Title: Title showing BEFORE href?
Last modified: August 21, 2016

---

# Title showing BEFORE href?

 *  [DLR1029](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dlr1029/)
 * (@dlr1029)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/)
 * In a User created link I noticed the Link Titles are showing before the href,
   isn’t PROPER formatting for the Title to show After the URL in the href?
 * _[ No bumping please_

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 18 total)

1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/page/2/?output_format=md)
[→](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/page/2/?output_format=md)

 *  Thread Starter [DLR1029](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dlr1029/)
 * (@dlr1029)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/#post-4829728)
 * We’ve now Tested this on wordpress versions 3.8.3 and 3.9 in 22 active websites.
 * We disabled ALL plugins as well as 2 of those sites were complete install from
   server up since they were new builds.
 * We’ve tested default WordPress themes upto 2014
 * This is what we are seeing (i’ve left off the <> so it would show here:
    a title
   =”Testing” href=”[http://domain.com”>consectetuer](http://domain.com”>consectetuer)
   adipiscing</a
 * The question is, this Looks like a WordPress Core issue or somethings is going
   wrong with Fantastico Delux on install?
 *  Thread Starter [DLR1029](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dlr1029/)
 * (@dlr1029)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/#post-4829733)
 * Update
    We now know this happens when in editing a page in Text mode then when
   switching to Visual Editor option it incorrectly Rewrites the Text URLs. This
   can be seen when switching Back to Text mode.
 * We’ve cleared Cache (several times)
    We’ve Disabled All plugins We’ve Removed
   All plugins We’ve used Default WordPress Themes We’ve even tested on InstantWP
   with same results
 * Out of ideas now. But would seem to be a WordPress Core issue.
 *  [EMG](https://wordpress.org/support/users/emg/)
 * (@emg)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/#post-4829734)
 * Hi there!
 * Actually, if it’s an issue with the Visual Editor then it’s more of an issue 
   with the TinyMCE rather than actual WordPress Core itself and unfortunately, 
   there isn’t a fix for it right this moment just yet (but work is being done to
   rectify this issue).
 * There are plugins that you could download to give you a more proper Visual Editor
   experience or you could – for the time being until a patch for the TinyMCE issue
   is out – turn off the Visual Editor and use the text and HTML-only editor.
 * I know it isn’t an ideal solution either way, but the WordPress team is aware
   of the issue and working on it.
 *  Thread Starter [DLR1029](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dlr1029/)
 * (@dlr1029)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/#post-4829735)
 * **Thank You EMG!**
 * I don’t know if I’m mad now or relieved. With this being a Known Issue they could
   have told us that 2 weeks ago rather “moderating” my employee’s & my posts to
   the point they didn’t make sense.
 * Your quick and simple answer has given me relief after trying just about every
   trick we knew to fix the issue. I hope a solution is found soon as we have a 
   lot of clients stuck at the moment who will probably Never understand HTML. It
   seems this Update was pushed out a little to hasty.
 * It’s so much more than that too since Google specially seems to see it as a problem
   causing some Rankings to slump, after Hand coding repaired HTML in for them their
   Rankings return. After 22 years in Design we don’t listen to Google, we Watch
   the Results and clearly they don’t like this issue. I have to wonder how many
   people saw their Rankings crash and didn’t know why…. among the 1000 other possible
   reasons.
 * Do you happen to know of a plugin to fix this for now?
 *  [Dave Naylor](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpranger/)
 * (@wpranger)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/#post-4829736)
 * Out of interest, can you link to some reference material outlining the importance
   of tag attribute order. As a matter of course I would always apply the href first
   but I’m not too sure it’s that relevant.
 *  Thread Starter [DLR1029](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dlr1029/)
 * (@dlr1029)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/#post-4829737)
 * Everything on W3C ses the correct way. We never found anything about any other
   way. Just couldn’t find ANY answers or information about doing it wrong. We could
   only assume most people didn’t Notice it or know to look for it.
 * We didn’t think it mattered that much either until we saw the Google Rankings
   falling on several Client sites and a couple of our own and Simply putting Repaired
   code in by hand in the HTML mode Rankings returned to normal on most.
 * We didn’t notice any affect in the other main search engines though, to us that
   shows only Google seems sensitive to it. But Google is the cashcow for websites….
 *  [Dave Naylor](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpranger/)
 * (@wpranger)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/#post-4829739)
 * Just found this at [Google Developers](https://developers.google.com/speed/docs/best-practices/payload?hl=sv)
 * > Write your web page content to make compression most effective.
   >  To ensure 
   > that your content compresses well, do the following: Ensure consistency in 
   > HTML and CSS code. To achieve consistency: Specify CSS key-value pairs in the
   > same order where possible, i.e. alphabetize them. Specify HTML attributes in
   > the same order , i.e. alphabetize them. Put href first for links (since it 
   > is most common), then alphabetize the rest. For example, on Google’s search
   > results page, when HTML attributes were alphabetized, a 1.5% reduction in the
   > size of the gzipped output resulted. Use consistent casing, i.e. use lowercase
