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Troubleshooting Common Breadcrumb NavXT Home Page Display Issues

17 threads Sep 16, 2025 Plugin → Breadcrumb navxt

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Breadcrumb NavXT is a powerful plugin for creating SEO-friendly breadcrumb trails in WordPress. However, a frequent point of confusion and troubleshooting involves getting the home breadcrumb to display correctly. Users often report that their home link shows the full site title instead of a simple "Home" label, or that the unlinked template does not function as expected. This guide will explain why this happens and walk you through the most common solutions.

Why Does This Happen?

Starting with version 4.3, Breadcrumb NavXT changed how it handles the home breadcrumb title. The placeholders %htitle% and %title% in the home template were updated to automatically pull the "Site Title" from your WordPress settings (Settings > General). This means if your site title is "My Awesome Blog," that is what will appear in the breadcrumb by default, unless you explicitly change the template.

Furthermore, in multisite (network) installations, a specific configuration in your wp-config.php file dictates whether network-wide or individual site settings take precedence. An incorrect or missing configuration can lead to settings not applying as expected.

How to Fix the Home Breadcrumb Display

Solution 1: Modify the Home Template (Most Common Fix)

The primary method for controlling what your home breadcrumb says is by modifying the template in the plugin's settings.

  1. Navigate to Settings > Breadcrumb NavXT in your WordPress admin dashboard.
  2. Locate the Home Template and Home Template (Unlinked) fields. These are typically found under the "General" tab.
  3. In these fields, replace the %htitle% and %title% placeholders with the static text you want to appear, for example, Home.
  4. Click Save Changes.

For example, changing <a href="%link%" title="Go to %title%.">%htitle%</a> to <a href="%link%" title="Go to Home.">Home</a> will ensure the linked home breadcrumb always says "Home".

Solution 2: Check Multisite Configuration (For Network Installations)

If you are running a WordPress Multisite network and your template changes are being ignored, you likely need to define a constant in your wp-config.php file.

  1. Access your site's files via FTP or your hosting file manager.
  2. Locate and edit the wp-config.php file.
  3. Add the following line above the /* That's all, stop editing! Happy publishing. */ comment: 
    define('BCN_SETTINGS_FAVOR_LOCAL', true);
  4. Save the file and upload it back to your server.

This directive tells Breadcrumb NavXT to favor the settings you configure on individual sites within your network, overriding any network-wide settings. The opposite constant, BCN_SETTINGS_FAVOR_NETWORK, would force all sites to use the network admin settings.

Solution 3: Hide the Breadcrumb on the Homepage

Some users prefer to hide the entire breadcrumb trail on the homepage since it is redundant. This is best done in your theme's template files.

Locate the file in your theme (often header.php) where the bcn_display() function is called. Wrap it in a conditional check to prevent it from running on the front page:

<?php if(function_exists('bcn_display') && !is_front_page()):?>
    <div class="breadcrumbs" typeof="BreadcrumbList" vocab="https://schema.org/">
        <?php bcn_display();?>
    </div>
<?php endif; ?>

Conclusion

Most issues with the home breadcrumb not displaying "Home" can be resolved by directly editing the template text in the Breadcrumb NavXT settings. For multisite environments, ensuring your wp-config.php file is correctly configured is a crucial step. By following these troubleshooting steps, you should be able to regain full control over how your breadcrumb trail appears to visitors.

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