Allow users to change the page title on their journal

[red_eft]

Title:
Allow users to change the page title on their journal

Area:
styles

Summary:
Users should be allowed to change the text that appears in the title bar as well as the text that appears at the header of their journal.

Description:
Right now, you can give a name to your reading page/journal page, etc, and that will show up at the top of your page. However, the text in the title bar (I think that's what it's called- the usually-blue bar all the way at the top of the screen, above the menu) will still show "username|Reading" or "username|Recent Entries". Apparently, the only way to change this is using CSS layers (how obvious is it that I've never been in the advanced customization area? /edit) and possibly by using the 'Zesty' style. Some users may want to change this in their layouts without having to mess with the CSS layers feature, so I'd like to propose that as an option.

Possible drawbacks- It looks like you can add a custom title to reading and recent entries, but not to archive or network, and some people might find that limitation frustrating/confusing? Also I know that some people's more... creative titles might be confusing for readers, so maybe that could be turned off when viewed in light style. (Not sure if that's possible to program.)

Poll #4747 Allow users to change the page title on their journal

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 64

View Respondents

This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
35 (54.7%)

Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)
4 (6.2%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
4 (6.2%)

(I have no opinion)
19 (29.7%)

(Other: please comment)
2 (3.1%)

Comments

[suncat]

I very much want to see this one (see the very same thought also included in my suggestion that Denise just released).

But I wanted to clarify that the source of the issue is deeper than just the CSS. In order to affect the title bar on the browser, one has to manipulate the HTML. So unless one is willing to dig into layers, you can't get this effect. As far as I've seen, Zesty is the only existing official style that has this feature, but then that's the only way your page titles appear in Zesty.

Hence, the request to make it an option in the style customization area so that any style could have it.

[zvi]

eh, this strikes me as a usability issue for anyone viewing the journal who is not the journal owner. Since so many people use tabbed browsing, clearly named tabs are really important.

[kerravonsen]

I don't understand why it's a usability issue; surely it makes sense for the title at the top of the page to match the title in the title bar and the title in the tab? Surely making them match makes the site more usable?

+1

[thejeopardymaze]

And there is no reason why they can't code in a way in order to avoid any possible accessibility problems.

[zvi]

Except that so much site interaction is through the reading page that I don't know anyone's cute journal title, but I do usually know their usernames.

[matgb]

so much site interaction is through the reading page

For you. Not for everyone. And certainly not for off site readers coming from places such as LJ, Twitter, feedreaders, Metafandom links, etc.

You're right to say it's a usability issue. The way we currently do this is bad for usability. I'm told it might be fairly good for accessibility, but it's bad for usability, which is why I spent a lot of time teaching myself how to code my journal so it worked better, and am working on more generic code for all users, and at the very least for the layout I'm working on.

It should just be for the journal if displayed in journal style, and shouldn't change for style=mine, site or light.

[holyschist]

Even for off-site readers, the username is shorter and likely to change less frequently than the title of the blog, so I personally want the username in there for bookmarking purposes.

For example, if I change my blog title once a year, I have

2008 - Land of Wombats (holyschist)
2009 - Queen Longwindia of Longwindania (holyschist)
2010 - I Really Like Green Apples (holyschist)

One thing is constant and brief in that list, and it's not the blog title. So personally, I'm not sure how you can say that it would be a categorical usability improvement for everyone to make sure the bookmarks read $blogtitle.

I'd be fine with something like "$username | $blogtitle" instead of "$username | Recent Entries".

[matgb]

Biggest issue is, if we're to pick up new users from elsewhere, or people coming to the site completely fresh, the current structure is unintuitive.

It's actually a retrograde step from LJ, where most themes let you change the title effectively and correctly.

And you're looking entirely at it fromt he perspective of a personal journalling service, I'm looking at it fromt he perspective of someone trying to promote it as a platform for useful stuff, including, in my case, political blogging, but also in other cases RPG characters or similar.

This doesn't actually affect me, and it won;t affect people I recruit directly, as they'll use my themes and my base layout code changes this to make the method displayed very optional.