   > wherever possible. Use consistent quoting for HTML tag attributes, i.e. always
   > single quote, always double quote, or no quoting at all where possible. Minify
   > JavaScript and CSS. Minifying JavaScript and CSS can enhance compression both
   > for external JS and CSS files and for HTML pages containing inlined JS code
   > and style blocks. Don’t use gzip for image or other binary files. Image file
   > formats supported by the web, as well as videos, PDFs and other binary formats,
   > are already compressed; using gzip on them won’t provide any additional benefit,
   > and can actually make them larger. To compress images, see Optimize images.
 * So it would seem that the key is consistency and ordering should be alphabetic.
   The only reference to href is that it should be first, because it’s most common.
 * The ranking depreciation you experienced may have been due to inconsistent ordering
   rather than not having the href first.
 *  Thread Starter [DLR1029](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dlr1029/)
 * (@dlr1029)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/#post-4829740)
 * The Result and Issue are the same, WordPress created Navigation being correct,
   Text URLs being “incorrect” created a Huge Inconsistency.
 * It does seem to explain it. Since that’s from Google it reinforces in my mind
   anyway that they may place some value on it. Good Job finding that!
 * I think it’s almost negligent on WordPress’ part for not confirming they have
   a conflict going with TinyMCE causing this issue sooner and finding a Solution
   for something that seems Critical to me. We can track this back 4 months so far.
   Maybe before but at least 3.8.3, thats as far back as we’ve looked.
 *  [EMG](https://wordpress.org/support/users/emg/)
 * (@emg)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/#post-4829741)
 * Hi again! 🙂
 * It’s a little hard to explain the situation, but I will try my best to do so 
   if you’d like to listen.
 * TinyMCE is actually a program used by WordPress’ content editor (where you write
   Posts and Pages) and isn’t managed (or fully managed) by WordPress itself. Think
   of it as a hardcoded functionality (like a plugin). In particular for those who
   use the Visual aspect of the Editor, it allows for the WYSIWYG functionality 
   in the Visual Editor.
 * TinyMCE isn’t used just by WordPress but is also used by applications like forum
   software and probably the bulk majority of any software that offers content editing
   functionality.
 * TinyMCE4 went through a bunch of changes outside of WordPress’ control…
 * Which, of course, therefore affected WordPress – especially the plugins and themes
   that might have specifically ‘plugged’ into the TinyMCE functionality.
 * As a result, a lot of themes and plugins that plugged into the TinyMCE functionality‘
   broke’…
 * And for some people, their installs in general started cropping up with Visual
   Editor issues without it being a plugin or theme issue that they could find. 
   An example is double spacing or certain formatting (like you would in a Word 
   document) not translating in parallel in WordPress.
 * That said, I definitely agree that some more public warning could have been given
   before or bundled with this release – that these changes in TinyMCE could potentially
   affect themes and plugins and some copy and pasting translations (and therefore
   the users who use features related to TinyMCE) – but unfortunately, it didn’t
   quite pan out the way it probably needed to.
 * It **IS** possible that we can _try_ to troubleshoot the issue further and see
   if maybe we can resolve it some way or another. Some people have had success 
   flushing out this problem while others have not (for example, that double spacing
   issue).
 * First of all, to give you an idea as to what I’m talking about: [https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-39-master-list?replies=4](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/wordpress-39-master-list?replies=4)
 * and this: [https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-to-troubleshoot-visual-editor-issues?replies=3&view=all](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/how-to-troubleshoot-visual-editor-issues?replies=3&view=all)
 * Now, as for troubleshooting:
 * **1) Make a Backup.**
 * Just in case.
 * **2) Make a Backup of any handcoded/typed specific Contents or settings within
   Widgets.**
 * Again, just in case. Normally, when swapping themes, widgets TEND to either stay
   put or become Inactive, but just in case, you have a ‘copy’ of their settings
   and contents.
 * **3) Try a default WordPress theme, like Twentyfourteen.**
 * This sets your theme to a default theme ‘guaranteed’ to work with WordPress… 
   including changes to the Core, typically.
 * **4) Disable your plugins one by one until you have no plugins installed.**
 * This plus number 3 combined puts your WordPress at a ‘vanilla’ install.
 * A lot of the TinyMCE issues are coming from either plugins that ‘plug’ into that
   functionality or from a combination of both. Not necessarily all issues, but 
   lots.
 * **5a) Make a test post and see if the Visual Editor is working okay and if you’re
   still getting those strange coding errors.**
 * I prefer to make a post like normal and simply private it. Once I’m done, I preview
   the post which goes into single post view mode which allows you to troubleshoot
   that post in particular.
 * **5b) IF everything is okay then GREAT; it isn’t -just- because of the TinyMCE
   functionality inherent in WordPress.** Unfortunately, this probably means one
   of your themes or plugins is the bigger culprit and isn’t plugging in to the 
   functionality correctly.
 * **5c) IF your functionality came back with vanilla (default theme and no plugins),
   try activating your custom theme.** Does the Visual Editor work?
 * **5d) IF your functionality came back with your custom theme, start activating
   plugins one by one and trying another test post to test the Visual Editor.** 
   Sometimes, themes and plugins just need a ‘reboot’ to work correctly again. Sometimes,
