"Edit site" means two different things on a Multisite network

[johnbillion]

I've just been working with a client who runs a Multisite installation of sites that use full site editing. Several times they have clicked on the wrong "Edit site" link in the admin toolbar and been taken to the network admin site editing screen instead of the site editor.

This only affects Super Admin users.

• When viewing the front end of the site there is a top level "Edit site" link in the admin toolbar. This takes you to the site editor for full site editing (site-editor.php).
• When viewing the admin area and hovering over the site name in the admin toolbar, there is an "Edit Site" link in its menu. This takes you to the site editing screen in the network admin area (network/site-info.php).

It would be good to more clearly differentiate between editing a site and editing a site.

[audrasjb]

I'd say the easier way to fix this issue is to change the link to the Site Editor (aka FSE). It should not be "Edit Site" but rather "Site Editor".

[johnjamesjacoby]

+1 agree with @audrasjb

[audrasjb]

Marking this as a good-first-bug as it is an ideal ticket to onboard people who never contributed to a Core ticket before.

[pratiklondhe]

hi, @audrasjb . I would like to take this ticket as my first one.

Please correct me if I am wrong, so we have to change the name for the edit site menu to "Site Editor" here ​https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress/blob/a6b9c3d5423cbe97036aaad25b01e0e6b21ba11e/wp-includes/admin-bar.php#L479 right ?

[pratiklondhe]

patch for the ticket

[sabernhardt]

@pratiklondhe Thanks for the patch! Yes, changing line 479 is correct, within the wp_admin_bar_edit_site_menu() function.

[sabernhardt]

I like that the string 'Site Editor' is ​already translated, though its current use is in the theme administration's ​features list (since 6.1.1 with [54786]). I did not notice a problem with reusing it in this context, but could that be inappropriate?

For more history, the 'Edit site' link was added to the plugin in GB27135 and merged into Core with [52158].

[audrasjb]

The patch looks good to me, thanks!

Replying to sabernhardt:

I like that the string 'Site Editor' is ​already translated, though its current use is in the theme administration's ​features list (since 6.1.1 with [54786]). I did not notice a problem with reusing it in this context, but could that be inappropriate?

In this cas, there is no problem reusing it without adding a translating context since it's about the very same thing, so I think the patch can ship as it is. Thanks for checking! :)

[audrasjb]

In 58035:

Toolbar: Replace "Edit Site" link with "Site Editor" in the Admin Toolbar.

This changesets replaces the "Edit Site" link with "Site Editor" to avoid duplicate link anchors on multisite admin toolbar. The remaining "Edit site" link takes the user to the site editing screen in the network admin area (network/site-info.php) while the new "Site Editor" link takes the user to the site editor (site-editor.php).

Follow-up to [52158]. See GB27135.

Props johnbillion, sabernhardt, audrasjb, johnjamesjacoby, pratiklondhe.
Fixes #60977.

[annezazu]

Catching up to this late but wanted to see if we could consider going in a different direction to address this. Instead of renaming the "Edit site" to "Site Editor" (verb/action to noun), could we rename the "Edit Site" link? Perhaps make it "Edit site info" or something else more action oriented or "Site Info". I'm spitballing on the names but, right now, changing something from more action oriented (Edit site) for most users to something more passive, especially when folks often see an "Edit post" or "Edit page" near "Edit site" feels like a step backwards.

[Joen]

Any chance we can change the verbiage only when you're on a multi-site install? Anne has good points about "Edit site" being more active language, whereas "Site editor" is likely to be meaningless to most people. Alternatively, "Edit design" might even be better.

[audrasjb]

@Joen I don't think we should change the wording of the site editor link (which was changed to "Site Editor" in [58035]) depending on whether the installation is a network or not. Because it would be inconsistent for people using both network installations and single-site installations.

I would rather change the wording of the site information link. Perhaps we could use "Edit Site Info" as proposed by @annezazu.

[johnjamesjacoby]

We are running out of synonyms in American English. 😅

What I originally liked about "Site Editor" is that it sounds like a tangible place and tool; like a Photo Editor or a Code Editor, a Site Editor is the place I go to edit site stuffs.

Juxtaposed to the actions/verbs of "Edit Site" or "Edit Design", which are unintentionally ambiguous (to me); what aspects of the Site or Design will I be editing (especially as a Super Admin with all kinds of access to things, which this ticket aims specifically at).

---

If we are considering revising this (which I am not opposed to), here are my alternative suggestions:

Inspired by the admin area menu name hierarchy: Appearance > Editor (thinking of Anne 🫶):

• Appearance Editor
• Edit Appearance

Inspired by site-editor.php's h1 tag contents: Design (thinking of Joen 🫶):

• Design Editor
• Edit Design

Because so much of WordPress is now inconsistent in look & feel, it becomes even more important that terminology stay consistent when sending users between them. If a click takes a user to a whole-new interface, the key words there should match-up with what they clicked to get there, as a way to cross-check & confirm that they are where they wanted to be – ignoring for now that "Design" & "Appearance" are also used interchangeably 🤪

[Joen]

No strong opinions, generally, I mainly echo Anne's instincts on using active language (Edit N, etc.) For me it's conceptually about wp-admin itself being the site editor, with the design of your site being just one aspect. That's a bit of a semantic rabbit hole and I'm not suggesting any changes there, mainly using that concept as a vessel for finding other terms. Thanks JJJ!

