Article Title no longer shows in Page Title in Browser

[sseguin]

Hello, I am runnign Joomla 3.9.10 and we just noticed that the Article Title is no longer showing in the Page Title of the Browser. It seems to just show the Menu Item - Site Name, rather than Article Name - Site Name.

Is this a known issue or something that can easily be fixed? Some of our visitors told us that it seems to have changed in the last few days but I haven't done any updates on the site so not sure what is going wrong.

Any ideas?

[Per Yngve Berg]

Page title is set in the menu item. Always been that way.

[sseguin]

I understand but I haven’t changed anything recently and up until a few days ago it was showing article titles in the page title. Wondering if something changed in 3.9.10 or some other behaviour is going on that I’m missing.

[sseguin]

In the menu items affected, they are Category Blog menu items. In the Page Display tab, there is nothing entered in Browser Page Title.

Some menu items display the article name - site name, while others are now displaying menu name - site name.

Nothing was changed and the menu items are all configured the same (except for the category they access). Really don't understand why some display a different browser page title, when they are set essentially the same.

[Webdongle]

Template?
Global config?

[sseguin]

As I said before, some menu items are displaying one way and others the other way. The menu items are all setup the same except point to different categories....

[sozzled]

Fascinating discussion. I don't know what has created the problem but I haven't seen any change in any of my websites as a result of updating to J! 3.9.10.

Unless defined in the Global Configuration » Site » SEO Settings » Site Name in Page Titles, the site name may appear in the [browser] page title. I think that's where @Webdongle was coming from when he asked for information about what Global Configuration settings are used in this case.

Aside from what settings may be in play, something may be "hard-coded" in the template and that "something" is causing the problem. (That's the second part of @Webdongle's observation.) I searched the forum and I found a couple of places where people had used "quickstart" installations and they'd come to grief after updating their websites to a newer release of J!.

I don't know the history about this website or its current setup and I'm just guessing.

@Per is correct in saying that, all things being equal, the menu settings override any other settings (e.g. the Global Configuration ones). Therefore, if all the article-related menu items use the same Page Display settings, then everything should work the same way when people view the "full" article.

Category blog menu items, by default, show the menu item name. For example, if you have a menu item with the title "Blog" then the page display will be something like "Blog". On the other hand, if you have a menu item that points to a single article, and that menu item has the title of, say, "How to bake a cake", then the page display will be "How to bake a cake". Let's say that the "cake" article is also in the category used by the "blog" menu, then when people find that article and open it in its full view, the page title should be "How to bake a cake"

See also https://www.inmotionhosting.com/support ... age-header
Does that help or does that confuse things more?

[sseguin]

Yes, this makes sense. In my case, when i visit the menu item, the menu item name displays along with the site name in the browser page title.

When I open an article, the article name does not show, but the menu name - site name still display.

Some categories are like this while the rest do what it has been doing since day 1 which is article name-site name.

This is a 3 year old site, thats why I`m confused what is overriding the page title on some menu items. I'm the only admin and I haven't changed anything lately other than add new articles.

I appreciate all your help, I,m just at a loss to what is going on.

[sozzled]

I'm just at a loss to what is going on.

As I wrote before, so am I.

We still don't know what template you're using. Have you tried with Protostar? We still don't know what Global Configuration settings you've used. Maybe the site has been working well over the past three years, but we don't know its history (e.g. how was the site created in the first place; "quickstart"/webhost-scripted installation or was it done the "right" way by downloading the installation kit from joomla.org)? Many unknowns.

If you would seriously like to get to the bottom of the issues, you might like to look at using the Forum Post Assistant. That's your call, of course.

[Webdongle]

Article browser title does not use the Category menu item browser title. If the Article has no menu item then it will only display the site name(in the browser title)?

[sozzled]

@Webdongle: hmmm ...

Sorry but I can't reproduce things that way. Have a look at a "no-frills" (nothing changed) J! 3.9.10 website here http://vanilla390.enduring.com.au. The "Lorem ipsum" article has no menu item but, go to the "Category blog" item and then open the article (i.e. click the "Read more" link) the browser title displays Article - Site name (as I would expect).

Maybe you can explain why it happens differently in your case?

[Webdongle]

It was a question not a statement. I now have time to test.
No menu item = Article Title is used.
With menu item but Browser Title field blank = menu item Title used
With menu item and Browser Title field populated = Browser Title field used.

Might be worth mentioning that 3rd party Templates may cause different results.

[sozzled]

Fair enough. I thought I mentioned earlier that third-party templates may produce different results.

To address your question, in my experience it doesn't matter whether a menu item exists (to display a single article) or not as far as what is displayed in the browser title. As long as a menu item exists in order to reach that article, things just "work" the way that I've described.

I could submit screenshots from the backend of my test site (I could even submit the FPA report) or I could do better and provide someone with the superuser credentials to have a look around. It's just a no-frills site with a couple of articles and a couple of menu items.

