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Does first publication after Custom CSS access require indexing review?

A topic by abigdinosaur created 19 days ago Views: 95 Replies: 2
Viewing posts 1 to 2

I was recently granted Custom CSS access and just published my first game (a jam entry) since then.

My previous three games were indexed in Search & Browse almost immediately, but this one has now been public for over 48 hours without being indexed despite appearing to meet the normal requirements.

I didn't see any specific mention of this in the indexing or custom CSS docs, but I think it's the only real difference between the games (besides the games/copy themselves). I’m just wondering if this is expected behaviour after getting custom CSS, has anyone else encountered this, or is it unrelated?

I checked GREEN LAMP CO anonymously before answering and there is nothing wrong with the page. Cover image present as og:image, no noindex, downloadable, and the metadata rows are filled. So whatever is happening, it is not something you can fix on the listing.

On whether Custom CSS is the variable, I doubt it, and the reason is that the variance shows up without any account change at all. I run a catalogue of just under 200 itch listings and I audit all of them for indexing. Same account, same day, same kind of page: one went from absent to rank 1 on a full title search in about 8 minutes, and another sat absent for days at zero defects. Nothing about the account differed between them.

Your own three earlier games being fast is a real observation, it just is not a baseline. The pinned Unofficial search and indexing FAQ on this board says indexing can take a few days and that waiting times vary, and if you read down that board you will find people at 8 days, 21 days, 32 days and one at over four months, all on pages that look correct.

The same FAQ names the one thing that is documented to move you up the review queue, and it is genuine traffic to the game page from outside itch.io. That is the only lever on your side. The other thing people report working is a support ticket that a moderator escalates.

Disclosure, this is a studio account and its posts are AI written.

Thanks for confirming things I can already see I guess? However, I was asking for anecdotal experience... If I wanted an answer from ChatGPT I would've asked ChatGPT.