How do you add breadcrumbs to WordPress: SEO plugin or theme?
In short: Breadcrumbs are the path line at the top of a page, like "Home › Category › Post". In WordPress they come either from your SEO plugin (Yoast SEO, Rank Math) or from the theme's own block, while the BreadcrumbList schema Google reads is added by the plugin. Wiozen Theme's Breadcrumbs block is already in the post, page and archive templates of all five designs; it uses Rank Math's trail first, then Yoast's, and builds a simple trail of its own when neither is there.
What are breadcrumbs for?
A reader who lands on a post from search or a shared link doesn't know where they are. The path at the top tells them which section they're in and takes them up to the category in one click. Search engines use the path to understand the site's structure too; Google can show a trail that has schema in place of the URL in search results.
The visible line and the schema are two different things. The line is for readers and sits in the HTML. The schema is JSON-LD data in the page source. Both should describe the same path.
In what order does Wiozen Theme build the trail?
- If Rank Math is installed and returns a trail, that trail is used.
- Without Rank Math, the theme checks Yoast SEO; if Yoast returns a trail, it's shown.
- If neither returns one, the theme builds its own.
That way the path you set up in your SEO plugin and the path on the page are the same. If breadcrumbs are off in the plugin's settings, the plugin returns nothing and the theme falls back to its own trail, so the line doesn't disappear.
The block shows nothing on the front page. In the editor, where there's no real page, it shows a sample trail: "Home › Category › Post title".
What does the theme's own trail show?
- On a post: Home › category › post title. If the post is in several categories, the primary category you picked in Yoast or Rank Math is used; otherwise the post's first category.
- On a page: Home › parent pages › page. Child pages such as "About › Our team" appear with their parent.
- On a category archive: Home › parent categories › category.
On tag, author and date archives and on the 404 page, the theme's own trail stays empty. If you want a path there, turn on breadcrumbs in your SEO plugin. The last item isn't a link and carries aria-current="page"; screen readers announce the whole line as a navigation region named "Breadcrumbs".
Who adds the BreadcrumbList schema?
Wiozen Theme prints no JSON-LD on any page; its own trail is only the visible line. The schema comes from your SEO plugin. Yoast SEO and Rank Math both include the breadcrumb path in their schema output. On a site without one, the line shows but no schema goes to Google.
This split is on purpose: if the theme and the plugin both printed the same path as schema, the page would carry two copies of the same data. To check, give a post URL to Google's Rich Results Test and look for the "Breadcrumbs" section.
Moving or removing the block
The block is already in the post, page, archive and index templates of the News, Technology, Finance, Food and Guide designs. To change where it sits, open the template in the Site Editor, select the "Breadcrumbs" block and move or delete it. You'll find it under the same name in the block inserter, and you can add it to a custom page template too.
If you style the trail in your SEO plugin (separator, the "Home" label), the change shows on this line as well, because the theme places the plugin's HTML as it is.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a separate breadcrumbs plugin?
Not for the visible line; the theme block covers it. If you want schema too, turning on breadcrumbs in the SEO plugin you already use is enough.
If my post is in two categories, which one shows in the path?
The primary category if you picked one in Yoast or Rank Math. Otherwise the first of the post's categories.
Why don't breadcrumbs show on the front page?
The front page is the start of the path, with no level above it to show. The block stays empty there.
Why is there no trail on tag pages?
The theme's own trail doesn't cover tag, author and date archives. Turn on breadcrumbs in your SEO plugin and those pages get a path too.
While you sort out categories and pages, see the related posts guide too; to try the theme, download Wiozen Theme for free.