The 2026 Drupal Business Survey is open. Your response will help shape the future of the Drupal business ecosystem.Problem/Motivation
There are currently about 6 pages in the Drupal admin UI that are titled "Settings" (with no other information). This is confusing for site builders and site admins, as well as in documentation because it is not clear what the settings refer to.
They should all have unique names that reflect what they do.
nod_ identified these in #2470767: [meta] Consistency of page and tab titles
| route | url |
|---|---|
| locale.settings | /admin/config/regional/translate/settings |
| simpletest.settings | /admin/config/development/testing/settings |
| update.settings | /admin/reports/updates/settings |
| aggregator.admin_settings | /admin/config/services/aggregator/settings |
| system.theme_settings | /admin/appearance/settings |
| views_ui.settings_basic | /admin/structure/views/settings |
See also related issue: #2534140: Settings vs. Configure for UI text?.
Proposed resolution
Rename the page titles of the 6 pages listed above so that they are unique. This has already been solved for other modules, so guidance can be taken from that.
We also need to fix references to these pages in hook_help() and other links, so they are consistent.
Remaining tasks
Decide on names, make patch, fix links and help.
User interface changes
The 6 pages called "Settings" will instead have unique names.
API and data model changes
None.
Beta phase evaluation
| Issue category | Bug because it's a usability/documentation problem if a bunch of pages have the same name but do different things. |
|---|---|
| Issue priority | Not all that major however. |
| Unfrozen changes | Unfrozen because it only changes markup, strings, and documentation. |
| Prioritized changes | The main goal of this issue is usability. |
| Disruption | Not in the least. |
| Comment | File | Size | Author |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | 2501895-rename-settings-pages-1.patch | 9.99 KB | ifrik |
| #15 | interdiff-1-15.txt | 1.75 KB | ifrik |
| #15 | 2501895-settings-pages-15.patch | 10.84 KB | ifrik |
Comments
Comment #1
ifrikI've renamed all six Setting pages listed above, and where required I've changed the link name to the pages in the hook_help text.
In the Views_UI module, I've also changed the page title "Advanced", and in the Locale module, I've changed the page titles "Import" and "Export" because they also exist several times.
Comment #2
jhodgdonAccording to our UI text standards, we should not be using the word Settings anyway -- it should be Configuration or Configure I think?
https://www.drupal.org/node/604342
"Use Configure, not Settings" [in the Wording section]
Comment #3
ifrikComment #4
ifrikIn that case we need to rename quite a few more page and tab titles that are called settings.
Comment #5
jhodgdonPerhaps we should ask the Usability team for an opinion. I may have misinterpreted that, although it seems pretty clear to me...
Comment #6
ifrikYes, we should check with the usability team. That issue clearly states that this is the guide for module developers but "settings" is used on lots of tabs and pathes.
I'm happy to work on that systematically to make it consistent.
Comment #7
jhodgdonThis issue has had a few Usability tags for a while and there hasn't been a response from the Usability folks.... Temporarily assigning to Bojhan to see if that helps. If not I can try yoroy (they are the two Usability maintainers).
Comment #8
ifrikI've updated the issue summary to reflect the broader issue of settings or configuration.
Comment #9
jhodgdonBojhan has been traveling, calling Yoroy instead...
Comment #10
webchickNot opposed to this in principle, but let's make sure that we pass a beta evaluation here. This might need to be pushed to 8.1.x/9.x.
Comment #11
ifrikHi Jennifer,
since there is no reply from Usability people at the moment, could we use the patch above to change the title of those six pages so that they at least have unique page titles?
The patch doesn't change any pathes or tab titles, but simply ensures that users such as site builders know which page is which.
I'm happy to take the issue about whether to use settings or configuration or both up separetly in another issue.
Comment #12
jhodgdonThat seems like a reasonable idea.
Regarding the patch, I think all the changes look good. One minor problem: the adjustment in the aggregator help page doesn't match the adjustment to the actual page title: Feed aggregator page vs. Feed aggregator settings.
And do any of the other help pages need adjustment for the other page title changes?
Comment #13
Bojhan commentedCould this please get a more reasonable reviewable description? I have no understanding of how routes changes effect labeling here.
Comment #14
jhodgdonReducing the scope of this issue and filing separate issue for the larger question:
#2534140: Settings vs. Configure for UI text?
@Bojhan: I don't think we particularly need a Usability review on this issue; the other issue with the larger question is where the usabilty review is needed.
Comment #15
ifrikThe hook_help text for the aggregator module was actually missing help about the Feed aggregator settings page. I've added that.
For the other modules, the references in the help texts are correct, but I'll have a look at the Views module help again separately.
Comment #16
jhodgdonAll of these changes look perfectly reasonable and straightforward to me, assuming that we don't have any automated tests that were looking for other page names (which seems unlikely).
Comment #17
yoroy commentedApologies for not catching this earlier. Thanks so much for taking this on. I think this is a sensible step to fixing the basic problem of having multiple generic 'Settings' pages.
Looking at the patch I think I see an extended help page for the aggregator module as well. Is that needed because of the renaming here or an additional improvement?
Comment #18
ifrikYes,
Jennifer had noticed a mismatch in name, which was in fact a missing description for the Feed aggregator settings that I just fixed along the way.
Comment #19
alexpottCommitted 75f6c2f and pushed to 8.0.x. Thanks!
Thanks for adding the beta evaluation to the issue summary.