.
Choose a Separator from the dropdown: » (default), /, >, or |.
Enter a Homepage Label (default: “Home”).
Optionally enter a Prefix to show text before the trail (for example, “You are here:”).
Customize labels for special pages:
- 404 Label – text shown on 404 pages (default: “404 Error: page not found”)
- Search Format – use %s as a placeholder for the search query (default: “Results for %s”)
- Archive Format – use %s as a placeholder for the archive title (default: “Archives for %s”)
Under Trail Options:
- Check Display homepage link to include the home crumb
- Check Remove the current post title to exclude the last item from the trail
- Check Show all ancestor categories to include full category hierarchies
- Check Hide the taxonomy name to omit the taxonomy label from term archives
- Check Show the blog page to include the blog page in post and term trails
Check Auto-inject before content if you want the plugin to insert breadcrumbs automatically.
Click Save Changes.

You can override the breadcrumb label for individual posts, terms, or users:

Posts: Use the Breadcrumb Title field in the SEOvault AI meta box.
Categories and tags: Use the Breadcrumb Title field in the term edit screen.
Authors: Set the _seovault_breadcrumb_title user meta.

If a custom title is not set, the plugin uses the post title, term name, or display name.

BreadcrumbList schema

The plugin automatically generates BreadcrumbList JSON-LD schema for search engines. The schema includes position, name, and URL for each breadcrumb item.

Crumb items without a URL (such as the current page or pagination crumbs) are excluded from the schema.

Notes and edge cases

Theme support: If your theme declares add_theme_support( 'seovault-breadcrumbs' ), breadcrumbs are enabled regardless of the plugin setting. This allows theme developers to control breadcrumb behavior.
Homepage exclusion: Breadcrumbs are not shown on the front page unless the page is paginated.
WooCommerce shop page: If your shop page is set as the front page, breadcrumbs are hidden on the shop archive to avoid duplication.
Primary taxonomy: For posts and products, the plugin uses the primary taxonomy setting from the Titles tab to determine which taxonomy appears in the trail.
Separator HTML: The separator option outputs HTML entities. If you need a custom separator, use the seovaultseo_breadcrumb_args filter to override it.
Styling: The default output uses a <nav> element with class="seovault-breadcrumb". You can style this class in your theme CSS.
Conflicting plugins: If another plugin also outputs breadcrumbs, you may see duplicate trails. Disable the other plugin’s breadcrumbs or use the shortcode in a specific location to control placement.