WP - Use of Post Timestamp May Require Changing Your Post Slug

I learn something new about WordPress, every time I’m working on my blog. Today, I learned how using the post timestamp can affect my post slug.

Today’s Lesson

I often use the “post timestamp” feature for future posts.

Today, as I was running errands for our business, I got to thinking about a particular post I have scheduled for the future (blogging seems to follow me wherever I go). I decided I needed to change one word in its title, so when I got back to my desk, I made the change.

That was easy.

But…. I happened to notice, the “post slug” didn’t change.

For those of you who use WordPress, the definition of post slug, as quoted by WordPress.org is:

Post Slug
This is where WordPress will “clean up” your post title to create a link, if you are using Permalinks. The commas, quotes, apostrophes, and other non-HTML favorable characters are changed and a dash is put between each word. If your title is “My Site - Here’s Lookin’ at You, Kid”, it will be cleaned up to be “my-site-heres-lookin-at-you-kid” as the title. You can manually change this, maybe shortening it to “my-site-lookin-at-you-kid”.

The “post slug” feature, can be found in the right hand column of your “write” or “manage - posts” page of WordPress. The post slug area will remain blank until you hit the publish button.

From this, I have learned, if you use the timestamp feature, and change the title after you have hit “publish”, your post slug (permalink) may not match the actual post title.

Now, that may not be a big deal, however, if you were to completely change the title, a visitor who found your blog. via a search engine, may think they landed on the wrong page.

So, as a word of caution, if you are using the “post timestamp” feature, once you hit publish, your title is “carved in the “stone” of the post slug”, unless…. you manually change it.

Changing your post slug is easy. Just delete the words that are incorrect, and type in the new one(s). Remember, there is a dash between each word.

Today’s Assignment

If you use the post timestamp feature, have you ever noticed this?

Do you think it matters if your permalink may be different than your actual title?

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Posted on January 17, 2008
Filed Under Archives, Blogging Lessons, WordPress, Writing Tips |

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4 Responses to “WP - Use of Post Timestamp May Require Changing Your Post Slug”

CatherineL on January 17th, 2008 12:51 am

Hi Barbara - I had not noticed this yet. I only started using the time stamp to post automatically after you advised how to do it in your post the other day, so it is all new to me.

It looks like we need to make sure we are really happy with our title before using the timestamp feature.

I’m finding it very useful. Beforehand, I was writing partial posts and finishing them on a morning before posting and generally messing around editing them before I hit publish. Using the timestamp makes me write full posts in advance.
Hunter Nuttall on January 17th, 2008 6:13 am

It hasn’t been an issue for me yet, but that’s when it’s good to know about it–before it happens! I don’t think a permalink necessarily needs to match the title (people sometimes change slugs slightly for SEO purposes, to make them machine readable instead of human readable). But if the permalink is going to be different, it should be different because you wanted it that way, not because you didn’t realize it wouldn’t change to match the new title.
Ian Denny on January 17th, 2008 6:28 am

I’m getting really worried now. Not because of the problem with titles and permalinks, but because I actually understand it without going to Google or taking a peak at the back-end of Wordpress!

I must take a break from blogs!

That’s good advice - I probably wouldn’t have spotted that.

I’ve used the time feature once, and it was great. But I do tinker with titles so I’ll remember that (hopefully!).
Barbara on January 17th, 2008 10:38 am

Catherine,

Although this happens, I don’t think it’s a reason to hesitate using the post timestamp, as it is easy to correct…

Hunter,

Yes, you are correct, Many bloggers do change them for SEO reasons. Although I don’t pay attention, maybe in the future, I may make a mental note of the differences….there may be something more to that.

Ian,

Isn’t it great when we do read something new about blogging, and can say, right away, “I get it”. For me, it has taken some time to get to that point, but there are still many aspects of the technical side of blogging, where I am still brain dead.