A must-have for WordPress sites/blogs: “SEO Title Tag” WordPress plugin
Well I’ve done something I wasn’t supposed to do. I sat down and wrote a plug-in for WordPress. I’ve been “encouraged” by my fellow executives at Netconcepts not to do any programming. “Leave that to the programmers” they told me. “Stick to the strategic planning stuff and the article writing and the conference speaking that you do so well.” Did I listen? Well, no.
Their loss (I guess I’ll have to work on that strategic plan document over the weekend!) is your gain. I’ve created a whizz-bang little WordPress plugin that solves all your SEO problems in one fell swoop. Well maybe not all. But it does make the title tags across your WordPress site or blog a heck of a lot more search engine optimal than they are by default.
Here’s why you’ll want it:
- Free & open source
- Allows you to override the title tag with a custom one (defined through a custom field in a post or a page)
- Allows you to define a custom home page title
- Reverses the order of the blog name and the title, or drop the blog name altogether, or replace it with a shorter nickname
- Puts the tag in the title of (UltimateTagWarrior) tag pages
- Uses the category’s description as the title on category pages
- Has an Options page in the admin to change settings
Who could say “No” to all that?!
Here’s where to get it: SEO Title Tag
I’m open to suggestions for further improvements to the plugin. This is my first plugin, and this is a 1.0 release, so please be gentle!
Working great on most pages, but for date archives I got this
Fatal error: Call to undefined function: is_tag() in /folder/site/blog/wp-content/plugins/seo-title-tag.php on line 68
Would be great if you could come up with a way to a different type of title for different type of page.
Stephan,
Noticed a “gotcha” with wordpress 2.1.
If you use a static page as your frontpage, SEO Title Tag doesn’t recognize the static page as the home page – the “home page tag” (title_tag) only appears on the posts page.
is_home() returns true on the posts page, not the front page. Any Ideas on how to fix?
[...] Got a bug to report? Or an enhancement to recommend? Or perhaps even some code to submit for inclusion in the next release? Great! Share your feedback with the author, Stephan Spencer, either below or on his blog at this post. [...]
I’ve been using this for a while and it really seems to make a difference, but I’ve noticed recently that the page/post titles don’t have spaces in them (ie they show as “TheValueofData” instead of “The Value of Data”). This doesn’t seem to affect tag pages (I use UTW). I’ve just upgraded to v2 and the problem remains.
If I specify a custom title for a post/page it displays as expected. Any ideas what the problem might be?
already commented with my errors but forgot to hit notify by email checkbox so im adding another
Steven,
I’m upgrading from version 1.0 to 2.03b of SEOTT and get these errors and warning when i activate the plugin on my v2.0.7 WP blog:
WordPress database error: [You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '( id bigint(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, url varchar(255) NO' at line 1]
CREATE TABLE ( id bigint(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, url varchar(255) NOT NULL, title varchar(255) NOT NULL, UNIQUE KEY id (id) );
WordPress database error: [You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '( id bigint(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, category_id varchar' at line 1]
CREATE TABLE ( id bigint(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, category_id varchar(255) NOT NULL, title varchar(255) NOT NULL, UNIQUE KEY id (id) );
Warning: Cannot modify header information – headers already sent by (output started at /home/dysonani/public_html/wp-includes/wp-db.php:104) in /home/dysonani/public_html/wp-includes/pluggable-functions.php on line 270
Stephan,
I’m upgrading from version 1.0 to 2.03b of SEOTT and get these errors and warning when i activate the plugin on my v2.0.7 WP blog:
WordPress database error: [You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '( id bigint(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, url varchar(255) NO' at line 1]
CREATE TABLE ( id bigint(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, url varchar(255) NOT NULL, title varchar(255) NOT NULL, UNIQUE KEY id (id) );
WordPress database error: [You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '( id bigint(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, category_id varchar' at line 1]
CREATE TABLE ( id bigint(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, category_id varchar(255) NOT NULL, title varchar(255) NOT NULL, UNIQUE KEY id (id) );
Warning: Cannot modify header information – headers already sent by (output started at /home/dysonani/public_html/wp-includes/wp-db.php:104) in /home/dysonani/public_html/wp-includes/pluggable-functions.php on line 270
First I had the below error, then I remove it and installed beta 4, now it is installed but it does not changed anything it says it should be changing..:
WordPress database error: [You have an error in your SQL syntax. Check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '( id bigint(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, ur]
CREATE TABLE ( id bigint(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, url varchar(255) NOT NULL, title varchar(255) NOT NULL, UNIQUE KEY id (id) );
WordPress database error: [You have an error in your SQL syntax. Check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near '( id bigint(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, ca]
CREATE TABLE ( id bigint(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT, category_id varchar(255) NOT NULL, title varchar(255) NOT NULL, UNIQUE KEY id (id) );
Warning: Cannot modify header information – headers already sent by (output started at /wp-includes/wp-db.php:121) in /wp-includes/pluggable.php on line 275
Stephan,
Thx 4 ur plugin,firest.
