mplemented the attached SEO/navigation polish.

PlotLine/Controllers/HelpController.cs

@@ -3,12 +3,13 @@ using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authorization;
 using PlotLine.Services;
 using PlotLine.ViewModels;
 using System.Net;
+using System.Text.Json;
 
 namespace PlotLine.Controllers;
 
 [Route("help")]
 [AllowAnonymous]
-public sealed class HelpController(IHelpService help, IHelpMarkdownRenderer markdown) : Controller
+public sealed class HelpController(IHelpService help, IHelpMarkdownRenderer markdown, IConfiguration configuration) : Controller
 {
     [HttpGet("")]
     public IActionResult Index(string? q)
@@ -18,7 +19,21 @@ public sealed class HelpController(IHelpService help, IHelpMarkdownRenderer mark
             return RedirectPermanent(PreserveQuery("/help"));
         }
 
-        ViewData["CanonicalUrl"] = "https://plotdirector.com/help";
+        var canonicalUrl = BuildAbsoluteUrl("/help");
+        ViewData["CanonicalUrl"] = canonicalUrl;
+        ViewData["StructuredData"] = new[]
+        {
+            JsonLd(new Dictionary<string, object?>
+            {
+                ["@context"] = "https://schema.org",
+                ["@type"] = "CollectionPage",
+                ["name"] = "Help Centre",
+                ["url"] = canonicalUrl,
+                ["description"] = "Find practical guidance for planning, tracking, and shaping your story in PlotDirector."
+            }),
+            BuildBreadcrumbJsonLd(
+                ("Help", canonicalUrl))
+        };
         var articles = help.GetAllArticles();
         return View(new HelpCentreIndexViewModel
         {
@@ -53,7 +68,22 @@ public sealed class HelpController(IHelpService help, IHelpMarkdownRenderer mark
         }
 
         var articles = help.GetByCategorySlug(categorySlug);
-        ViewData["CanonicalUrl"] = $"https://plotdirector.com{canonicalPath}";
+        var canonicalUrl = BuildAbsoluteUrl(canonicalPath);
+        ViewData["CanonicalUrl"] = canonicalUrl;
+        ViewData["StructuredData"] = new[]
+        {
+            JsonLd(new Dictionary<string, object?>
+            {
+                ["@context"] = "https://schema.org",
+                ["@type"] = "CollectionPage",
+                ["name"] = $"{category} Help",
+                ["url"] = canonicalUrl,
+                ["description"] = $"Help articles about {category} in PlotDirector."
+            }),
+            BuildBreadcrumbJsonLd(
+                ("Help", BuildAbsoluteUrl("/help")),
+                (category, canonicalUrl))
+        };
         return View(new HelpCategoryArticlesViewModel
         {
             CategoryName = category,
@@ -76,7 +106,25 @@ public sealed class HelpController(IHelpService help, IHelpMarkdownRenderer mark
             return RedirectPermanent(article.Url);
         }
 