[sabernhardt]

Of the options listed above, I like "Edit Design" for the top-level link.

For another idea, "Open site editor" (already ​used on the admin dashboard) starts with a verb and suggests "site editor" is a place or tool. However, that can be rather long for the toolbar's top level.

The multisite link goes to the page for editing site info, though Info is the first of four tab-styled links (the other three are Users, Themes and Settings).

[audrasjb]

"Open site editor" sounds very well to me.

[annezazu]

I still think it would be better to change the multisite option over the option most users are going to see for the site editor. Some other ideas for verbiage that takes you to the site editing screen in the network admin area:

• "Manage Site"
• "Edit Site Admin"

[oglekler]

@nilovelez, @tobifjellner, @fierevere and @zodiac1978, can you place provide your ideas about phrases that need to be used to avoid confusion? Sorry for pinging a lot of people, ticket looks simple, but there should be informed decision and we have 2 weeks until Beta 1. Thank you 🙏

[nilovelez]

For me if would be easier to keep the toolbar link as "Edit site" and, for the multisite option, change it to "Manage site" as @annezazu suggested.

"Site settings" is also a good candidate for the multisite option.

[tobifjellner]

... or "Site Parameters"

[sabernhardt]

restores "Edit site" on block editor link, replaces multisite link with "Manage Site"

[sabernhardt]

"Manage Site" meets the preference for a verb, so I used that for the multisite link in 60977.2.diff​.

[oglekler]

We have just a few days before the Beta 1, so, we need to see how it looks like and if everything is logically correct, merge it.

[pavanpatil1]

Test Report

Patch tested - https://core.trac.wordpress.org/attachment/ticket/60977/60977.2.diff

Environment:
OS: Windows 11
Browser: Chrome v125
WordPress: 6.5.3

Actual Result: When viewing the admin area and hovering over the site name in the admin toolbar, "Manage site" is now visible instead of "Edit site" and clicking on it redirects correctly ✅

Screenshots:
​https://prnt.sc/YIl8-yWaKGFo

[Hitendra Chopda]

Test report

I have tested the below patch.

https://core.trac.wordpress.org/attachment/ticket/60977/60977.2.diff

Environment

OS: macOS Sonoma 14.4
Web Server: Nginx
Platform: Local By Flywheel
PHP: 8.3
WordPress: 6.5.3
Browser: Safari 7.4 (macOS), Chrome Version 123.0.6312.106
Theme: Twenty Twenty-Four Version: 1.1

Actual Result:

When viewing the admin area and hovering over the site name in the admin toolbar, "Manage site" is now visible instead of "Edit site" and redirects to the correct URL. ✅

Screenshot
​https://share.cleanshot.com/PysG8cv4RYLWdWl1BSgP

GIF
​https://share.cleanshot.com/0MXLgCd2KyZ8JZqTkS6q

Thank you.

[oglekler]

@sabernhardt can we mark this ticket to commit? :)

[audrasjb]

In 58296:

Toolbar: Restore "Edit site" on block editor admin bar link and replace multisite link.

This changeset restores "Edit site" on the block editor link and replaces the multisite link with "Manage Site".

Follow-up to [58035].

Props annezazu, johnbillion, Joen, audrasjb, johnjamesjacoby, oglekler, nilovelez, tobifjellner, sabernhardt, pavanpatil1, hitendra-chopda.
Fixes #60977.

[SergeyBiryukov]

In 58297:

Docs: Correct description for wp_admin_bar_edit_site_menu().

Follow-up to [58035], [58296].

See #60977.

[ugyensupport]

Bug Report

Description

Several times,@johnbillion has clicked on the wrong "Edit site" link in the admin toolbar and been taken to the network admin site editing screen instead of the site editor.
This only affects Super Admin users.
When viewing the front end of the site there is a top-level "Edit site" link in the admin toolbar. This takes you to the site editor for full site editing (site-editor.php).
When viewing the admin area and hovering over the site name in the admin toolbar, there is an "Edit Site" link in its menu. This takes you to the site editing screen in the network admin area (network/site-info.php).
It would be good to more clearly differentiate between editing a site and editing a site.

Environment

• WordPress: 6.5.4
• PHP: 8.3
• Server: Apache/2.4.10 (Debian)
• Database: mysqli (Server: 5.5.59-MariaDB-1~wheezy / Client: 5.5.62)
• Browser: Chrome 125.0.0.0 (macOS)
• Theme: Could not determine
• MU-Plugins: None activated
• Plugins:
  • File Manager Advanced 5.2.4
  • WordPress Beta Tester 3.5.5

Steps to Reproduce

I have tested the below patch.
https://core.trac.wordpress.org/attachment/ticket/60977/60977.2.diff

Expected Results

1. ✅ When viewing the admin area and hovering over the site name in the admin toolbar, "Manage site" is now visible instead of "Edit site" and redirects to the correct URL.

Actual Results

1. ✅ ​https://ibb.co/qCKJn6W

[audrasjb]

Hello @ugyensupport, thanks for your report but this was actually committed to Core about one week ago, and this ticket is already closed as fixed :)