Title, slug and alias

Title#

The title is the one field every item needs. Map it to a column (or a template such as {{ Brand }} {{ Model }}). It is required on both platforms:

• A row whose title is empty is rejected: Title: This field resolves to an empty value.
• A title is plain text. WordPress strips tags from it (<i>Mellieha</i> Bay is saved as Mellieha Bay); Joomla applies the same filter as its own article form.
• The longest title is 1,020 characters on WordPress and 255 on Joomla; a longer value is a row error (The resolved value exceeds the 255 character limit.).
• A title may be repeated between items. With a record ID, two items can have the same title.

Slug (WordPress) and alias (Joomla)#

The slug or alias is the last part of the item's web address: …/anchoring-in-mellieha-bay. You can map it, or leave it alone.

With Use destination default or Keep existing on updates (the editor's choice when your file has no slug column), the slug is made once, when the item is created, and then left alone.

When the title changes#

If the slug is left to the destination and you later change a title in the file, the item is updated with the new title and keeps its address. That is usually what you want: web addresses should not move.

If you map the slug from a column, the item's address follows the column. Changing the slug in the file changes the address. WordPress normally redirects a published post's old address to the new one; Joomla does not. Content Uploader adds no redirects of its own. If the slug comes from a template that uses the title ({{ Title }}), changing the title changes the address too. To keep addresses stable, either leave the slug unmapped, map it from a column that you never change, or set it to Keep existing on updates.

Choosing your own slugs#

• Give each item a unique slug, or let the site number duplicates.
• Use letters, digits and hyphens; the site will clean other characters.
• On Joomla, a taken alias in the same category is an error when the article is published, not when the file is checked: the result on Sites reads The connector rejected or could not complete this operation (HTTP 422). Make the alias unique or remove the Alias mapping (Joomla specifics).

Matching items without an ID#

If your configuration has no record ID column, the title (or the slug, when there is one) is also what identifies the row from week to week (choosing the record ID). Then a changed title is a new item, so keep titles stable or add an ID.