-        ViewData["CanonicalUrl"] = $"https://plotdirector.com{article.Url}";
+        var canonicalUrl = BuildAbsoluteUrl(article.Url);
+        ViewData["CanonicalUrl"] = canonicalUrl;
+        ViewData["StructuredData"] = new[]
+        {
+            JsonLd(new Dictionary<string, object?>
+            {
+                ["@context"] = "https://schema.org",
+                ["@type"] = "TechArticle",
+                ["headline"] = article.Title,
+                ["name"] = article.Title,
+                ["url"] = canonicalUrl,
+                ["description"] = string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(article.QuickSummary) ? null : article.QuickSummary,
+                ["dateModified"] = article.LastModifiedUtc == default ? null : article.LastModifiedUtc.ToString("O")
+            }),
+            BuildBreadcrumbJsonLd(
+                ("Help", BuildAbsoluteUrl("/help")),
+                (article.Category, BuildAbsoluteUrl(article.CategoryUrl)),
+                (article.Title, canonicalUrl))
+        };
         return View(new HelpCentreArticleViewModel
         {
             Article = article,
@@ -111,4 +159,35 @@ public sealed class HelpController(IHelpService help, IHelpMarkdownRenderer mark
         string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(HttpContext.Request.QueryString.Value)
             ? path
             : $"{path}{HttpContext.Request.QueryString.Value}";
+
+    private string BuildAbsoluteUrl(string path)
+    {
+        var baseUrl = configuration["Site:PublicBaseUrl"]?.TrimEnd('/');
+        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(baseUrl))
+        {
+            baseUrl = "https://plotdirector.com";
+        }
+
+        return $"{baseUrl}{path}";
+    }
+
+    private static string BuildBreadcrumbJsonLd(params (string Name, string Url)[] items) =>
+        JsonLd(new Dictionary<string, object?>
+        {
+            ["@context"] = "https://schema.org",
+            ["@type"] = "BreadcrumbList",
+            ["itemListElement"] = items.Select((item, index) => new Dictionary<string, object?>
+            {
+                ["@type"] = "ListItem",
+                ["position"] = index + 1,
+                ["name"] = item.Name,
+                ["item"] = item.Url
+            })
+        });
+
+    private static string JsonLd(object value) =>
+        JsonSerializer.Serialize(value, new JsonSerializerOptions
+        {
+            DefaultIgnoreCondition = System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonIgnoreCondition.WhenWritingNull
+        });
 }

PlotLine/Controllers/SitemapController.cs

@@ -0,0 +1,101 @@
+using System.Text;
+using System.Xml;
+using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Authorization;
+using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Mvc;
+using PlotLine.Models;
+using PlotLine.Services;
+
+namespace PlotLine.Controllers;
+
+[AllowAnonymous]
+public sealed class SitemapController(IHelpService help, IConfiguration configuration) : Controller
+{
+    [HttpGet("/sitemap.xml")]
+    public IActionResult Index()
+    {
+        var urls = new List<SitemapUrl>
+        {
+            new("/", "weekly", "1.0"),
+            new("/pricing", "weekly", "0.8"),
+            new("/help", "weekly", "0.7"),
+            new("/about", "monthly", "0.6"),
+            new("/contact", "monthly", "0.5"),
+            new("/privacy", "yearly", "0.3"),
+            new("/terms", "yearly", "0.3")
+        };
+
+        var articles = help.GetAllArticles();
+        urls.AddRange(articles
+            .Where(article => !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(article.CategorySlug))
+            .GroupBy(article => article.CategorySlug, StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
+            .OrderBy(group => group.Key, StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
+            .Select(group => new SitemapUrl(
+                $"/help/{group.Key}",
+                "monthly",
+                "0.6",
+                group.Max(article => article.LastModifiedUtc))));
+
+        urls.AddRange(articles
+            .Where(article => !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(article.CategorySlug) && !string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(article.Slug))
+            .OrderBy(article => article.CategorySlug, StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
+            .ThenBy(article => article.Slug, StringComparer.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
+            .Select(article => new SitemapUrl(
+                article.Url,
+                "monthly",
+                "0.5",
+                article.LastModifiedUtc)));
+
+        return Content(BuildXml(urls), "application/xml", Encoding.UTF8);
+    }
+
+    private string BuildXml(IEnumerable<SitemapUrl> urls)
+    {
+        var settings = new XmlWriterSettings
+        {
+            Encoding = new UTF8Encoding(false),
+            Indent = true,
+            OmitXmlDeclaration = false
+        };
+        using var writer = new Utf8StringWriter();
+        using var xml = XmlWriter.Create(writer, settings);
+        xml.WriteStartDocument();
+        xml.WriteStartElement("urlset", "http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9");
+
+        foreach (var url in urls)
+        {
+            xml.WriteStartElement("url");
+            xml.WriteElementString("loc", BuildAbsoluteUrl(url.Path));
+            if (url.LastModifiedUtc is DateTime lastModifiedUtc && lastModifiedUtc != default)
+            {
+                xml.WriteElementString("lastmod", lastModifiedUtc.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd"));
+            }
+
+            xml.WriteElementString("changefreq", url.ChangeFrequency);
+            xml.WriteElementString("priority", url.Priority);
+            xml.WriteEndElement();
+        }
+
+        xml.WriteEndElement();
+        xml.WriteEndDocument();
+        xml.Flush();
+        return writer.ToString();
+    }
+
+    private string BuildAbsoluteUrl(string path)
+    {
+        var baseUrl = configuration["Site:PublicBaseUrl"]?.TrimEnd('/');
+        if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(baseUrl))
+        {
+            baseUrl = "https://plotdirector.com";
+        }
+
+        return $"{baseUrl}{path}";
+    }
+
+    private sealed record SitemapUrl(string Path, string ChangeFrequency, string Priority, DateTime? LastModifiedUtc = null);
+
+    private sealed class Utf8StringWriter : StringWriter
+    {
+        public override Encoding Encoding => Encoding.UTF8;
+    }
+}

