Hi all, I have an issue that has been baffling me for ages. I’m running twenty twelve, WP 3.7.1, and bbress 2.5.

I’m using a page for my forum index using the shortcode. I want my forum navigation link to point back to my page with short code, not the slug created by the Forum Root field.

I have a child theme, and I would like to avoid changing core files because of updates. Is there any way to code the navigation link so it has my choice of address and link text?

Here is how I’m set up:

Slug for my forum wp page is” “forum”
Forums Settings Forum Root: “DO NOT WANT THIS TO BE WHAT THE LINK POINTS TO”
Forums Settings Single forum slug: “discussion”
Prefix all forum content is unchecked…my preference.

Here are the links:

Forum Index Page: http://www.aquariumcarebasics.com/forum/ (no problem)
Forum Page: http://www.aquariumcarebasics.com/discussion/amano-shrimp-care/ (no problems)

But when I’ on the amano-shrimp-care page, for example, the “Forums” link text points back to:

http://www.aquariumcarebasics.com/DONOTWANTTHISTOBEWHATTHELINKPOINTSTO/

instead of http://www.aquariumcarebasics.com/forum/.

I know that if I populate the Forum Root field with the same slug as my shortcode page the forum index and page contents show up, but what I lose is my Page Title Tag. The Page Title Tag generated this way is the default tag from the Forum Root field. I suppose I can live with this, but I want to see if I can sort it out properly.

Please let me know, Thanks!

[@robin-w Moderator 11 years ago]

Was with you al the way to

I know that if I populate the Forum Root field with the same slug as my shortcode page the forum index and page contents show up, but what I lose is my Page Title Tag.

I think I am being thick, but what does having the forum root field as forum lose you? – can you give a view of what you want to see and what it is doing.

[@tvguy2000 Participant 11 years ago]

Thanks responding so quickly.

What I am trying to say is that my WP Forum Page using the shortcode has a Title Tag that comes from words I submit via SEO Yoast…so I have control over how the page title reads. And it looks like this, for example:

<title>Aquarium Forum</title>

If I populate the Forum Root field with the slug “forum”, my WP page takes precedence over the Forum Root Field slug of the same name so the navigation words properly and the forum index page looks the same. But when one navigates back, the Forum Page has a different title tag. It changes to:

<title>Forums | Aquarium Care Basics</title>

…which I have no control over.

Actually your question has forced me to think this through again and I’m going to sleep on whether this is actually a difference that really matters. Because in the end, the version of the Forum Page that gets spidered the one with the optimized title, not the version of the Forum Page that exists via the navigation link.

[@tvguy2000 Participant 11 years ago]

Oh, since I changed the Forum Root field to create the above example, it no longer creates my optimized title tag <title>Aquarium Forum</title>, when I change it back to haw I had it before.

I think we only get one bite at the apple with this.

Anyway, this all may just be academic.

[@tvguy2000 Participant 11 years ago]

I reset everything to how I had it set up originally. The title tag I want is being used on this page:

http://www.aquariumcarebasics.com/forum/ <title>Aquarium Forum</title>

But if I put the word “forum” in the Forum Root field, clicking on the Home > Forums link brings me back to my forum index page but with this title tag: <title>Forums | Aquarium Care Basics</title>

[@tvguy2000 Participant 11 years ago]

Let me try to lay this out another way.

What I’m trying to do is get control of the title tag on my Forum Index page when using shortcode. As it stands now, my title tag seems to be getting overwritten from somewhere.

My page slug is “forum” and I put the word “forum” in the Forum Root field so the navigation works properly, but my page is getting a title tag from somewhere else.

My Forum Page: http://www.aquariumcarebasics.com/forum/
— SEO Yoast title for that page should be: “Aquarium Forum”

But the title tag reads: “Forums | Aquarium Care Basics”

So, my question is, if I use shortcode on a page, where does the info to create that page’s title tag come from?

[@robin-w Moderator 11 years ago]

Ok, I’m still struggling because what you describe is not what I see as you have the “DONOTWANTTHISTOBEWHATTHELINKPOINTSTO” still set, so I am not seeing your exact problem.

You should be able to

1. set the forum root to “forums”
2. set permalinks to postname in settings
3. set the “forum” page permalink to http://mysite.com/forums
4. Put the shortcode on that page

and then you can change the actual “forum” page to whatever title you like and as long, and it should all work – mine is set up exactly that way and works.

You could try disabling seo yoast to eliminate that as a problem.

what other plugins are you running?

[@tvguy2000 Participant 11 years ago]

Hey, I think you nailed it. Its a conflict with a plugin. Second time a plugin zinged me this week. You would think I would have learned by now. Thanks a million!

[@robin-w Moderator 11 years ago]

No problems, it was beginning to annoy me as well !

[@tvguy2000 Participant 11 years ago]

Hey Robin, just wanted to thank you for helping me sort this out. It’s been perplexing me for ages. I’m glad I finally got it resolved. These boards are so important because they really cause people to dig deep and think about things, especially with plugins and how they all interact.

Let me round of the discussion.

In Yoast, the “regular” way to populate a title tag is to enter the data in the appropriate field on the page or post. Which I was doing, but it didn’t work.

But with forums, the words for the forum index title tag have to be entered in:

SEO > Titles & Metas > Post Types > Custom Post Type Archives > Forums > Title Field.

RESOLVED!

[@robin-w Moderator 11 years ago]

Great, and thanks for posting the solution, it’ll help other people picking up this issue in future !