Feature Overview & Value

Summary:

This feature provides AI-powered alternative titles for posts, based on the full post content and editorial context. It helps users improve clarity, engagement, SEO, or tone without requiring manual rewrites. It aligns with modern editorial practices by offering tailored suggestions that match different writing goals.

Why it matters:

Strong titles are critical to content success across platforms—impacting SEO, click-through rates, and reader trust. Title writing is often subjective and time-consuming. This feature streamlines that process by offering intelligent, editable suggestions that reflect the actual post content and user goals.

Sample Use Cases:

• Someone trying this AI feature for the first time wants simple suggestions they can control.
• A first-time user has written most of the post body but hasn’t entered a title yet. When they click into the empty title field, they’re offered AI-generated titles to help them get started.
• A content team is backfilling older or migrated posts that contain body content but no meaningful title. They want suggestions that reflect the actual post content.
• A content author wants help making their draft title more attention-grabbing.
• An editor wants to improve a title’s clarity and keyword usage.

Editorial Intent Handling

Why this matters:

Title rewriting reflects editorial strategy. A compelling title may aim to inform, drive clicks, perform in search, or reinforce tone. Without understanding the user’s intent, AI suggestions risk being misaligned.

How Editorial Intent is Set

1. Global user preference (primary mechanism)

• Set once in plugin settings.
• Options might include: “Improve clarity,” “Drive engagement,” “Optimize for SEO,” “Match brand tone,” etc.
• This controls prompt strategy and remains persistent.

2. Per-post override (secondary)

• Shown in the UI as an advanced dropdown.
• Lets user change rewrite goal for a single post without altering global default.

3. Prompt construction

• Prompt templates adjust based on selected intent.

Example: “Rewrite this title to increase SEO performance without distorting the original meaning.”

User Interaction Flow (Draft)

Overview:

The goal is to provide authors and editors with meaningful, context-aware AI title suggestions at a point in the editorial process where they’re likely to be needed—after the main content has been drafted. The interaction should feel native to the WordPress editor, simple to trigger, transparent in intent, and always reversible.

User Actions

1. User sees the “Rewrite Title” button

• Appears next to the post title field.
• Grayed out until a draft title exists and post content contains at least ~100 words.
• Tooltip when inactive: “Add content to get rewrite suggestions”

2. User clicks the active button

• A popover or modal opens near the title field.
• Short intro: “Here are some alternate titles based on your content. Pick one or edit it before applying.”

3. System displays suggested titles

• The number of suggestions defaults to 3 but can be adjusted in plugin settings (e.g., 1–5)
• Each shown as a selectable block or card.
• Options per card: “Use this title,” “Edit,” or “Regenerate”

4. User selects or edits

• “Use” updates the post title field directly
• “Edit” allows users to revise the suggestion before saving
• Upon applying a new title, the system creates a post revision so the change can be undone via the native WordPress revision history

5. User may override rewrite goal (optional)

• Collapsed dropdown: “Optimize for...”
• Defaults to previously saved global preference

6. Failure states

• Friendly error messaging if API fails or content is too short

Alternate Entry Point: Empty Title with Post Content

This flow supports users who have written a post body but haven't yet entered a title—common during early drafting or editorial cleanup.

Trigger Condition

• Post content contains ≥ ~100 words
• Title field is empty

System Behavior

• A light callout appears near or inside the title field when focused: “Need a title? Get AI suggestions based on your content.”

User Action

• User clicks the prompt to open the suggestion UI

Suggestion UI

• Same as core flow: 2–3 title options appear, each with “Use,” “Edit,” or “Regenerate”
• Chosen title is inserted into the title field

Intent Dropdown (Optional)

• User may adjust rewrite goal before generating or regenerating suggestions
• Defaults to global setting, just like the standard Rewrite Title flow

Technical Requirements (High-Level)

AI Input Requirements:

• Current post/page title
• Full post/page content (or summarized excerpt if very long)
• Post/page author, excerpt, terms, post meta
• Rewrite goal (from user or inferred)

AI Output Requirements:

• 2–3 suggested titles
• Each title under 80 characters
• Clean strings, no markdown, bullets, or formatting

Model Agnosticism:

• Supports models via AI Services plugin (e.g. OpenAI, Claude, local LLMs)
• Prompt construction is modular and override-friendly

Fail States & UX Expectations:

• Errors must not block editing
• Clear retry or fallback messaging

Privacy & Config:

• API keys handled via AI Services
• No user-generated content is stored without consent

Extensibility Notes:

• Hookable prompt pipeline
• Override mechanism for content filtering or tone presets
• Designed to support future learning loops or performance feedback

Open Questions / Design Notes

• How should the UI balance simplicity with the ability to customize intent?
• Should users receive passive feedback (e.g., "Your selected intent is: SEO")?
• Should title suggestions vary format (e.g. list-based, question, statement)?
• Do we allow user-defined presets (e.g., "Use house tone")?

Design mockups

Version 1

Version 2

Props to Lina Wiezkowiak for the product definition, Rachael Cortellessa for the designs, and Darin Kotter for technical review of both.