Welcome back to the weekly core development recap post, with highlights from Trac changesets and other development updates for 4.4. This week’s update covers changesets [33721]–[33820], Aug. 24-30, 2015. That’s a lot of changes, but there are a few that developers need to be especially aware of:
- File restructuring: new class and functions files have been introduced, and existing files used as loaders for the new files for backwards compatibility.
- File and class documentation enhancements: ensuring every file gets a standard file header, even if that file only contains a class that is itself documented.
- Switching themes now takes menu locations into account so the new theme (maybe) gets the locations of the current theme.
- New hooks introduced:
'invite_user' (Multisite users) and 'wp_verify_nonce_failed'.
- The Twenty Sixteen theme is being developed on GitHub.
Now on to the firehose…
Administration
- Bump
h3 headings to h2 on various admin screens for better accessibility:
- Network Admin: Hide the bulk actions checkbox for super admins. [33777] #28529
- Avoid PHP notices in
redirect_canonical() and _wp_menu_item_classes_by_context() if $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'] is not set. [33775] #32229
General
- Remove
error from the query variables when cleaning up a URL in wp_admin_canonical_url(). [33770] #32847
- Prevent unintended password change after clicking “Generate Password” and then “Cancel” when editing a user profile. [33766] #33419
- When
wp_json_encode() calls json_encode(), the latter will generate warnings if the string contains non-UTF-8 characters. No one likes warnings, so we need to do something about that. [33747] #33524
- Add oEmbed support for ReverbNation. [33745] #33207
- Remove rounded corners from “Choose from the most used tags” result in Tags meta box. [33742] #31560
- Add some more data for shortcode unit tests. [33740] #33455
- Allow these CSS properties in KSES:
min-height', 'max-height', 'min-width', 'max-width' [33739] #31949
- Pass option name to option and transient filters with dynamic names. [33738] #28402
- In
get_home_url(), import the $pagenow global to avoid having to check if it exists before comparing against it. [33736] #33545
- In
WP_Users_List_Table::single_row(), $actions is not always set before being used. [33735] #33491
foreach is a statement, not a function. [33734] #33491- Instead of [33713], allow
WP_Posts_List_Table::get_bulk_actions() to check edit_posts AND delete_posts. [33733] #29789
- TinyMCE: ensure the
wordpress plugin is loaded before calling _createToolbar(). [33728] #33393
- With a few modifications in
wp-admin/menu.php, we can eliminate the extra logic for Post and Page menu registration. Instead, they can just declare menu_position on post type registration. [33723] #16865
WP_Query: add changelog for the title param after [33706] [33722] #33074
Restructured some files for separation of purpose, so class files only contain classes, functions files only contain functions, and the existing file loads the new files for backwards compatibility.
Taxonomy
Move WP_Tax_Query into class-wp-tax-query.php and functions into taxonomy-functions.php; taxonomy.php contains only top-level code and loads the new files. [33760] #33413
Posts
Move WP_Post into class-wp-post.php and functions into post-functions.php. post.php contains only top-level code and loads the new files. [33759] #33413
Roles
Move classes into their own files, and functions into its own:
class-wp-roles.phpclass-wp-role.phpclass-wp-user.phpcapbilities-functions.php
capbilities.php contains only top-level code and loads the new files. [33752] #33413
HTTP
Move classes into their own files and functions into its own:
class-wp-http-cookie.phpclass-wp-http-curl.phpclass-wp-http-encoding.phpclass-wp-http-proxy.phpclass-wp-http-streams.phphttp-functions.php
http.php contains only top-level code and loads the new files, so this is 100% BC if someone is loading http.php directly.
class-http.php requires functions from http.php, so loading it by itself wouldn’t have worked.
WP_Http remains in class-http.php. [33748] #33413
Move WP_Meta_Query into class-wp-meta-query.php and functions into meta-functions.php. meta.php contains only top-level code and loads the new files. [33761] #33413
Rewrite
Move WP_Rewrite into class-wp-rewrite.php, functions into rewrite-functions.php, and constants into rewrite-constants.php. rewrite.php contains only top-level code and loads the new files.
The rewrite functions have all kinds of cross-dependencies (like WP_Query), so loading the file by itself would have been bizarre (and still is). [33751] #33413
Move WP_Comment_Query into class-wp-comment-query.php, and functions into comment-functions.php. comment.php contains only top-level code and loads the new files. [33750] #33413
Users
Move WP_User_Query into class-wp-user-query.php and functions into user-functions.php. user.php contains only top-level code and loads the new files. [33749] #33413
Move classes and functions into their own files:
class-wp-widget.phpclass-wp-widget-factory.phpwidget-functions.php
widgets.php contains only top-level code and loads the new files. [33746] #33413
Docs
It’s important for every file in WordPress, regardless of makeup or architecture, to have its own file header, even if the file contains nothing but a class. When parsed, files and classes are mutually exclusive and should be documented with this in mind. [33755] [33756] #33413
- Bring the file header and class DocBlock summaries for
class-wp-widget.php in-line with the intention of the docs standard:
- File headers: What the file is
- Class DocBlocks: What purpose the class serves. Mentioning the class name in the class DocBlock is redundant [33816] #33413
- Add inline-docblocks for the
require_once() calls that now bring in the WP_Widget and WP_Widget_Factory classes, as well as general core widgets functionality, as of [33746]. [33758] #33413
- Add a file header description and
@since version to wp-includes/widget-functions.php, introduced in [33746].
