How to customize title in WordPress themes using pre_get_document_title

WordPress version 4.4 and above use a filter called pre_get_document_title() for a customzing title for each page, post, tag, category and more. For example, I can change 404 error title using this filter. One can use the wp_title() which was formerly deprecated in version 4.4 but was returned for compatibility reasons.





Let us see how to change or override page title. I am using Twenty Sixteen child theme.

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Syntax and examples

The syntax is pretty simple:

// add filter add_filter ( 'pre_get_document_title' , 'change_my_title' ) ; // Our function function change_my_title ( $title ) { return 'My new title' ; } // add filter add_filter('pre_get_document_title', 'change_my_title'); // Our function function change_my_title($title) { return 'My new title'; }

The above will change title for all pages/posts/tags and more. So you must customize it as per your needs. For example just change 404 page title:

// add filter add_filter ( 'pre_get_document_title' , 'change_my_404_title' ) ; // Our function function change_my_404_title ( $title ) { // checks if 404 error is being displayed if ( is_404 ( ) ) { return 'Error 404: Oh no. Page note found :(' ; } // else return default title return $title ; } // add filter add_filter('pre_get_document_title', 'change_my_404_title'); // Our function function change_my_404_title($title) { // checks if 404 error is being displayed if ( is_404() ) { return 'Error 404: Oh no. Page note found :('; } // else return default title return $title; }

The above pre_get_document_title filter allowed me to override any HTTP 404 error page title as per my needs. Here is another example where I am customizing title for my custom taxonomy:

add_filter ( 'pre_get_document_title' , 'change_faq_tax_title' ) ; function change_faq_tax_title ( $title ) { global $page , $paged ; // if Easy taxonomy if ( is_tax ( 'tutoriallevel' , 'easy' ) ) { $nix_title = single_term_title ( '' , false ) . ' to follow Linux/Unix tutorials for new users - nixCraft ' ; // Add a page number if necessary. if ( ( $paged >= 2 || $page >= 2 ) && ! is_404 ( ) ) { $nix_title .= sprintf ( __ ( 'Page %s' ) , max ( $paged , $page ) ) ; } return $nix_title ; } } add_filter('pre_get_document_title', 'change_faq_tax_title'); function change_faq_tax_title($title) { global $page, $paged; // if Easy taxonomy if (is_tax('tutoriallevel', 'easy')) { $nix_title = single_term_title( '', false ) . ' to follow Linux/Unix tutorials for new users - nixCraft '; // Add a page number if necessary. if ( ( $paged >= 2 || $page >= 2 ) && ! is_404() ) { $nix_title .= sprintf( __( 'Page %s' ), max( $paged, $page ) ); } return $nix_title; } }

You must put above code in functions.php located inside your child theme. Passing a non-empty value will short-circuit wp_get_document_title(), returning that value instead. wp_get_document_title() returns document title for the current page/tag/post. Here is an original function is taken from WordPress core file:

