Hello,
I have developed a sitemap index and other sitemaps in cakephp on my website.
Currently the sitemap index is called using the URL http://mysitename/sitemap and not http://mysitename/sitemap.xml
Would it be possible for the search engines to understand the sitemap index location?
You should define the location of your sitemap file in your robots.txt file. Just include a line like this in your robots.txt file:
Sitemap: http://www.example.com/sitemap
If you do this, you can call it whatever you want and the major search engines will be able to locate it.
However it is recommended to have .xml extenstion. If you have problems create siteindex file with that extenHowever it is recommended to have .xml extension. If you have problems create siteindex file with that extension the you can use online sitemap tool