Also adds sub-section headers per the inline documentation standards for syntax. [33757] #33413
- Add a file header to
wp-includes/class-wp-widget-factory.php, created when the WP_Widget_Factory class was moved to its own file in [33746]. [33756] #33413
- Correct the hook docs for the
user_profile_update_errors action. [33769] #33537
- After [33764], fix docblock formatting for
wp_list_categories(). [33765] #33460
- Use proper array documentation formatting for
wp_list_categories().
This changeset also corrects a few parameter descriptions, and adds a few that
were previously missing. [33763] #33556
- Fix copy pasta in
wp_cache_decr() doc block. [33809] #33548
- The type for the
$t_time parameter in the post_date_column_time filter docs should be string, not array. [33731] #33540
- Document the default comment data arguments for
wp_new_comment(). [33730] #32369
- After [33698], wrap the time constants in a DocBlock template. [33737] #33397
- Clarify the return description for
wp_create_user() to illustrate that a WP_Error object will be returned on failure. [33725] #33321
Add changelog entries for a variety of hook doc parameters added in [33738]:
Themes
- Get the correct theme when template and stylesheet were both passed as arguments. Fixes a bug introduced in [21131] where
$new_theme got set before the second argument was
appropriately handled, causing the current_theme option to later always be updated to the parent theme’s name. [33815] #32635
- Improve/update escaping in default widgets:
- wrap some variables in
esc_attr() before echoing
- replace some
strip_tags() calls with sanitize_text_field()
- call
esc_url() when wrapping some URLs [33814] #23012
- Improve/update escaping in
WP_Widget_Pages. [33813] #23012
- Switch back to using
array_key_exists() instead of isset() for widget instance existence check.
Reverts unnecessary change in [32602] since array_key_exists() does actually work with ArrayIterator objects.
Merges [33696] to the 4.3 branch. [33721] #32474, #33442
Customizer
- Fix the doc block syntax for the
'wp_get_current_commenter' filter. [33811] #33304
get_comment_count() currently increments awaiting_moderation when comments are in the trash. This occurs because case 0: will match any value passed to switch that is a string that isn’t specified in the list of cases. This is terrifying.
Cases for 0 and 1 should be '1' and '0'
Add unit tests for get_comment_count(). Currently, there are none. [33806] #33414
I18N
- Favor using the consistent and agnostic string ‘Attach’ over ‘Attach to a post’ in the media list table. [33810] #33515
- Make a period translatable. [33802] #33594
- Switching themes: if the new theme doesn’t have
nav_menu_locations defined, but the old theme does, copy the old theme’s nav_menu_locations into the new theme’s theme mods. [33808] #18588
- Improve the reliability of the crop returned by
image_get_intermediate_size() and add a bunch of unit tests to tests/image/intermediate_size.php. [33807] #17626
- When inserting an image into a post, the values in
wp.media.controller.Library should not default to linking the image when no user settings are present.
The default display setting value for link is now none. User settings persist and will override or confirm this value based on user actions. [33729] #31467
Posts, Post Types
- In
get_post_type_labels(), ensure that filtered labels contain all required default values. [33776] #33543
- Don’t change the View Post button permalink in the sample permalink HTML when updating the slug on a published or future post. [33773] #32954
- Pass taxonomy name to filters in
get_adjacent_post(). [33805] #33568
- Make post meta box toggles accessible. [33762] #33544
Multisite
- Improve the efficiency of
is_user_member_of_blog() by removing its use of get_blogs_of_user(). Adds additional tests. [33771] #32472
- Add
'invite_user' action that fires immediately after a user is invited to join a site, but before the notification is sent. [33732] #33008
Taxonomy
- In
wp_list_categories(), ‘current_category’ should accept an array of values. [33804] #33565
- Introduce
$hide_title_if_no_cats parameter to wp_list_categories(). [33764] #33460
- Rename param added to
wp_list_categories() in [33764] to $hide_title_if_empty. [33767] #33565
- Term Splitting: Switch to a faster cron unschedule process to benefit sites with thousands of affected jobs. Fix the cron hook name in the failsafe rescheduler. [33727] #33423
- In
WP_Query::parse_tax_query(), allow ‘cat’ and ‘tag’ querystrings to be formatted as arrays. [33724] #32454, #33532
Date/Time
- Simplify the weeks-per-year calculation
WP_Date_Query::validate_date_values(). [33803] #30845
Users
- Bring network admin user searching to parity with single site user searching by wrapping search terms in asterisks. This means that searches don’t require an exact match and therefore significantly reduces friction when searching for users on the network admin screens. [33801] #32913
Bundled Theme
Correct license information in readme.txt.
