diff --git a/handlers/article.go b/handlers/article.go
index debca07..a34123e 100644
--- a/handlers/article.go
+++ b/handlers/article.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package handlers
 import (
 	"crypto/rand"
 	"encoding/hex"
+	"fmt"
 	"net/http"
 	"regexp"
 	"strconv"
@@ -16,8 +17,18 @@ import (
 	"gorm.io/gorm"
 )
 
-// slugRe matches characters that are not URL-safe.
-var slugRe = regexp.MustCompile(`[^a-z0-9\-]+`)
+// slugSepRe matches runs of non-word characters (anything that is not a
+// letter or digit); these become single dashes.
+var slugSepRe = regexp.MustCompile(`[^\p{L}\p{N}]+`)
+
+// slugDashRe matches runs of dashes to collapse.
+var slugDashRe = regexp.MustCompile(`-{2,}`)
+
+// slugAsciiRe matches a slug made only of URL-safe ASCII letters, digits and
+// dashes. Slugs containing other characters (e.g. CJK, or Unicode lowercase
+// quirks like the Turkish dotless i) are not URL-stable and are discarded in
+// favor of a "post-<id>" fallback.
+var slugAsciiRe = regexp.MustCompile(`^[a-z0-9]+(-[a-z0-9]+)*$`)
 
 // randomToken returns a 32-byte hex token used to own pending attachments on
 // the article-create page until the article is saved.
@@ -30,17 +41,31 @@ func randomToken() string {
 	return hex.EncodeToString(b)
 }
 
-// generateSlug converts a title into a URL-friendly slug.
+// generateSlug converts a title into a URL-friendly ASCII slug. Returns "" when
+// the title yields no URL-safe ASCII characters (the caller must fall back,
+// e.g. to "post-<id>"). Non-ASCII letters are intentionally dropped rather
+// than kept, because raw CJK in a URL slug is not stable.
 func generateSlug(title string) string {
-	s := strings.ToLower(title)
-	s = strings.ReplaceAll(s, " ", "-")
-	s = slugRe.ReplaceAllString(s, "")
+	s := strings.ToLower(strings.TrimSpace(title))
+	s = slugSepRe.ReplaceAllString(s, "-")
 	s = strings.Trim(s, "-")
-	// Collapse multiple dashes.
-	s = regexp.MustCompile(`-{2,}`).ReplaceAllString(s, "-")
+	s = slugDashRe.ReplaceAllString(s, "-")
+	if !slugAsciiRe.MatchString(s) {
+		return ""
+	}
 	return s
 }
 
+// fallbackSlug returns a non-empty slug when title-derived slugs are empty
+// (e.g. a title of only punctuation/whitespace, or all-stripped). Uses the
+// article ID when available, else a short token.
+func fallbackSlug(id uint) string {
+	if id > 0 {
+		return fmt.Sprintf("post-%d", id)
+	}
+	return "post-" + randomToken()[:8]
+}
+
 // articleForm holds the parsed article form fields, shared by the create and
 // edit handlers and their validation-error repopulation paths.
 type articleForm struct {
@@ -164,6 +189,11 @@ func ArticleCreate(db *gorm.DB) gin.HandlerFunc {
 		// Auto-generate slug if empty.
 		if f.Slug == "" {
 			f.Slug = generateSlug(f.Title)
+			// Title had no usable characters (e.g. only punctuation). Use a
+			// temporary token-based slug now; refine to post-<id> after insert.
+			if f.Slug == "" {
+				f.Slug = fallbackSlug(0)
+			}
 		}
 
 		status := statusFromForm(f.StatusStr)
@@ -197,6 +227,13 @@ func ArticleCreate(db *gorm.DB) gin.HandlerFunc {
 			return
 		}
 
+		// Refine a token-based placeholder slug to the readable post-<id> form.
+		if strings.HasPrefix(f.Slug, "post-") && len(f.Slug) > 9 {
+			if newSlug := fallbackSlug(article.ID); newSlug != "" {
+				db.Model(&article).Update("slug", newSlug)
+			}
+		}
+
 		// Bind any attachments uploaded during creation (plan A: pending rows
 		// owned by session_token, article_id=0).
 		if f.SessionToken != "" {
@@ -275,6 +312,9 @@ func ArticleUpdate(db *gorm.DB) gin.HandlerFunc {
 
 		if f.Slug == "" {
 			f.Slug = generateSlug(f.Title)
+			if f.Slug == "" {
+				f.Slug = fallbackSlug(article.ID)
+			}
 		}
 
 		newStatus := statusFromForm(f.StatusStr)