Un-global Title field has unintended consequences

[SwimToWin 18]

When webmaster un-globals the Title field (for instance to have a person template with first and last name), there are some unintended consequences. For a site that uses Title on 90% of templates, un-global isn't really useful because it makes adding a new page harder for novice editors:

1. Title field disappears from "Add New" dialog.
   1. When I "Add New" page using a template that DOES use the Title field, then the Title field is no longer shown in the Add New dialog window (in this window, an editor will enter Title and Name - and the page is then created and shown to the user in edit mode).
2. No other "pseudo-title" fields can be added to the "Add New" dialog (and it's not possible to skip the two-step page creation process).
3. (There is no simple way to pre-populate the Title field on templates.)

Consider these flows:

When Title field is global:

Steps:

1. From Page Tree, press New to create a new page,
2. "Add New" page is shown with Title and Name fields,
   1. (User may need to select Template)
   2. Enter Title (Name is automatically set),
3. The new page is shown - start editing fields

Observation: Title and Name are shown on same page (good!). Page is created with little mental effort.

When Title field is un-global and Page Template has a Title field:

Steps:

1. From Page Tree, press New to create a new page,
2. "Add New" page is shown with Name field (but Title is no longer shown when template DOES have the Title field),
   1. (User may need to select Template)
   2. Enter Name,
3. The new page is shown - start editing fields ("where am I?").
   1. Enter Title (user no longer sees Title and Name at the same time)

Observation: Redundant entries (Name and Title are often identical). Name and Title are separated across pages.
Better: Show Title and Name on "Add New" page, use Title to set Name (as when Title field is global).

When Title field is un-global and Page Template doesn't have a Title field:

Setup:

1. Webmaster goes to Template -> Advanced to set "List of fields to display in the admin Page List" (example: "{foo} - {bar}"). Thanks to Robins S for pointing this out.
2. Webmaster cannot specify "Title" fields to be filled in on the "Add New" page.

Steps:

1. From Page Tree, press New to create a new page,
2. "Add New" page is shown with Name field,
   1. (User may need to select Template)
   2. Enter Name,
3. The new page is shown - start editing fields ("where am I?").

Better: Setup allows webmaster to specify "Title" fields to be filled in on the "Add New" page.

Even better:
Skip the "Add New" dialog page and go directly to the resulting Title page (when only one Template can be selected).
Maybe by adding a GUID or other temporary page name that is later renamed?

Also I don't think it's possible to pre-populate the Title field in the Administration? (for details, see Pavle's comment).

See also: Creating a page without a title? (from 2012 - so I think it's OK to begin a new thread).

[dotnetic 924]

I think you should post this in processwire-requests, so we are able to vote for this feature and it does not get burried here in the forums.