diff --git a/apps/wordcraft-web/src/host.rs b/apps/wordcraft-web/src/host.rs
index 6a0bd8859b..fdb9c9be93 100644
--- a/apps/wordcraft-web/src/host.rs
+++ b/apps/wordcraft-web/src/host.rs
@@ -2,14 +2,19 @@
 //! WordCraft in an `<iframe>` and keep its files (a Nextcloud app, a personal file server). The
 //! same messages as GridCraft's and PdfCraft's bridges; each is a plain object with a `type`:
 //!
-//! - `wordcraft:ready` (to the parent): `{ version }`, the app is listening; send a file now.
+//! - `wordcraft:ready` (to the parent): `{ version }`, sent once the app is running and
+//!   listening; send a file now.
 //! - `wordcraft:open` (from the parent): `{ name, bytes }`, bytes an `ArrayBuffer` or
 //!   `Uint8Array`. It opens like a document picked with File › Open or dropped on the window.
 //! - `wordcraft:save` (to the parent): `{ name, saveAs, bytes }` (a transferred `ArrayBuffer`) for
-//!   every file WordCraft would otherwise download: Save, Save As, File › Export and Export as
-//!   PDF. Save writes the opened file under its own name and format, as the desktop app does;
-//!   `saveAs` is true for Save As and File › Export. The parent stores it and reports failures
-//!   itself.
+//!   every file WordCraft would otherwise download. The parent stores it and reports failures
+//!   itself. `saveAs` says whether the file becomes the document's file:
+//!   - Save: `false`. It writes the opened file under its own name and format, as the desktop
+//!     app does.
+//!   - Save As, and File › Export to another document format (which runs Save As): `true`. The
+//!     document is now that file; the next Save sends its name with `false`.
+//!   - Export as PDF and Export Page as PNG: `false`, with a name of their own (`report.pdf`).
+//!     They are copies; the document's file stays the same.
 //! - `wordcraft:dirty` (to the parent): `{ dirty }` whenever unsaved changes appear or go away.
 //! - `wordcraft:failed` (to the parent): `{ error }` when the app couldn't start.
 //!
diff --git a/apps/wordcraft-web/src/prefs.rs b/apps/wordcraft-web/src/prefs.rs
index 232688c14b..1131a7551b 100644
--- a/apps/wordcraft-web/src/prefs.rs
+++ b/apps/wordcraft-web/src/prefs.rs
@@ -25,17 +25,35 @@ pub fn restore(app: &mut WordApp, stored: Option<&str>) {
 #[derive(Default)]
 pub struct PrefsSync {
     last: Option<String>,
+    /// A host page's name for the user (`?author=`) and the user's own, which is stored in its
+    /// place while the user keeps the host's.
+    host_author: Option<(String, String)>,
 }
 
 impl PrefsSync {
     /// Starts from what is already stored, so restoring doesn't write it straight back.
     pub fn new(stored: Option<String>) -> Self {
-        Self { last: stored }
+        Self { last: stored, host_author: None }
+    }
+
+    /// The session signs with `host`, a host page's name for the user, but `own` stays the
+    /// stored name. A name the user then chooses in File › Options is stored as usual.
+    #[cfg_attr(not(target_arch = "wasm32"), allow(dead_code))]
+    pub fn keep_own_author(&mut self, host: &str, own: &str) {
+        if host != own {
+            self.host_author = Some((host.to_string(), own.to_string()));
+        }
     }
 
     /// The JSON to store when the app's preferences differ from what was last written.
     pub fn changed(&mut self, app: &WordApp) -> Option<String> {
-        let json = match serde_json::to_string(&app.prefs()) {
+        let mut prefs = app.prefs();
+        if let Some((host, own)) = &self.host_author
+            && prefs.author == *host
+        {
+            prefs.author = own.clone();
+        }
+        let json = match serde_json::to_string(&prefs) {
             Ok(j) => j,
             Err(e) => {
                 log::warn!("preferences: cannot serialize: {e}");
@@ -60,6 +78,29 @@ mod tests {
         WordApp::new(wordcraft_engine::Session::new(wordcraft_engine::sample::sample_document()), Services::default())
     }
 
