OTTO applies all optimizations to your site's front end only — your CMS settings and database are never modified. Understanding how JavaScript injection, visual visibility, and user targeting work lets you deploy OTTO with confidence.
🔒 No Permanent Changes to Your CMS
OTTO does not alter your CMS configuration. All optimizations are applied to the front-end display only — your underlying settings and database remain untouched.
👁️ Visibility of Changes on the Page
Not every OTTO change appears visually on the page:
- Meta titles and descriptions — injected into the page HTML and visible when inspecting the source, but not displayed on the page itself.
- Headings (H1, H2) — visible directly on the live page.
⚙️ JavaScript Dependency
OTTO injects all changes through JavaScript. If the script is disabled or removed from your site, all optimizations disappear immediately. Keep the script active to maintain your changes for site visitors.
There is one conditional exception: if the Disable OTTO for Logged in Users setting is enabled, logged-in users will not see OTTO's front-end changes even while the script remains fully active. See the section below for details.
🔑 Excluding Logged-In Users from Front-End Changes
When Disable OTTO for Logged in Users is enabled, authenticated users — editors, admins, and any other logged-in visitors — see the original CMS output instead of OTTO's front-end changes. The script remains active and continues injecting changes for all non-authenticated visitors.
When to use this setting:
- You need editors or admins to preview the unmodified page without OTTO changes applied.
- You want to separate the logged-in and logged-out viewing experience.
How to confirm it is working:
- Enable the setting, then reload the page while logged in — you should see the original CMS output with no OTTO-injected changes.
- Log out and reload to confirm that non-authenticated visitors still see the optimized version.
🎯 OTTO keeps your CMS untouched by applying all changes through JavaScript at the front-end layer — meta tags appear in the source only, headings appear on the live page, and logged-in users can be excluded entirely via the Disable OTTO for Logged in Users setting. For next steps, see the OTTO Deployment guide to start applying optimizations.