Placeholders are words between double percent signs, such as %%title%%, that Signocore SEO replaces with a real value when the page is shown. Use them to write one template that works for every post, term or author.
Where you can use placeholders
- The Title & Description Templates fields on Signocore SEO → General.
- The Home Page SEO fields on the same page, when your homepage shows your latest posts.
- Document Title and Meta Description in the SEO box on posts, pages, terms and user profiles.
- The SEO Title and Meta Description fields in the Bulk Editor.
In the settings and the SEO box, Insert placeholder (or Insert in the editor) next to the field opens a menu with the most common placeholders. The table below lists all of them. Other fields, such as Breadcrumb Title, print placeholders as plain text.
How placeholders behave
- Upper and lower case both work:
%%Title%%gives the same result as%%title%%. - A placeholder that has no value on a page, or that Signocore SEO does not know, prints nothing. Extra spaces around it are removed, but text next to it stays, so
%%title%% %%sep%% %%category%%ends with a separator on a post without a category. - The value depends on the page. In the table, Posts means posts, pages and other post types, including a static homepage, the posts page and the WooCommerce shop page. Terms means category, tag and other taxonomy archives. Authors means author archives. Home means a homepage that shows your latest posts.
All placeholders
The examples use a site called "Example Co" with the default date and time formats.
| Placeholder | Prints | Works in | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
%%title%% |
The post title. On author archives, the author's display name. | Posts, Authors | How to Brew Cold Coffee |
%%excerpt%% |
The excerpt, or the first 55 words of the content when the excerpt is empty | Posts | Cold brew takes time, but almost no effort. |
%%excerpt_only%% |
The excerpt, or nothing when it is empty | Posts | Cold brew takes time, but almost no effort. |
%%date%% |
The publish date, in your site's date format | Posts | September 28, 2026 |
%%modified%% |
The date of the last update | Posts | October 2, 2026 |
%%author%% or %%name%% |
The author's display name | Posts, Authors | Jane Doe |
%%user_description%% |
The author's Biographical Info | Posts, Authors | Jane writes about coffee and travel. |
%%category%% |
The post's primary category. Without one, its first category. | Posts | Recipes |
%%tag%% |
All of the post's tags, separated by commas | Posts | coffee, summer |
%%pt_single%% |
The singular name of the post type | Posts | Product |
%%pt_plural%% |
The plural name of the post type | Posts | Products |
%%focuskw%% |
The Primary Keyword from the SEO box | Posts | cold brew coffee |
%%id%% |
The post ID | Posts | 42 |
%%term_title%% |
The name of the category, tag or term | Terms | Recipes |
%%term_description%% |
The term description, without HTML. %%category_description%% and %%tag_description%% print the same. |
Terms | Quick recipes for every day. |
%%sitetitle%% or %%sitename%% |
The Site Title from Settings → General | Everywhere | Example Co |
%%tagline%% or %%sitedesc%% |
The Tagline from Settings → General | Everywhere | Coffee for curious people |
%%sep%% |
The Title separator from Signocore SEO → General | Everywhere | - |
%%home_url%% |
The address of your homepage | Everywhere | https://example.com/ |
%%currentyear%% |
The current year | Everywhere | 2026 |
%%currentmonth%% |
The current month | Everywhere | September |
%%currentday%% |
The current weekday | Everywhere | Monday |
%%currentdate%% |
Today's date, in your site's date format | Everywhere | September 28, 2026 |
%%currenttime%% |
The current time, in your site's time format | Posts, Authors, Home | 3:45 pm |
%%page%% |
"Page 2" and so on from the second page on, nothing on the first page | Posts, Home | Page 2 |
%%cf_key%% |
The custom field named key, see below |
Posts, Terms, Authors | Organic |
Dates, months and weekdays follow the language of your site, so a Spanish site prints "septiembre" rather than "September".
Note:
%%title%%prints nothing in a category or tag template. Use%%term_title%%there.
On listings with more than one page, Signocore SEO already adds "• Page 2 of 5" to the title and description from the second page on. Use %%page%% mainly for single posts that are split into several pages.
Custom fields
Replace key in %%cf_key%% with the name of a custom field. %%cf_subtitle%% prints the field named subtitle.
| Used on | Reads |
|---|---|
| Posts | The field's value from Advanced Custom Fields, formatted by ACF, when ACF is active and has a value. Otherwise the post's custom field with that name. |
| Terms | The term's custom field (term meta) with that name |
| Authors | The user's custom field (user meta) with that name |
| Home | Nothing |
- Field names can contain lowercase letters, numbers and underscores. A field whose name starts with an underscore keeps it after
cf_:%%cf__sku%%reads_sku. - Only single text and number values are printed. Fields that return a list or an object, such as an ACF gallery, print nothing, and HTML is removed.
- The live preview in the editor fills in custom fields that the post type's templates use. The page itself always fills them in.
Examples
| Template field | Template | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Posts: Title | %%title%% %%sep%% %%sitetitle%% |
How to Brew Cold Coffee - Example Co |
| Posts: Description | %%excerpt%% |
Cold brew takes time, but almost no effort. |
| Categories (Posts): Title | %%term_title%% recipes %%sep%% %%sitetitle%% |
Summer recipes - Example Co |
| Categories (Posts): Description | %%term_description%% |
Quick recipes for every day. |
| Products: Title | %%title%% by %%cf_brand%% |
Cold Brew Bottle by Northfield |
| Author archive: Title | Articles by %%name%% %%sep%% %%sitetitle%% |
Articles by Jane Doe - Example Co |
| Pages: Title | %%title%% (%%currentyear%%) |
Price List (2026) |
A title that comes from a template does not get the company name added by Append To Title, so put %%sitetitle%% or your brand name in the template if you want it. See Titles, descriptions and templates.
Placeholders and caching
The meta description and the social tags in the page head are cached for up to a week, and the cache is cleared whenever you save the post or change Signocore SEO settings. %%currentyear%% switches over at the new year, but %%currentdate%%, %%currentmonth%%, %%currentday%% and %%currenttime%% can show the value from when the page was cached. The title in the browser tab is built fresh on every visit. See Troubleshooting for how the cache works.