I downloaded seo-title-tag-2-0beta5.zip and then installed it.
There are 2 problems.
1)I can`t open Manage->Posts->Edit to edit any post.A blank page is loaded.
2)In Manage->Title Tags->Below “Use the form below to enter or update a custom page title.”
The characters can`t be displayed correctly.I use UTF-8,the language is Chinese.English is OK.
My problem is all my titles look like this…
http://the-reviewer.net/2007/03/25/tmnt-fun-at-the-alamo-drafthouse/
If you see the title is says. TMNT fun at The Alamo Drafthouse at TMNT fun at The Alamo Drafthouse.
It always repeats the title twice, with the at, how do I fix this?
Do you plan to offer tips on best uses for this tool, I am not sure I 100% understand all of it. Something like that would be useful.
I’m having trouble with your plugin with WordPress 2.0.7 and MySQL version 4.0.24. Below is the error I’m getting on Manage > Title Tags > Posts after a fresh install and activation of your plugin.
“WordPress database error: [You have an error in your SQL syntax. Check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'all' at line 1]
SELECT DISTINCT * FROM wp_posts WHERE post_date
Hi Stephen, just found your plugin, and had a couple snaggos…
First of all, I’m using static page plugin (Filosofo Home-Page Control) and the front page (staic) is displaying the news page title, and the news page is displaying the blog name… Contact page works fine!
Any ideas?
To use one of your favorite phrases, it “blows my mind” that you can do all of this and still not be able to make a “text” file that will line-wrap unless I convert it into a Word docunent. Not notepad. Not wordpad. Not pfe. Not dreamweaver. You might want to work on that so people can read your instructions, such as they are.
Michael,
The readme.txt file doesn’t line wrap because that is the spec that plugin authors are supposed to use for the WordPress.org Plugins Directory to not include line breaks, because it messes with the parsing of the readme that is done to turn the readme into an Instructions page in the directory. Speaking of which, you can get the instructions in a more readable form at:
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/seo-title-tag/installation/
I did everything you say in the Installation part, but titles still haven’t changed at all, it shows something like http://www.gameater.com/?p=16 in the browser window…that isn’t right is it? And when I view the page source the titles are not the ones I set, please help me. I know I did something wrong I just can’t figure out what.
Hi Larry,
I’m not sure I’m following you. Are you saying that the long title tag is also showing up in the h1 tag too? Can you provide a URL to an example?
I have a problem getting this to work on my archives. How do I do this? I tried using the ‘url’ feature but I get a database error.
I also have a “search” function at my blog. My title tags is an error message when someone uses that function.
I love your plugin, but am having trouble with it in 2.3. I have 2.0RC2 all set up, and it accepts the tags fine, but they don’t show up. Even though it the edit post area it shows I added the title tag it simply does not change the actual page.
I wondering if it’s a bug, or if I’m just screwing up somewhere.
I’m having the exact same problem Laurent.
I have wordpress 2.3. I installed this plugin and everything works except for the tag pages. I get the exact same error:
Fatal error: Call to a member function GetFormat() on a non-object in
wp-content/plugins/seo-title-tag/seo-title-tag.php on line 340
I don’t have UTW installed. Though I would love to use it, it doesn’t appear to be 2.3 compliant.
Any help with fixing this error would be much appreciated.
Hi Stephan!
I am a big fan of your plugin. I really love it, but after every update, I change the plugin, so that I can just get the output of the plugin in a variable. I need this, because I have a little script, which builds my header. So, if you think ever about including a little switch, then please add one, which offers output in a variable or as default output with echo.