PlotLine/Models/HelpModels.cs

@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ public sealed class HelpArticle
     public string Screenshot { get; set; } = string.Empty;
     public string MarkdownContent { get; set; } = string.Empty;
     public string RelativePath { get; set; } = string.Empty;
+    public DateTime LastModifiedUtc { get; set; }
     public IReadOnlyList<string> ValidationIssues { get; set; } = [];
     public string CategoryUrl => $"/help/{CategorySlug}";
     public string Url => $"/help/{CategorySlug}/{Slug}";

PlotLine/Services/HelpService.cs

@@ -239,7 +239,8 @@ public sealed class HelpService(IWebHostEnvironment environment) : IHelpService
             QuickSummary = GetValue(metadata, "quickSummary"),
             Screenshot = GetValue(metadata, "screenshot"),
             MarkdownContent = markdownContent,
-            RelativePath = relativePath
+            RelativePath = relativePath,
+            LastModifiedUtc = File.GetLastWriteTimeUtc(filePath)
         };
 
         issues.AddRange(Validate(article));

PlotLine/Views/Shared/_Layout.cshtml

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
     var seoDescription = isMarketingPage && ViewData["SeoDescription"] is string seoDescriptionValue ? seoDescriptionValue : null;
     var canonicalUrl = ViewData["CanonicalUrl"] as string;
     var seoKeywords = isMarketingPage && ViewData["SeoKeywords"] is string seoKeywordsValue ? seoKeywordsValue : null;
-    var structuredData = isMarketingPage && ViewData["StructuredData"] is IEnumerable<string> structuredDataValues ? structuredDataValues : Array.Empty<string>();
+    var structuredData = ViewData["StructuredData"] is IEnumerable<string> structuredDataValues ? structuredDataValues : Array.Empty<string>();
     const string ogImageUrl = "https://plotdirector.com/og-image.png";
 }
 <head>
@@ -56,12 +56,12 @@
             <meta name="twitter:description" content="@seoDescription" />
         }
         <meta name="twitter:image" content="@ogImageUrl" />
-        @foreach (var jsonLd in structuredData)
+    }
-        {
+    @foreach (var jsonLd in structuredData)
-            @Html.Raw("<script type=\"application/ld+json\">")
+    {
-            @Html.Raw(jsonLd)
+        @Html.Raw("<script type=\"application/ld+json\">")
-            @Html.Raw("</script>")
+        @Html.Raw(jsonLd)
-        }
+        @Html.Raw("</script>")
     }
     @if (!string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(canonicalUrl))
     {
@@ -112,25 +112,19 @@
                 </button>
                 <div class="navbar-collapse collapse d-sm-inline-flex justify-content-between">
                     <ul class="navbar-nav flex-grow-1">
-                        <li class="nav-item">
-                            <a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-area="" asp-controller="Home" asp-action="Index">Home</a>
-                        </li>
-                        <li class="nav-item">
-                            <a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-area="" asp-controller="Pricing" asp-action="Index">Pricing</a>
-                        </li>
                         @if (User.Identity?.IsAuthenticated == true)
                         {
                             <li class="nav-item">
                                 <a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-area="" asp-controller="Projects" asp-action="Index">Projects</a>
                             </li>
-                            <li class="nav-item">
-                                <a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-area="" asp-controller="Imports" asp-action="Index">Import</a>
-                            </li>
                             <li class="nav-item">
                                 <a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-area="" asp-controller="Writer" asp-action="Index">Writer Workspace</a>
                             </li>
                             <li class="nav-item">
-                                <a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-area="" asp-controller="Help" asp-action="Index">Help</a>
+                                <a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-area="" asp-controller="Imports" asp-action="Index">Import</a>
+                            </li>
+                            <li class="nav-item">
+                                <a class="nav-link text-dark" href="/help">Help</a>
                             </li>
                             <li class="nav-item">
