Feature guide · 3 minute read
Use include/exclude filters
Keep one part of a site in view, remove a smaller subset, and investigate the URLs that remain. Combine the URL column's two text filters without changing or rerunning the crawl.
Best for section reviews, URL patterns, and focused handoffs
18-second workflow
Keep the section. Remove the exception.
A completed public fixture crawl. The demo goes from all URLs to two service pages, then one, before restoring the original table.
What happens in the demo
Start with the completed crawl
The Pages table shows all fixture URLs, with no issue group selected.
Include the service URLs
Enter /services/ in the URL column's Incl. field. Both service pages remain.
Exclude the technical audit page
Enter technical in Excl. The two conditions combine, leaving the SEO service page.
Select the matching URL
Select the remaining URL cell and read its status and indexability beside it.
Clear just the exclusion
Use the cross in Excl. Both service URLs return while the include filter stays active.
Restore the complete table
Clear Incl. too. The original crawl rows return without another crawl.
Include keeps. Exclude removes.
In the URL header, Incl. keeps rows whose URL contains your text. Excl. removes rows whose URL contains its text. With both filled, a row must pass the include condition and avoid the exclude condition.
- Match the URL, not the page label
- These two fields belong to the URL column. Enter a recognizable path fragment such as
/services/, not a page title or an issue name. - Start with ordinary text
- Ordinary text uses case-insensitive substring matching. You do not need to enter the full URL. Add a distinctive path segment before reaching for more complex patterns.
- Keep the crawl separate
- These are table filters. They do not prevent requests, change crawl scope, or delete results. To limit the page crawl itself, choose its scope before starting.
Practice a scoped fixture crawl before applying the same review to a larger site.
Narrow the review one condition at a time.
- Finish the crawl and open Pages. Clear an existing issue selection if you want the full starting set.
- Enter
/services/in the URL column's Incl. field. Check which rows remain before adding another condition. - Enter
technicalin Excl.. In the demo this hides the technical-audit URL, leaving the SEO service URL. - Select the remaining URL and inspect its status and indexability. A matching URL is a review candidate, not proof that the page needs a fix.
- Use the cross in Excl. to restore the included subset. Clear Incl. to restore the full table, subject to any other active filters.
An empty table is not a missing crawl.
An exclusion can remove every URL that your inclusion kept. Clear Excl. first, then shorten or clear Incl. Check selected Issues groups and other column filters too: they can further restrict the visible rows.
If a URL still does not return after removing the table filters, check whether it was crawled at all and whether the original crawl scope covered it. Do not rerun the crawl just to undo a table filter.
Carry the focused set into an investigation.
Combine the URL subset with status or indexability filters, trace a bad destination to its source, or prepare a focused fix list. Before exporting, verify which rows the export will include.