Make WordPress Core

Opened 17 years ago

Closed 2 years ago

Last modified 14 months ago

#6479 closed enhancement (fixed)

Encourage people to change default tagline

Reported by: markjaquith's profile markjaquith Owned by: audrasjb's profile audrasjb
Milestone: 6.1 Priority: normal
Severity: normal Version: 2.5
Component: Administration Keywords: has-patch needs-user-docs has-unit-tests
Focuses: Cc:

Description

A lot of people don't change the default tagline, especially if using a theme that doesn't display it. But it still displays in their feed. We should check to see if they still have the default tagline and if so, put a little contextual help in Settings - General that (nicely) encourages them to change it.

Props to Chris Silver Smith for bringing this issue up at WordCamp Dallas.

Attachments (4)

6479.patch (3.9 KB) - added by RyanMurphy 13 years ago.
6479.2.patch (3.2 KB) - added by tyxla 9 years ago.
Adding tagline field to installation main step.
6479.3.patch (2.2 KB) - added by sabernhardt 3 years ago.
tagline placeholder in General Settings, empty string for standard blogdescription option
6479.4.patch (1.6 KB) - added by rafiahmedd 2 years ago.
Here is the patch for notice

Download all attachments as: .zip

Change History (68)

#1 @Denis-de-Bernardy
15 years ago

  • Component changed from General to UI
  • Owner anonymous deleted

#2 @Denis-de-Bernardy
15 years ago

  • Keywords needs-patch close added
  • Milestone changed from 2.9 to Future Release

suggesting wontfix

#3 @scohoust
15 years ago

+1 wontfix

Any problem this is causing to require users change it?

#4 @westi
15 years ago

  • Keywords close removed
  • Owner set to markjaquith
  • Status changed from new to assigned

This sounds like a good idea.

Maybe it should be promoted to an Install time configurable?

@RyanMurphy
13 years ago

#6 @RyanMurphy
13 years ago

  • Keywords has-patch added; needs-patch removed

Attached patch adds the tagline as an install time option. Patch also sets the default tagline to (i.e. none) (#18552).

#7 @SergeyBiryukov
12 years ago

Closed #20761 as a duplicate.

#9 @kovshenin
12 years ago

Two cents: In 6479.patch the new argument to wp_install should be the last in the list, otherwise you might break existing calls to wp_install. It should also be an optional argument. In schema.php the empty string should not be passed through the translation functions, in fact I don't think it should be an empty string at all. The default value for the tagline should remain as is -- the ticket says "encourage" people to change the default tagline, not "force" :)

#10 @ocean90
12 years ago

  • Keywords needs-patch added; has-patch removed

What kovshenin says.

#11 @SergeyBiryukov
12 years ago

The empty string came out of #18552. A more recent suggestion: ticket:18552:10.

#12 @DrewAPicture
12 years ago

  • Component changed from UI to Administration

#13 @chriscct7
9 years ago

  • Keywords ux-feedback added

I don't think this is just limited to the tagline. Many users never edit the time settings to their correct time. Maybe the UX team has an idea about how to improve the settings so users are encouraged to go through all settings

@tyxla
9 years ago

Adding tagline field to installation main step.

#14 @tyxla
9 years ago

  • Keywords has-patch added; needs-patch removed

The recent patch above follows the notes from @kovshenin.

#15 @hyperbrand
8 years ago

Why don't we direct users to the settings page after the installation process? Like other websites do after registering. Why should the dashboard be the starting point and not the settings page first?

#16 @karmatosed
8 years ago

To me, the dashboard makes sense to be the place if the information on it leads people to discovery as part of the NUX. This is actually something I think could be improved, that's outside the scope of this ticket though I would suggest. I think having encouragements like this make sense, even if we have a NUX flow that includes a prompt, people skip flows.

#17 @lukecavanagh
8 years ago

@karmatosed

So it might more sense for having reminders on the dashboard, if a user has not updated the site tagline from default or add a new page or post from default content.

#18 @karmatosed
8 years ago

@lukecavanagh if that's the end of the NUX flow then yes. I do note that whilst I don't know if planned I think the next release was focusing on NUX a little. This could be something to bring to that.

#19 @lukecavanagh
8 years ago

@karmatosed

Awesome then it would make total sense.

Last edited 8 years ago by lukecavanagh (previous) (diff)

#20 @SergeyBiryukov
8 years ago

#38316 was marked as a duplicate.

This ticket was mentioned in Slack in #design by karmatosed. View the logs.


7 years ago

#22 @melchoyce
7 years ago

Taglines feel pretty anachronistic at this point, especially as WordPress is used for many different kinds of sites. I'd be a +1 for removing the default tagline, as suggested in #38316.

This ticket was mentioned in Slack in #design by boemedia. View the logs.


6 years ago

#24 @boemedia
6 years ago

We discussed this ticket in today's design triage. Summarizing, we can conclude 3 things:

  1. Not all themes display the tagline
  2. Not everyone changes the default tagline
  3. When people don't see the tagline in their theme, they don't realise it's still visible in feeds (and search results as well?)