Regardless, when I bookmark a site, I choose the name I bookmark it under, I only keep the site default for posts/pages I'll want to link to or refer to. You can change a bookmark when you make it, or after the fact, so you can choose to bookmark it how you prefer, you can even style=mine it and have it all display exactly as you wish it always.

But for general off site usability, and for search, allowing those that need this to do it fairly easy is essential if the site isn't to become a hangout for LJ refugees. This feature, as an option, is essential.

LJ already has it in most styles, it's just a factor of the way the S2 styles were rebuilt that we don't have it here, and if I'd noticed I'd have pushed for it a year ago while I was figuring out how to do it for my layout.

[holyschist]

And you're looking entirely at it fromt he perspective of a personal journalling service

Actually no, I'm not, but you've obviously made up your mind that this is an unambiguous usability issue, so I won't argue further.

[matgb]

making them match makes the site more usable?

Yes, yes it does. The way we currently default is a usability issue. IT's also, for those that want their public content found easily (like me) a major search optimisation issue. I've commented further below.

[red_eft]

*nod* That's why I think it would be best if it could be stripped in my style/light style (assuming that's possible). That way, people can have nonsensical titles displayed if it makes them happy, and readers can choose not to see them- just as people can have horrible, eye-searing journal styles if they like, and readers can choose to view them a more readable way.

[noracharles]

+1

[turlough]

As it is now it is stripped in the light style and the sitescheme style. In both of those you get "username: entrysubject". (Which is one of the reasons I prefer using the light style outside of my own journal.)

[stasha2g]

+1

[susanreads]

+1

[instantramen]

Can't remember whether this is true of any other layouts I've used, but I'm currently using Compartmentalize and the page titles reflect the text I entered for the relevant link in the Navigation module, ie "instantramen | Latest" for Recent Entries, "instantramen | Us" for Reading, etc.

[cesy]

I would like to be able to make it say "Latest | my random title", "Us | my random title", etc. This matches up with usability and SEO best practice, as I understand it.

[juliet316]

Why not? If we can change our reading page, we can change what I main page says.

[ratcreature]

Would the user name still show automatically? I think it would be good if you could change "username|recent entries" to "username|fancy title", but not if it was encouraged (by making it easy) to get rid of the mention of "username".

[matgb]

Username wouldn't show automatically, and it's actually bad that it defualts to doing so. The first few words of a page title should reflect that page according to both usability and search optimisation guidelines (I'm told accessiblity can prefer it the other way around, but we have a number of accessible styles and options for those that need them).

Ergo, the page title of this page should be:
Allow users to change the page title on their journal | Dreamwidth Suggestions

At least it should if the page was in the styles page, not the site default page. I've put a lot of effort into getting this right on my journal, and probably need to update my explanation why and separate it from this larger post:
http://matgb.dreamwidth.org/372682.html

as this has come up more than once recently.

[ratcreature]

For me who the journal's owner is the most important part of the content info of a journal page.

[turlough]

Yeah, for me too. Which is one reason I like using ?style=light, in that you get "journalname: entrysubject".

[ratcreature]

Yeah, the site style does that as well. Often when I bookmark something in delicious I click the bookmark with the "style=mine" to get decent title preselected, and then delete the bit in the URL so I just have the base URL in the bookmark.

[turlough]

I do this all the time!

[matgb]

Apparently, the only way to change this is using CSS (and possibly by using the 'Zesty' style?) Some users may want to change this in their layouts without having to mess with the CSS feature

Zesty does it differently, becuase Zesty is a style we aquired from elsewhere not built specifically for the site.

And it's not changeable through CSS, it has to be done through S2 layers in the Advanced customisation settings.

It definitely needs to be changeable as an option, and I think the default should be changed to "Page Title | Journal Title" anyway, as that's much better for search and usability.

I've done it on mine code here, abut haven't written up the walkthrough.

At some point, when I've the mental energy, I'll complete turning my layout into a fully supported site style, but in the meantime I can help walk you through sorting your layout if you want, it might help me figure out how to write the how-to.