Dates not updating when rebuilding sitemap.xml?

[info1747]

Hi everyone,

I've notice inside my sitemap.xml file that the dates shown for the urls haven't been updated to the date the sitemap was rebuilt.

Why is this?

For example: yesterday I rebuilt the sitemap and there are a lot of urls that look like this one:

<url>
       <loc>[ External links are visible to forum administrators only ]</loc>
       <lastmod>2021-12-22T17:34:54+00:00</lastmod>
       <changefreq>monthly</changefreq>
       <priority>0.8000</priority>
  </url>

Obviously I changed the actual url for security reasons but there are a lot of them in the sitemap.

I also noticed the priority isn't the same either. 

Tried to find info on the priority but not able to find anything.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[info1747]

Okay I think I got it sorted out.

I changed "last modification" attribute to "current time" time which seemed to do the trick.

Still not sure what to do about the priority setting however.

Not really sure what it means exactly and what it accomplishes other than to prioritize sub folders which I believe to be import as they contain valuable content. 

I'd like to get your input on what it should be to appease the Google Gods.

Thanks

[XML-Sitemaps Support]

Hello,

we recommend default settings for sitemap attributes.

[info1747]

Okay will do. 

Is there any documentation that explains what this feature does and how it does it?

Not much in the configuration section to explain anything. 

Just would like to know for my own learning curve.
Thanks

[XML-Sitemaps Support]

Hello,

description of settings can be found on:
https://www.xml-sitemaps.com/documentation-xml-sitemap-generator.html#cfgopts

[info1747]

Thanks. I read that and it only provides basic information on set up.

Nothing about why it is necessary or how it determines which url is more important than another except for something about depth level. 

I'll see if I can find out more information about the reason it is important to Google and Seo doing another search with different keywords maybe.