Text Changes
- Drop the hyphen from e-mail and standardize on email.
The AP Stylebook changed this in 2011, and we’re woefully inconsistent, so let’s go with the standard. [33774] #26156
Upgrade/Install
Security
- Add
'wp_verify_nonce_failed' action that fires when nonce verification fails. [33744] #24030
- Fire the
check_ajax_referer action on failure as well as success. [33743] #33342
Thanks to @azaozz, @BinaryKitten, @boonebgorges, @bordoni, @Cheffheid, @chipbennett, @danielbachhuber, @dd32, @DeBAAT, @dimadin, @DrewAPicture, @ebinnion, @egill, @eherman24, @ericlewis, @garza, @hauvong, @helen, @janhenckens, @jjeato, @jmayha, @joedolson, @joehills, @joemcgill, @johnbillion, @KalenJohnson, @kitchin, @liljimmi, @luciole135, @mako09, @MikeHansenMe, @miqrogroove, @morganestes, @niallkennedy, @nikeo, @obenland, @Otto42, @pavelevap, @pento, @peterwilsoncc, @rachelbaker, @rhubbardreverb, @sammybeats, @sboisvert, @scribu, @SergeyBiryukov, @Shelob9, @tyxla, @Veraxus, @vilkatis, @Viper007Bond, @voldemortensen, @welcher, @westonruter, @wonderboymusic, and @yamchhetr for their contributions!
Kind of a moot point but I think this feature was not implemented correctly and now we are stuck with it.
John James Jacoby 3:44 pm on September 4, 2015 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I cannot +1 this enough without being blacklisted by Akismet.
marsjaninzmarsa 4:31 pm on September 4, 2015 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Can’t agree more.
Justin Tadlock 8:43 pm on September 4, 2015 Permalink | Log in to Reply
👍
Scott Kingsley Clark 3:46 pm on September 4, 2015 Permalink | Log in to Reply
If we can get traction for Fields API, would love to implement it for Term meta on the term pages!
majemedia 3:47 pm on September 4, 2015 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I just built a plugin (not public) for a client that utilizes term meta. The guide I followed (mostly) was here: http://shibashake.com/wordpress-theme/add-term-or-taxonomy-meta-data
This utilizes update_metadata but requires wpdb queries to get metadata information.
nathanrice 3:52 pm on September 4, 2015 Permalink | Log in to Reply
In anticipation of this eventually being a thing, we chose (in Genesis) to avoid the custom table bit. Instead we just used a single option table entry (serialized) with key=>value pairs for each term ID.
It’s inefficient and doesn’t scale, so in general, we tell people not to use the term meta features (mostly SEO related) if they have a large site and lots of terms.
But the positive is that the transition would be pretty easy to make for us. Just a simple conversion function that runs on update, and update our helper functions to use the new API in WP. We prefix all our functions, so function name conflicts aren’t an issue for us.
Boone Gorges 4:24 pm on September 4, 2015 Permalink | Log in to Reply
This is excellent. Plugins/themes will, of course, be responsible for migrating their data to the new system. As the time gets closer, we’ll produce some documentation that suggests best practices for doing migrations to the core tables. In the meantime, thanks for using prefixes
marsjaninzmarsa 4:31 pm on September 4, 2015 Permalink | Log in to Reply
My proposal for WordPress update runtime, intended, but not limited to termmeta arrival:
As part of update process, just after turning on maintenance, we can force turn of all plugins not compatible with new version, and after upgrade we can try to turn on all of them, one by one, looking for errors and conflicts, just like we’re doing in time of activation of plugin via panel. That can cause break of features, but can prevent “white screen of death”.
Also, before core update we can check for new versions of this plugins, and if new versions are compatible with new WordPress, we can suggest updating this plugins first.
Crazy/stupid/brilliant?
Dan Cameron 6:13 pm on September 4, 2015 Permalink | Log in to Reply
This is awesomesauce! I’m excited and will try my best to help the progress within the trac ticket.
leemon 6:32 pm on September 4, 2015 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I really hope this goes forward in one way or another. Yesterday I was reading some people arguing against this in a trac ticket and the fact this could be wontfixed or pluginterritoried scared the shit out of me.
Tanner Moushey 9:33 pm on September 4, 2015 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Awesome!!! Super excited for this!