I'm not even sure if a lot of website owners want a tagline in the first place, or have one at all. This could typically be a maybe later and then be forgotten.

I'd suggest making this a 2-step process while installing WP, but check if people see these fields while they use hosting services to install WP:

  1. ask if people want a tagline on their website (+ info: what is a tagline, where is it displayed, examples, why have one -> maybe link to some blog post on .org?). If checked yes, then:
  2. open conditional field where people can fill out the tagline.

This ticket was mentioned in Slack in #design by karmatosed. View the logs.


5 years ago

#26 @karmatosed
5 years ago

  • Keywords ux-feedback removed

As this has ux-feedback, removing keyword.

#27 @khag7
4 years ago

  • Severity changed from normal to trivial

Any thoughts on changing the default tagline to an empty string?

#28 @sabernhardt
3 years ago

  • Milestone changed from Future Release to 6.0
  • Severity changed from trivial to normal

I think now is a good time to revisit this. Removing the Customizer from block themes likely will increase the number of people who have the default tagline on their site without even knowing about it.

The current text can remain in Core, but it might work better as a default field value only within the Customizer (if possible) for people still using that. Or it could be an example below the field in the Customizer and/or Settings.

If a (visible) Tagline field becomes part the installation process, that would involve editing two network files (site-new.php and wp-signup.php) besides install.php.

If we also want to encourage changing the tagline for existing sites, we could reopen #38316 to set the option to an empty string for new installations, and then address existing installations on this ticket separately. (That ticket is very closely related to this one, but it's not an exact duplicate.)

#29 @audrasjb
3 years ago

  • Keywords needs-refresh 2nd-opinion added

I do think the easier solution is to replace the "Just another WordPress site" value with a placeholder. By doing this, we keep this sentence which is in my opinion part of the WordPress history —by doing so, it would at least appear on the Settings screen, so we keep this signature sentence somewhere on the admin— but the value is empty by default for new installs.
Thoughts?

Last edited 3 years ago by audrasjb (previous) (diff)

@sabernhardt
3 years ago

tagline placeholder in General Settings, empty string for standard blogdescription option

#30 @sabernhardt
3 years ago

Yes, adding a placeholder in General Settings is easier than editing the Customizer or installation forms. If that is a good approach, the patch still will need updating for unit tests (including at least wpGetDocumentTitle.php).

#31 @audrasjb
3 years ago

In my opinion, 6479.3.patch is the best approach 👍

By the way, I think it would be nice to get a second opinion from historical committers before shipping it :)

#32 @audrasjb
3 years ago

  • Keywords needs-testing added; needs-refresh removed

Thanks for the patch @sabernhardt. Pushing it as a pull request now, to make sure it passes Unit tests (I feel a bit hesitant about some export tests).

#34 @audrasjb
3 years ago

  • Keywords needs-unit-tests added

That's what I thought: tests are failing. Updating your patch accordingly :)

This ticket was mentioned in Slack in #core by chaion07. View the logs.


3 years ago

This ticket was mentioned in Slack in #core by chaion07. View the logs.


3 years ago

#37 follow-up: @peterwilsoncc
3 years ago

  • Keywords needs-refresh added; 2nd-opinion removed
  • Owner markjaquith deleted

This was discussed today in a triage session.

There's still a little to do prior to release but we can keep it on the milestone for now.

  • There are a few unit tests failing relating to the_title
  • If not already, adding the site tag to the installation screens would be good too
  • Ensure the tagline is optional

props: @hilayt24, @chaion07, @mehedi890, @markparnell for contributing to discussion

#38 in reply to: ↑ 37 @audrasjb
3 years ago

Replying to peterwilsoncc:

  • If not already, adding the site tag to the installation screens would be good too

Are you sure? Adding items to the installation screen is a sensible change since each addition to this screen could be considered as a threat for the "5 mins" installation process. I think this specific proposal needs to be discussed a lot more before implementing it :)

Last edited 3 years ago by audrasjb (previous) (diff)

#39 @peterwilsoncc
3 years ago

@audrasjb Fair, leave that for now and it can be discussed to consider further implications.

#40 @milana_cap
3 years ago

  • Keywords needs-codex added

This ticket was mentioned in Slack in #core by chaion07. View the logs.


3 years ago

#42 @costdev
3 years ago

Per the discussion in the bug scrub, I'm going to work on the refresh of the PR to target these outstanding issues:

  • There are a few unit tests failing relating to the_title.
  • Ensure the tagline is optional.
  • This comment on the PR regarding the unit tests.

I'll post a comment when the PR is ready for review.

#43 @audrasjb
3 years ago

  • Keywords needs-testing removed
  • Owner set to audrasjb
  • Status changed from assigned to reviewing

Thanks @costdev for taking care of this! Self-assigning to make sure it's handled in time for beta 1. A new PR would be very appreciated, but if you don't have the time to work on it, let me know :)

This ticket was mentioned in Slack in #core by chaion07. View the logs.


