Why You Should Remove the Hentry Schema from Your Website

Microformats have long been a staple in web development, helping search engines and other applications better understand the content on web pages. One such microformat is the h-entry schema, which was commonly used to mark up blog posts, articles, and other content entries. However, as web standards evolve, some older microformats like hentry are becoming obsolete or even counterproductive.

In this article, we’ll explore why you should consider removing the h-entry schema from your website, the potential downsides of keeping it, and what modern alternatives you should use instead.

What Is the Hentry Schema?

The h-entry microformat (often referred to as hentry) was part of the Microformats2 specification, designed to provide semantic meaning to blog posts and articles. It included properties such as:

• p-name – Entry title
• p-author – Author name
• dt-published – Publication date
• e-content – The main content

This markup helped search engines and aggregators parse content more effectively. However, with the rise of Schema.org (a more comprehensive and widely supported structured data standard), hentry has become less relevant.

Why Remove Hentry Schema?

1. Schema.org Is the New Standard

• Google, Bing, and other major search engines heavily favor Schema.org markup over older microformats.
• While hentry was useful in the past, modern SEO relies on JSON-LD or Microdata-based Schema.org.
• Using outdated formats may lead to inconsistent parsing by search engines.

2. Potential for Redundant or Conflicting Markup

• If your site already uses Article or BlogPosting Schema, keeping hentry may create duplicate or conflicting signals.
• Search engines might prioritize one format over another, leading to unpredictable indexing behavior.

3. Cleaner, More Maintainable Code

• Removing legacy microformats reduces code bloat.
• Simplifying your markup improves page load speed and makes future updates easier.

4. Better Compatibility with Modern CMS and Plugins

• Many WordPress themes and plugins still include hentry by default, even though it’s unnecessary.
• Removing it ensures better compatibility with modern SEO plugins like Yoast or Rank Math, which focus on Schema.org.

How to Remove Hentry Schema

1. Manual Removal from HTML

If your site uses static HTML or a custom theme, you can manually remove hentry classes from your markup.

Before:

html

Copy

<

articleclass

="post hentry"

>



  <

h1class

="p-name"

>

Post Title</

h1

>



  <

divclass

="e-content"

>

Post content...</

div

>



</

article

>

Run HTML

After:

html

Copy

<

articleclass

="post"

>



  <

h1

>

Post Title</

h1

>



  <

div

>

Post content...</

div

>



</

article

>

Run HTML

2. Removing Hentry in WordPress

Many WordPress themes (especially older ones) add hentry by default. To remove it:

Option 1: Use a Filter in functions.php

php

Copy

function remove_hentry_class($classes) {

    $classes = array_diff($classes, array('hentry'));

    return $classes;

}

add_filter('post_class', 'remove_hentry_class');

Option 2: Use a Plugin

Plugins like "Schema & Structured Data for WP & AMP" allow you to disable legacy microformats and switch to pure Schema.org.

3. Replace Hentry with Schema.org Markup

Instead of hentry, use JSON-LD Schema.org for better search engine recognition:

html

Copy

<

scripttype

="application/ld+json"

>



{

  "@context": "https://schema.org",

  "@type": "BlogPosting",

  "headline": "Post Title",

  "author": {

    "@type": "Person",

    "name": "Author Name"

  },

  "datePublished": "2024-01-01",

  "articleBody": "Post content..."

}

</

script

>

Run HTML

What Are the Alternatives to Hentry?

1. Schema.org’s Article and BlogPosting

• More detailed and widely supported.
• Includes additional properties like image, publisher, and keywords.

2. JSON-LD Format

• Preferred by Google for structured data.
• Easier to maintain than inline microformats.

3. Open Graph & Twitter Cards

• While not a direct replacement, these help with social media sharing and can work alongside Schema.org.

Will Removing Hentry Affect SEO?

Short answer: No, if you replace it with Schema.org.

• Google has deprecated support for many older microformats in favor of Schema.org.
• If your site still uses hentry but lacks modern structured data, you might be missing out on rich snippets (like article dates, author info, etc.).
• Removing hentry and replacing it with JSON-LD Schema.org will improve your SEO rather than harm it.

Common Myths About Hentry

Myth 1: "Hentry is required for WordPress SEO."

• False. WordPress automatically adds hentry, but it’s not necessary for ranking.

Myth 2: "Removing heentry will break my site."

• False. It’s just a CSS class and microformat—removing it won’t affect functionality.

Myth 3: "Google still uses h-entry for indexing."

• Mostly False. Google’s documentation explicitly recommends Schema.org over older microformats.

Conclusion

The hentry schema was once a useful tool for marking up blog posts, but it’s now outdated. Removing it in favor of Schema.org (Article, BlogPosting, etc.) ensures better search engine compatibility, cleaner code, and improved SEO performance.

Key Takeaways:

✅ Schema.org is the modern standard—replace hentry with JSON-LD.

✅ Removing hentry reduces code bloat and improves maintainability.

✅ WordPress users should clean up legacy hentry classes via functions.php or plugins.

✅ Google prefers Schema.org, so switching will help with rich snippets.

If your site still relies on hentry, now is the time to update your structured data for better visibility and future-proofing.