SEO Meta Integration
How MerchantDrafts integrates with SEO meta plugins.
Short Answer
MerchantDrafts writes the generated meta description both into its own saved product meta and into common SEO plugin meta keys, then also tries to push the value into the active editor UI when you apply.
Supported Write Targets
MerchantDrafts persists the generated meta description to these keys:
_easy_wp_meta_description_yoast_wpseo_metadescrank_math_description_aioseo_description_aioseo_meta_description_aioseop_description
It also keeps its own saved copy in:
_mdrfts_meta_description
This behavior can be disabled. Go to Settings → Workspace → Preferences → SEO plugin writes and uncheck "Write generated meta description to SEO plugins (Yoast, Rank Math, AIOSEO, Easy WP SEO)". When disabled, MerchantDrafts still saves to _mdrfts_meta_description — only the third-party plugin keys are skipped.
What Happens During Generate and Apply
- On first generation, MerchantDrafts can auto-apply the meta description into the current editing session.
- On Write to Product, it re-applies the meta description into supported SEO inputs on the page if the field is checked in the apply toggles.
- MerchantDrafts also persists the meta description to saved post meta keys so it is not dependent on only one plugin UI selector.
Why The UI Message Sometimes Says The Meta Field Was Not Found
MerchantDrafts looks for supported SEO editor inputs in the current page DOM. If the active SEO plugin UI is not present in that editing context, the support message can say:
Meta field not found in current SEO UI.
That does not always mean the description was lost. It often means:
- the current SEO plugin panel was not loaded in the DOM
- the current editing surface did not expose the expected input selector
- MerchantDrafts still saved the description to the relevant post meta keys
Practical Mental Model
- Editor UI write = best-effort convenience for what is currently visible on the page
- Post meta persistence = the durable save path MerchantDrafts also uses behind the scenes
When To Check This Article
Use this reference when someone asks:
- "What exactly gets written to my SEO fields?"
- "Why didn't my meta description appear where I expected?"
- "Does MerchantDrafts support Yoast, Rank Math, or AIOSEO?"