Delete robots.txt, allowing search engines to crawl older versions of docs

[josh-wong]

Description

This PR removes the robots.txt file, which previously restricted search engines from indexing older documentation versions while allowing the latest version. This change means there are no longer any explicit instructions for web crawlers regarding which documentation pages to index or exclude.

Note

We've decided to allow search engines to crawl all versions of the site again so that we can experiment with using Google Search on the docs site. Allowing for multiple versions by using Google Search on the docs site would be more user-friendly since not all users will be on the latest version.

So that unsupported versions of docs aren't included, we should try to start working on moving those unsupported versions of docs to a dedicated archive site.

Related issues and/or PRs

• PR where we added this robot.txt file: Add robots.txt to restrict crawling of version-specific docs #1056

Changes made

• Deleted the robots.txt file.

Checklist

The following is a best-effort checklist. If any items in this checklist are not applicable to this PR or are dependent on other, unmerged PRs, please still mark the checkboxes after you have read and understood each item.

• I have updated the side navigation as necessary.
• I have commented my code, particularly in hard-to-understand areas.
• I have updated the documentation to reflect the changes.
• Any remaining open issues linked to this PR are documented and up-to-date (Jira, GitHub, etc.).
• My changes generate no new warnings.
• Any dependent changes in other PRs have been merged and published.

Additional notes (optional)

N/A

[gemini-code-assist]

Summary of Changes

Hello @josh-wong, I'm Gemini Code Assist¹! I'm currently reviewing this pull request and will post my feedback shortly. In the meantime, here's a summary to help you and other reviewers quickly get up to speed!

This pull request reverses the previous policy of restricting search engine access to older documentation versions by deleting the robots.txt file. The primary goal is to allow all documentation content to be crawled, which will support an upcoming experiment to integrate Google Search directly into the documentation site. This approach aims to enhance user experience by ensuring that users can find relevant information across all available documentation versions, not just the latest one.

Highlights

• robots.txt Removal: The robots.txt file has been deleted, removing previous restrictions on search engine crawling for older documentation versions.
• Enhanced Search Experience: This change enables search engines to index all documentation versions, facilitating an experiment to integrate Google Search directly into the docs site for improved user experience.
• Future Archiving Plan: A future initiative is planned to move unsupported documentation versions to a dedicated archive site to manage content effectively.

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[gemini-code-assist]

Code Review

This pull request removes the robots.txt file to allow search engines to index all documentation versions, which is a clear and direct way to achieve the stated goal of experimenting with site-wide search. While this is effective, I've provided a suggestion on the deleted file regarding a more robust, long-term strategy for managing the indexing of unsupported documentation versions using Docusaurus's built-in features, which may be simpler to maintain than a separate archive site.

[brfrn169]

LGTM! Thank you!

[feeblefakie]

LGTM! Thank you!