function wp_get_document_title ( ) { /** * Filters the document title before it is generated. * * Passing a non-empty value will short-circuit wp_get_document_title(), * returning that value instead. * * @since 4.4.0 * * @param string $title The document title. Default empty string. */ $title = apply_filters ( 'pre_get_document_title' , '' ) ; if ( ! empty ( $title ) ) { return $title ; } global $page , $paged ; $title = array ( 'title' => '' , ) ; // If it's a 404 page, use a "Page not found" title. if ( is_404 ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = __ ( 'Page not found' ) ; // If it's a search, use a dynamic search results title. } elseif ( is_search ( ) ) { /* translators: %s: search phrase */ $title [ 'title' ] = sprintf ( __ ( 'Search Results for “%s”' ) , get_search_query ( ) ) ; // If on the front page, use the site title. } elseif ( is_front_page ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = get_bloginfo ( 'name' , 'display' ) ; // If on a post type archive, use the post type archive title. } elseif ( is_post_type_archive ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = post_type_archive_title ( '' , false ) ; // If on a taxonomy archive, use the term title. } elseif ( is_tax ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = single_term_title ( '' , false ) ; /* * If we're on the blog page that is not the homepage or * a single post of any post type, use the post title. */ } elseif ( is_home ( ) || is_singular ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = single_post_title ( '' , false ) ; // If on a category or tag archive, use the term title. } elseif ( is_category ( ) || is_tag ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = single_term_title ( '' , false ) ; // If on an author archive, use the author's display name. } elseif ( is_author ( ) && $author = get_queried_object ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = $author -> display_name ; // If it's a date archive, use the date as the title. } elseif ( is_year ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = get_the_date ( _x ( 'Y' , 'yearly archives date format' ) ) ; } elseif ( is_month ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = get_the_date ( _x ( 'F Y' , 'monthly archives date format' ) ) ; } elseif ( is_day ( ) ) { $title [ 'title' ] = get_the_date ( ) ; } // Add a page number if necessary. if ( ( $paged >= 2 || $page >= 2 ) && ! is_404 ( ) ) { $title [ 'page' ] = sprintf ( __ ( 'Page %s' ) , max ( $paged , $page ) ) ; } // Append the description or site title to give context. if ( is_front_page ( ) ) { $title [ 'tagline' ] = get_bloginfo ( 'description' , 'display' ) ; } else { $title [ 'site' ] = get_bloginfo ( 'name' , 'display' ) ; } /** * Filters the separator for the document title. * * @since 4.4.0 * * @param string $sep Document title separator. Default '-'. */ $sep = apply_filters ( 'document_title_separator' , '-' ) ; /** * Filters the parts of the document title. * * @since 4.4.0 * * @param array $title { * The document title parts. * * @type string $title Title of the viewed page. * @type string $page Optional. Page number if paginated. * @type string $tagline Optional. Site description when on home page. * @type string $site Optional. Site title when not on home page. * } */ $title = apply_filters ( 'document_title_parts' , $title ) ; $title = implode ( " $sep " , array_filter ( $title ) ) ; $title = wptexturize ( $title ) ; $title = convert_chars ( $title ) ; $title = esc_html ( $title ) ; $title = capital_P_dangit ( $title ) ; return $title ; } function wp_get_document_title() { /** * Filters the document title before it is generated. * * Passing a non-empty value will short-circuit wp_get_document_title(), * returning that value instead. * * @since 4.4.0 * * @param string $title The document title. Default empty string. */ $title = apply_filters( 'pre_get_document_title', '' ); if ( ! empty( $title ) ) { return $title; } global $page, $paged; $title = array( 'title' => '', ); // If it's a 404 page, use a "Page not found" title. if ( is_404() ) { $title['title'] = __( 'Page not found' ); // If it's a search, use a dynamic search results title. } elseif ( is_search() ) { /* translators: %s: search phrase */ $title['title'] = sprintf( __( 'Search Results for “%s”' ), get_search_query() ); // If on the front page, use the site title. } elseif ( is_front_page() ) { $title['title'] = get_bloginfo( 'name', 'display' ); // If on a post type archive, use the post type archive title. } elseif ( is_post_type_archive() ) { $title['title'] = post_type_archive_title( '', false ); // If on a taxonomy archive, use the term title. } elseif ( is_tax() ) { $title['title'] = single_term_title( '', false ); /* * If we're on the blog page that is not the homepage or * a single post of any post type, use the post title. */ } elseif ( is_home() || is_singular() ) { $title['title'] = single_post_title( '', false ); // If on a category or tag archive, use the term title. } elseif ( is_category() || is_tag() ) { $title['title'] = single_term_title( '', false ); // If on an author archive, use the author's display name. } elseif ( is_author() && $author = get_queried_object() ) { $title['title'] = $author->display_name; // If it's a date archive, use the date as the title. } elseif ( is_year() ) { $title['title'] = get_the_date( _x( 'Y', 'yearly archives date format' ) ); } elseif ( is_month() ) { $title['title'] = get_the_date( _x( 'F Y', 'monthly archives date format' ) ); } elseif ( is_day() ) { $title['title'] = get_the_date(); } // Add a page number if necessary. if ( ( $paged >= 2 || $page >= 2 ) && ! is_404() ) { $title['page'] = sprintf( __( 'Page %s' ), max( $paged, $page ) ); } // Append the description or site title to give context. if ( is_front_page() ) { $title['tagline'] = get_bloginfo( 'description', 'display' ); } else { $title['site'] = get_bloginfo( 'name', 'display' ); } /** * Filters the separator for the document title. * * @since 4.4.0 * * @param string $sep Document title separator. Default '-'. */ $sep = apply_filters( 'document_title_separator', '-' ); /** * Filters the parts of the document title. * * @since 4.4.0 * * @param array $title { * The document title parts. * * @type string $title Title of the viewed page. * @type string $page Optional. Page number if paginated. * @type string $tagline Optional. Site description when on home page. * @type string $site Optional. Site title when not on home page. * } */ $title = apply_filters( 'document_title_parts', $title ); $title = implode( " $sep ", array_filter( $title ) ); $title = wptexturize( $title ); $title = convert_chars( $title ); $title = esc_html( $title ); $title = capital_P_dangit( $title ); return $title; }

I hope someone will find this useful as I spent an hour to figure out new changes. Most forum posts are outdated or talk about modifying core files. Hence I wrote a quick blog post.