In short. Joomla uses article, single article menu and global descriptions in that order, omitting the tag when all three are empty.
Definition: Joomla uses an article's Meta Description first. If that field is empty, a single article menu item's metadata description is used, followed by the global Site Metadata Description. If all three are empty, Joomla omits the metadata description from the page output.
Key facts
- The article Meta Description is a field in the article form's Publishing tab, according to Joomla's Article: Edit - Metadata documentation.
- A single article menu item can supply the next value when the article has no metadata description. The same Joomla documentation places this value after the article field.
- Joomla's Site Metadata Description is the default when an article Meta Description and a menu Meta Description are not specified, as the Global Configuration reference explains.
- When all three values are empty, the metadata description is omitted from the page output, according to Joomla's Global Configuration reference.
What is the fallback order?
The order applies to the documented single article page path:
- The article's Meta Description wins when it has a value.
- If the article field is empty, Joomla uses the metadata description on the single article menu item when that field has a value.
- If the menu item field is also empty, Joomla uses Site Metadata Description from Global Configuration when it has a value.
- If all three fields are empty, Joomla omits the description metadata from the page output.
Joomla's article metadata page presents this as a fallback sequence. Its example of completed article head output contains a description element:
<meta name="description" content="Publicity for The Origin of Species.">
The example comes from the same documentation's article source view. The value shown is an example of emitted HTML, while the precedence comes from the preceding fallback rule.
Where are the three values configured?
The article value is entered in the article editor's Publishing tab. Joomla's common Edit Publishing reference says that item metadata is included in that tab and takes priority over metadata in Menus or in Global Configuration.
The menu value is entered in a menu item's Metadata tab. Joomla's Menu Item Metadata reference describes Meta Description as a paragraph used as the description of the page. Its access path is a Site Menu in the Administrator menu, followed by a menu item and its Metadata tab.
The site value is in Global Configuration, on the Site tab in the Metadata panel. Joomla describes Site Metadata Description as the default used when the article and menu fields do not specify a description. That page also documents the empty-state result: if all three are empty, the description is omitted from page output.
How can the emitted value be checked?
Open the HTML source for the single article page and search for meta name="description". Joomla's article metadata documentation shows the expected element in the page head and identifies the description as metadata contained between the <head> and </head> tags. Compare its content value with the article Publishing tab, the single article menu item's Metadata tab, and the Site Metadata Description field in that order.
The check should use the page's actual output. A configured field can be empty, while a higher-priority field can supply the value that appears in the head. The documented empty-state result is an omitted metadata description element when all three fields are empty.
Related terms
- Why can Google use page text instead of the meta description?
- Does Google require a fixed meta description length?
FAQ
Does a menu description override an article description?
No. The article value has priority. You reach the menu value only when the article has no metadata description and the page uses a single article menu item.
What happens when the article and menu fields are empty?
Joomla uses the Site Metadata Description if it is set. If you leave all three values empty, Joomla omits the metadata description from the page output.
Where do you set the site-wide fallback?
Set it in Global Configuration on the Site tab, in the Metadata panel's Site Metadata Description field. Joomla documents it as the default for pages without an article or menu Meta Description.
Sources
- Joomla Documentation, "Article: Edit - Metadata", undated
- Joomla Documentation, "Menu Item Metadata", undated
- Joomla Documentation, "Global Configuration", undated
- Joomla Documentation, "Edit Publishing", undated
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