Titles, templates & variables
The separator, the home page, and the title and description templates for every content type and archive.
Most pages never need their own SEO title: a template builds it. Change a template once, and every page without its own title follows.
Titles & home page#
Core SEO → Titles & home page: the Title separator (default –) between title parts, and the home page’s SEO title (default {site} {page} {sep} {tagline}) and meta description (empty = your tagline). With a static front page, the page’s own fields win.
Content types#
Core SEO → Content types: per post type a title template (default {title} {page} {sep} {site}), a description template (empty = the start of the text) and Show in Google: hide all items of a type from search results. Single items can still be shown or hidden in the editor.
Categories & tags#
Core SEO → Categories & tags: the same per taxonomy (title default {term} {page} {sep} {site}, description default {term_description}). Empty archives are always hidden from Google.
Archives & special pages#
| Setting | Default |
|---|---|
| Author archives: title, and hide from search | {author} {page} {sep} {site}, shown. Hide them on one-author sites. |
| Date archives | Hidden from search (recommended). |
| Search results title | {search_label} {sep} {site} |
| 404 page title | {notfound_label} {sep} {site} |
| Media pages | Visitors to attachment pages go to the post (or the file). |
Variables#
| Variable | Becomes |
|---|---|
{title} |
Title of the post or page |
{sep} |
The separator |
{site} / {tagline} |
Site title / tagline |
{excerpt} |
Excerpt, or the start of the text |
{category} |
Main category |
{author} |
Author |
{date} / {modified} |
Publish date / last update |
{term} / {term_description} |
Category or tag name / description |
{page} |
“Page 2” and further on paged archives |
{search} |
Search terms |
{year} / {month} |
Current year / month |
{price} {sku} {brand} {stock} |
Products (Premium with WooCommerce) |
Empty variables disappear, double separators collapse into one and a separator at the start or end is removed, so {title} {page} {sep} {site} never shows a stray “–”.