But all the rest is fantastic!
Bye!
Jens
It messed up all my tags and categories. Now all my posts are in the default category. My tags are not working anymore. When I click on a tag I get this error:
Fatal error: Call to a member function GetFormat() on a non-object in /home/mydb/public_html/wp-content/plugins/seo-title-tag/seo-title-tag.php on line 545
Hi, Stephan, I’m adding link to my post but it’s not see on the tag page, example:
-http://mypersonalplanning.com/guide-to-personal-financial-planning/165/
keyword saving, link ok
-http://mypersonalplanning.com/financial/cash-outflow/
keyword saving, not link
Stephan, please help me
Your plugin is great but for some reason it not liking ‘ – alternatively displaying them as /’ – if you have any ideas why this might be – here’s an example http://www.lifeinabruzzo.com/guide/abruzzo-food-wine/wine-tasting-in-santo-stefano/ – your help would be most gratefully received…
great article.I love your plugin
On 2.3.2, if I select 15 posts per page on mass edit mode on POSTS, there is no pagination (next/prev) – is there supposed to be?
WordPress 2.6.1 (for this report)
SEO Title Tag 2.3.2 used with WP 2.7-RC1.
In what used to be the Manage screen (now Tools > Title Tags) the tabs are not working: only Pages is active and it’s impossible to switch from Pages to Posts or Categories or anything.
Hi there, I have used your product plus the UTW and the Add Meta Tags, I’ve noticed that there is a header problem..This is showing up in my header images: class=”blogname” id=”blogname”
If you have any ideas? I read all the comments and didn’t see this already.
Hi
I’ve used your plugin for years but it has just stopped working when I upgraded to WordPress 2.7. It is giving the following error:
Warning: main() [function.main]: open_basedir restriction in effect. File(/seo-title-tag-2.5.php) is not within the allowed path(s): (/var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs:/tmp) in /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/wp-content/plugins/seo-title-tag/seo-title-tag.php on line 34
Warning: main(seo-title-tag-2.5.php) [function.main]: failed to open stream: Operation not permitted in /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/wp-content/plugins/seo-title-tag/seo-title-tag.php on line 34
Fatal error: main() [function.require]: Failed opening required ‘seo-title-tag-2.5.php’ (include_path=’.:.:’) in /var/www/vhosts/example.com/httpdocs/wp-content/plugins/seo-title-tag/seo-title-tag.php on line 34
Please can you help me fix the error and get the plugin working again.
Tim
WordPress is working great for me and goes to the correct db I have defined for it but the seo-title-tag plugin is going to a different database used for my website so I keep getting db errors saying the table does not exist (because it doesn’t in that db but it does in a different one). Is there somewhere else I need to config the database aside from the wp-config file for wordpress itself? I am completely stumped.
I’ve been using your plugin for some time on three sites, but since I upgraded to the latest version of WordPress, I can’t see a complete list of my posts or pages when I try to edit my tags.
Now I get the first page of posts, but there’s nowhere to click on subsequent pages to get to the rest of them. Same for pages.
Point 4 of the Installation instructions begins as follows:
Under Presentation -> Theme Editor in the WordPress admin, select “Header” from the list and replace:
I can’t seem to find these options in WordPress admin (version 2.8.4). Was this written for an older version of WP? If so, please could you provide the equivalent options for the latest versions of WP?
Please respond to comments. Many install your plugin when their site starts, put in a lot of work on their SEO, and try to keep their WordPress install up to date… which is hard because this plugin doesn’t seem to be kept up to date. If plugin authors don’t plan to maintain their plugin, they should just let everyone know that so that we can stop wasting time asking questions in a vacuum.
Is Ultimate Tag Warrior still pertinent to WordPress now that it has many tag functions?
WP 2.8.4 is a major security update. Can you make your plugin work with it and allow the upgrade so that it quits NAGGING?
Hi, I am using wordpress 2.8.4 and I want to know whether this plug-in would solve my problem! i want to keep a same page for my Front Page static display (Settings/Reading).But I am getting a warning”Warning: these pages should not be the same!”
Is there any solution to this ?
Any plans for an upgrade for compatibility with WordPress 2.92?
Are the keywords in my tags separated by commas? I can’t seem to find that mentioned anywhere. Thanks! Casey