                                 <a class="nav-link text-dark" asp-area="" asp-controller="FeatureRequests" asp-action="Index">
@@ -154,25 +148,53 @@
                                 </li>
                             }
                         }
+                        else
+                        {
+                            <li class="nav-item">
+                                <a class="nav-link text-dark" href="/">Home</a>
+                            </li>
+                            <li class="nav-item">
+                                <a class="nav-link text-dark" href="/pricing">Pricing</a>
+                            </li>
+                            <li class="nav-item">
+                                <a class="nav-link text-dark" href="/help">Help</a>
+                            </li>
+                        }
                     </ul>
                     <div class="d-flex align-items-center gap-2 flex-wrap">
                         @if (User.Identity?.IsAuthenticated == true)
                         {
-                            <span class="navbar-text text-dark">Hello @User.Identity.Name</span>
+                            <div class="nav-item dropdown">
-                            <a class="btn btn-outline-secondary btn-sm" asp-controller="ManageAccount" asp-action="Index">Manage Account</a>
+                                <button class="btn btn-outline-secondary btn-sm dropdown-toggle" type="button" id="accountMenuButton" data-bs-toggle="dropdown" aria-expanded="false">
-                            <form asp-controller="Account" asp-action="Logout" method="post" class="m-0">
+                                    Hello @User.Identity.Name
-                                <button class="btn btn-outline-secondary btn-sm" type="submit">Logout</button>
+                                </button>
-                            </form>
+                                <ul class="dropdown-menu dropdown-menu-end" aria-labelledby="accountMenuButton">
+                                    <li><a class="dropdown-item" asp-controller="ManageAccount" asp-action="Index">Manage Account</a></li>
+                                    <li><a class="dropdown-item" asp-controller="ManageAccount" asp-action="Subscription">Billing / Subscription</a></li>
+                                    <li><hr class="dropdown-divider" /></li>
+                                    <li>
+                                        <div class="px-3 py-2">
+                                            <div class="small text-muted mb-2">Theme</div>
+                                            <div class="theme-switcher btn-group btn-group-sm w-100" role="group" aria-label="Theme selection">
+                                                <button type="button" class="btn btn-outline-secondary" data-theme-choice="light" aria-pressed="true">Light</button>
+                                                <button type="button" class="btn btn-outline-secondary" data-theme-choice="dark" aria-pressed="false">Dark</button>
+                                            </div>
+                                        </div>
+                                    </li>
+                                    <li><hr class="dropdown-divider" /></li>
+                                    <li>
+                                        <form asp-controller="Account" asp-action="Logout" method="post" class="m-0">
+                                            <button class="dropdown-item" type="submit">Logout</button>
+                                        </form>
+                                    </li>
+                                </ul>
+                            </div>
                         }
                         else
                         {
                             <a class="btn btn-outline-secondary btn-sm" asp-controller="Account" asp-action="Login">Login</a>
                             <a class="btn btn-outline-primary btn-sm" asp-controller="Account" asp-action="Register">Register</a>
                         }
-                        <div class="theme-switcher btn-group btn-group-sm" role="group" aria-label="Theme selection">
-                            <button type="button" class="btn btn-outline-secondary" data-theme-choice="light" aria-pressed="true">Light</button>
-                            <button type="button" class="btn btn-outline-secondary" data-theme-choice="dark" aria-pressed="false">Dark</button>
-                        </div>
                     </div>
                 </div>
             </div>