   if they’re not plugging in correctly, then they need to be disabled and their
   authors notified.
 * If you’re still getting the errors:
 * **6) If you are willing, try to do a manual reupload of WordPress files.**
 * For some reason, some people have had issues with updating where it updates most
   of the way, but somehow doesn’t quite finish updating and so there are issues
   with the install with certain functionalities not working quite right.
 *  Thread Starter [DLR1029](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dlr1029/)
 * (@dlr1029)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/#post-4829742)
 * Thank you EMG
 * The only thing we Haven’t tried is #6 and for sure not our idea of fun being 
   a High-Production design firm it could mean literally 100s of client websites
   could need a manual reupload. Honestly we did a minimal track back just to prove
   it was an issue, I’m affraid to go looking deeper back lol
 * If we had even Suspected this could be an issue we would have been forcing Every
   design with pure handcode in Text mode rather than relying on WordPress ie TinyMCE.
 * It maybe helpful if we knew when this became a Known Issue?
 *  [EMG](https://wordpress.org/support/users/emg/)
 * (@emg)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/#post-4829743)
 * You’re welcome and I’m sorry that the other options didn’t work for you.
 * Out of curiosity, have you been able to specifically pinpoint when and how the
   issue is triggered?
 * For example:
 * 1) Inline styling like bolding/stronging, italics, etc.
 * 2) Links
 * 3) Images
 * 4) Embeds
 *  Thread Starter [DLR1029](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dlr1029/)
 * (@dlr1029)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/#post-4829744)
 * Just Created Text Links. Does NOT seem to affect Images or inline. Not real sure
   about Embeds. Will test in a few minutes.
 * We only create Text links by hand in the Text editor mode, then switch to Visual
   mode just to confirm it looks right, then Update/Publish. For us its just easier
   and faster to write That code.
 * Switching To visual mode seems to create the Rewrite, which you’ll instantly 
   see if you look at Text mode again without even saving.
 *  Thread Starter [DLR1029](https://wordpress.org/support/users/dlr1029/)
 * (@dlr1029)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/#post-4829745)
 *     ```
       Copied from YouTube
       <iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/dY7dy9GogVg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
   
       Rewritten in WordPress Bug
       <iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/dY7dy9GogVg" height="315" width="420" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0"></iframe>
       ```
   
 * Though Honestly I think YouTube is wrong there? But its showing a rewriting it
   anyway. Maybe YouTube got hit with the TinyMCE ugly-stick too?
 *  [Dave Naylor](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wpranger/)
 * (@wpranger)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/#post-4829746)
 * **[@emg](https://wordpress.org/support/users/emg/)** I don’t think this is actually
   an _issue_. On a vanilla 3.9 install, using the visual editor, if you highlight
   text, hit the anchor button and then provide a URL and title, the title attribute
   is placed before the href one. It’s not a case of plugin incompatibility or a
   badly installed update, it’s just the way it is.
 *  [EMG](https://wordpress.org/support/users/emg/)
 * (@emg)
 * [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/#post-4829747)
 * … You’re probably right Dave.
 * If the title appearing before href doesn’t cause coding errors (there are no 
   validating errors, for example), then in all reality, there is no reason for 
   alarm.
 * Maybe I should have asked if it was actually causing errors in the website – 
   d’oh!
 * I’ve been on pain meds for a broken foot; please excuse me (both of you) and 
   thank you for that quote above.
 * IF there are no coding errors appearing (other people who have noticed code changes
   have all complained about coding and rendering errors, too, which is kind of 
   why I assumed there must be some errors showing up in rendering and not just 
   how the links are formatted):
 * It would very likely be something related to the Visual Editor/TinyMCE (since
   swapping back and forth seems to cause the issue) altering the order of tags (
   harmlessly, probably).
 * My own completely handcoded links and embeds and the like (I have Visual Editor
   completely off since I am doing theme development right now) stay the same in
   my source code as how I originally input them in my content editor.
 * [WordPress](http://WordPress.org)
 * works the same as:
 * [WordPress](http://WordPress.org)
 * Or should.
 * … Though if alphabetized is ‘better’ then why would this ‘bug’ of rearranging
   tags choose to code the embed with the src first and the height in the middle?
 * I’m afraid that as someone who hasn’t used Visual Editor lately, I haven’t personally
   experienced some of these issues.
 * How long have you both noticed this swapping of tag orders? Only 3.9 or earlier?
 * Is it something you would like to be addressed when discussions are made re: 
   Visual Editor and how it chooses to do things?

Viewing 15 replies - 1 through 15 (of 18 total)

1 [2](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/page/2/?output_format=md)
[→](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/page/2/?output_format=md)

The topic ‘Title showing BEFORE href?’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [href](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/href/)

 * In: [Fixing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/how-to-and-troubleshooting/)
 * 18 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [EMG](https://wordpress.org/support/users/emg/)
 * Last activity: [12 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/title-showing-before-href/page/2/#post-4829752)
 * Status: not resolved

## Topics

### Topics with no replies

### Non-support topics

### Resolved topics

### Unresolved topics

### All topics