3 years ago

#45 @sabernhardt
3 years ago

  • Milestone changed from 6.0 to 6.1

#46 @milana_cap
2 years ago

  • Keywords needs-user-docs added; needs-codex removed

#47 @martin.krcho
2 years ago

@costdev , have you done any more work on this recently? I am happy to help with the unit tests if still needed.

#48 @costdev
2 years ago

Hi @martinkrcho! I haven't done work on this recently, so feel free to jump in. If that changes, let me know and I'll get back onto this one.

#49 @rafiahmedd
2 years ago

I think we can add an admin notice if someone doesn't add a tagline. I will submit a patch for this.

@rafiahmedd
2 years ago

Here is the patch for notice

This ticket was mentioned in PR #3050 on WordPress/wordpress-develop by costdev.


2 years ago
#50

  • Keywords has-unit-tests added; needs-unit-tests needs-refresh removed

This PR refreshes PR 2230 to fix failing tests and add another testcase as requested by @peterwilsoncc in this comment.

Trac ticket:

#51 @costdev
2 years ago

@audrasjb @peterwilsoncc PR 3050 is ready for review.

Note: Separate from the PR, 6479.4.patch has been added by @rafiahmedd and needs discussion.

#52 @sabernhardt
2 years ago

Thanks for updating the tests!

About 6479.4.patch:
Having an empty tagline is not an error.

If we want an admin notice to recommend setting a tagline, it:

  1. Must verify that the user has the manage_options capability to change site settings.
  2. Needs to be permanently dismissible.
  3. Could have the notice-info (blue) styling.
  4. Needs meaningful text in the link (something like "create a site tagline" instead of "click here").
sprintf(
	__( 'Your site does not have a tagline. If you would like, you could <a href="%s">create a site tagline</a>.' ),
	admin_url( 'options-general.php' )
)

#53 @costdev
2 years ago

Thanks for the feedback @sabernhardt!

On the admin notice, is there support for @rafiahmedd's proposal to introduce one?

If so:

  • The notice would appear on every admin page except options-general.php, correct?
  • The initial user with the manage_option capability would make the decision for the whole site, correct?

This touches on the earlier discussion about the install screen. If we don't want to add an additional option to the install screen, then we need to consider how the notice is permanently dismissible.

Two options are:

  • Similar to the default_password_nag, a site_tagline_nag option could be set to true in wp_install(). This would be set to false upon clicking a "No thanks, don't ask me again" link in the notice.
  • The disable_site_tagline_nag option is only created when the user clicks "No thanks, don't ask me again", and is set to true.

Thoughts?

#54 @audrasjb
2 years ago

I'm not sure an admin notice is really needed here as it's up to people to set up a tagline or not. Not having a tagline is not a mistake in itself.
Indeed, it is not mandatory to use it by default: in bundled themes, it is appended to the <title> tag and used in the header of the website, but that's optional.

Last edited 2 years ago by audrasjb (previous) (diff)

#55 @costdev
2 years ago

Thanks @audrasjb! I think that just leaves PR 3050 for this ticket. Do you have bandwidth for this one in your review list?

#56 @audrasjb
2 years ago

Yeah, I'm gonna give it a last test then commit 👍

#58 @audrasjb
2 years ago

  • Keywords commit added

Looks good to me. Marking for commit… and committing right now.

#59 @audrasjb
2 years ago

  • Resolution set to fixed
  • Status changed from reviewing to closed

In 53815:

Administration: Change default site tagline to an empty string.

This changeset replaces the default "Just another WordPress site" tagline with an empty string for new installations. The reasoning is:

  1. Not all themes display the tagline;
  2. Not everyone changes the default tagline;
  3. When people don't see the tagline in their theme, they may not realize it is still visible in some places, like feeds.

The string "Just another WordPress site" and the related multisite string: "Just another {NETWORK} site" are now only used as a placeholder for the tagline admin option.

Props markjaquith, Denis-de-Bernardy, westi, RyanMurphy, kovshenin, SergeyBiryukov, chriscct7, tyxla, hyperbrand, karmatosed, lukecavanagh, melchoyce, boemedia, khag7, sabernhardt, audrasjb, peterwilsoncc, costdev, martinkrcho, rafiahmedd.
Fixes #6479.

audrasjb commented on PR #3050:


2 years ago
#60

Committed in Just another WordPress site

audrasjb commented on PR #3050:


2 years ago
#61

loool wrong copy paste 😂 😂 😂

Committed in https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/53815

#62 @sabernhardt
2 years ago

  • Keywords commit removed

I suggested adding a paragraph about the site tagline on the About page (ticket:56357#comment:19).

@webcommsat asked about other documentation:

Is there a dev note that will cover Ticket #6479? The change is quite significant and it would be good for it to be highlighted in other places too including docs and support. I will highlight it to colleagues I'm working alongside in the release docs team. I will raise it in Training too as from memory some items on Learn WordPress.org relate to the site tagline. Thanks.

I had not planned to write a special dev note about this change, though mentioning it in the Field Guide may help.

This ticket was mentioned in Slack in #core by costdev. View the logs.


21 months ago

#64 @daxelrod
14 months ago

HelpHub was updated to note the new empty-string default: https://wordpress.org/documentation/article/settings-general-screen/

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