+    /// A host page's name for the user signs the visit but isn't stored; a name the user then
+    /// chooses is.
+    #[test]
+    fn host_author_is_not_stored() {
+        let mut a = app();
+        a.session.author = "Grace Hopper".into();
+        let mut sync = PrefsSync::new(None);
+        let stored = sync.changed(&a).unwrap();
+        a.session.author = "rob".into();
+        sync.keep_own_author("rob", "Grace Hopper");
+        a.run("ui.theme", json!({"value": "dark"})).unwrap();
+        let json = sync.changed(&a).expect("the theme changed");
+        assert_ne!(json, stored);
+        let mut next = app();
+        restore(&mut next, Some(&json));
+        assert_eq!(next.session.author, "Grace Hopper");
+        a.session.author = "Rob Hones".into();
+        let json = sync.changed(&a).expect("the user chose a name");
+        let mut next = app();
+        restore(&mut next, Some(&json));
+        assert_eq!(next.session.author, "Rob Hones");
+    }
+
     /// #2132: dark mode chosen on one visit is there after a reload.
     #[test]
     fn dark_mode_survives_reload() {
diff --git a/apps/wordcraft-web/src/web.rs b/apps/wordcraft-web/src/web.rs
index 633dcf71b4..ef6bab5c96 100644
--- a/apps/wordcraft-web/src/web.rs
+++ b/apps/wordcraft-web/src/web.rs
@@ -85,23 +85,30 @@ pub fn start() {
                         let doc = app.session.blank_document();
                         app.session.set_document(doc);
                     }
-                    let prefs = crate::prefs::PrefsSync::new(stored);
+                    let mut prefs = crate::prefs::PrefsSync::new(stored);
                     // No document to show: start on File › Home, as the desktop app does (#766).
                     if !sample {
                         app.start_screen();
                     }
-                    if let Some(bridge) = &app_bridge {
-                        if let Some(author) = query_param("author") {
-                            crate::host::Bridge::set_author(&mut app, &author);
-                        }
-                        bridge.post_ready();
+                    // The host's name for the user signs this visit's work, but isn't stored as the
+                    // browser's own preference, which a visit outside the host would restore.
+                    if app_bridge.is_some()
+                        && let Some(author) = query_param("author")
+                    {
+                        let own = app.session.author.clone();
+                        crate::host::Bridge::set_author(&mut app, &author);
+                        prefs.keep_own_author(&app.session.author, &own);
                     }
                     Ok(Box::new(WebShell { app, inbox, messages, prefs }))
                 }),
             )
             .await;
-        if let (Err(e), Some(bridge)) = (&result, &bridge) {
-            bridge.post_failed(&format!("{e:?}"));
+        // Ready only once the runner is up: starting can still fail after the app is made.
+        if let Some(bridge) = &bridge {
+            match &result {
+                Ok(()) => bridge.post_ready(),
+                Err(e) => bridge.post_failed(&format!("{e:?}")),
+            }
         }
         if let Some(el) = document.get_element_by_id(LOADING_ID) {
             match result {
diff --git a/crates/ui-egui/src/lib.rs b/crates/ui-egui/src/lib.rs
index 78d38b07c5..4142fc4470 100644
--- a/crates/ui-egui/src/lib.rs
+++ b/crates/ui-egui/src/lib.rs
@@ -129,7 +129,8 @@ pub struct Services {
     pub async_saves: Option<async_saves::AsyncSaves>,
     /// Web, framed by a page that keeps the files (`?host=parent`): set alongside `download`,
     /// Save, Save As and Export hand the bytes to that page instead, with whether it was Save As
-    /// ([`HostSaveFn`]). Save then writes the opened file under its own name and format, as on
+    /// ([`HostSaveFn`]: true for `file.saveAs`, which File › Export to a document format runs
+    /// too; false for Save and for the PDF and PNG exports, which are copies). Save then writes the opened file under its own name and format, as on
     /// the desktop, and a Save or Save As that keeps everything makes that name the document's
     /// file, so the next Save goes to it.
     pub host_save: Option<HostSaveFn>,