[Webdongle]

... in my experience it doesn't matter whether a menu item exists (to display a single article) or not as far as what is displayed in the browser title....

I just tested and it does.
With menu item but Browser Title field blank = menu item Title used
With menu item and Browser Title field populated = Browser Title field used.

[sozzled]

Hmmm ... I wonder what I've done wrong?

See following screenshots for more information

[Webdongle]

You have done nothing wrong. There is no individual menu item so the Article Title is used. The Category menu item (browser Title) settings do not overwrite the Article Title.

[sozzled]

Thanks. In that case, please explain

With menu item but Browser Title field blank = menu item Title used

I just showed an example where the browser title field is empty for the menu item ... and the article's title is used for the browser title.

So, what have I done wrong? Are you saying that it matters a menu item exists (independently of the blog menu item) for a single article and that [single-article] menu item has a non-empty value for the browser page title? Is that how I've misunderstood what you've written? I'm just trying to figure out what's going on (or going wrong).

[Webdongle]

...
I just showed an example where the browser title field is empty for the menu item ... and the article's title is used for the browser title....

That is a Category blog menu item yes? Your Article has no menu item of it's own?

[sozzled]

Correct. Just like the OP has, too.

[sozzled]

However, I'm on to something else that may impact on the issue.

In other (non-vanilla) websites, I have a setting on the article's Publishing tab, named Search Engine Title. I'm trying to understand how that setting exists on other sites but it doesn't exist on the test site I've been using. This setting actually changes the browser page title, irrespective of whether there's a menu item for a single article, when people view a single article (not in a blog view).

Vanilla-flavoured website setting (that don't mention a Search Engine Title) here: https://docs.joomla.org/Help39:Content_ ... ng_Options

See a discussion about it here: viewtopic.php?t=924610

[sozzled]

This is what sets the Browser Page Title for a single article:

bt05.png

Now, if I could only remember what it is that adds this setting to the Publishing tab ...

[sozzled]

OK. I found where the "extra" setting for articles (Search Engine Title) comes from. It's part of the extension OSMeta. This now gives us three places to change the browser page title:

1) In Global Configuration;

2) In the menu item settings (which overrides (1); and

3) In the article settings, if you have the "extra" setting on the Publishing tab (and this will override (2) above).

I don't know if this information is useful or on-topic but I include it for the sake of completeness in solving a mystery for me.

[sozzled]

Further to what I wrote last week, there is another place where the browser page title can be changed. For each article, there is a setting on the article's Options tab called Browser Page Title. This setting exists irrespective of whether the plugin OSMeta is installed. Therefore, to summarise again, there are three places where the browser page title may be "defined" when displaying articles: (a) in the Global Configuration, (b) in the menu item, and (c) in article Options.

[Webdongle]

But the one in the Article is only used if the Article has no menu item.
The one in Global config only sets wether it is used and before or after the site name.
The only place to set it fully is the menu item. And then if the 'Show Page Heading' is 'Yes' then the browser page title overwrites the page title in the Article

[sozzled]

I agree. I wasn't saying otherwise. I was merely saying that there are three potential places where the browser page title may be set and, if people are wondering if the browser page title is not what they expect, they might look at those three places.

[sseguin]

Sorry I've been busy and forgot to follow up.

I am using the latest RocketTheme Callisto template.

The odd thing is this wasn't an issue until a month ago when I first posted. Articles from some categories display with the article title - site title in the browser, and others are displaying the category name (or menu item name) - site name.

They are all configured and setup the same way so not sure why there is a discrepancy in the browser title display.

I have checked the three places for page title and they are all consistent across all categories and menu items with each other.

[sseguin]

It was a question not a statement. I now have time to test.
No menu item = Article Title is used.
With menu item but Browser Title field blank = menu item Title used
With menu item and Browser Title field populated = Browser Title field used.

Might be worth mentioning that 3rd party Templates may cause different results.

I understand this but all my categories have a menu item associated with them. They are all set as Article - Category Blog. This setup works on some categories and no longer on others properly. Also, my other sites are setup the same way without any issues.

No override title is set for categories, menu item or articles.

[sozzled]

I have checked the three places for page title and they are all consistent across all categories and menu items with each other.

Can you show screenshots of all three places, please?

1) Global Configuration;

2) Menu item settings; and

3) Article settings.

Thanks.

[sseguin]

1.JPG

5.JPG

6.JPG

7.JPG

4.JPG

[sozzled]

Thank you, @sseguin, for that information.

The menu title (the last of the four screens) does not have a value for Browser Page Title. Therefore, the setting from the Global Configuration will prevail. That is, the browser will display Menu item - site name.

This is consistent with what you wrote at the beginning:

[The] Article Title [does not appear] in the Page Title of the Browser. It seems to just show the Menu Item - Site Name, rather than Article Name - Site Name.

QED