Gary Pendergast 1:12 am on February 21, 2019
Tags: 5.1

WordPress 5.1 Release Day

We’re less than 24 hours away from WordPress 5.1! If you’d like to help get this release out the door, here’s how you can join in.

The current plan is to start the release process at February 21th, 2019 at 22:00 UTC, in the #core SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. channel.

The major version release process can take a bit more time than the betas or Release Candidates, particularly if we run into any last minute issues that need to be addressed.

The Release Process

We’ll be working through the Major Version Release process, for anyone who wants to follow along.

I ran through the Dry Run steps earlier, there was one file missing from $_old_files (#46284).

How You Can Help

A key part of the release process is checking that the zip packages work on all the different server configurations available. If you have some of the less commonly used servers available for testing (IIS, in particular), that’d be super helpful. Servers running older versions of PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher and MySQLMySQL MySQL is a relational database management system. A database is a structured collection of data where content, configuration and other options are stored. https://www.mysql.com/. will also need testing.

In particular, please test:

Does a new WordPress install work correctly? This includes running through the manual install process, as well as WP-CLIWP-CLI WP-CLI is the Command Line Interface for WordPress, used to do administrative and development tasks in a programmatic way. The project page is http://wp-cli.org/ https://make.wordpress.org/cli/ or one-click installers.
Does it upgrade correctly? Are the files listed in $_old_files removed when you upgrade?
Does Multisitemultisite Used to describe a WordPress installation with a network of multiple blogs, grouped by sites. This installation type has shared users tables, and creates separate database tables for each blog (wp_posts becomes wp_0_posts). See also network, blog, site upgrade properly?
Run through some basic usage flows, both on desktop and mobile:
- Publish a post, including a variety of different blocks.
- Comment on the post.
- Install a new pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party/theme, or upgrade an existing one.
- Change the site language.
- If you’re a plugin developer, or if there are complex plugins you depend upon, test that they’re working correctly.

You can even start this early, by running the WordPress 5.1 RC2 packages, which are built using the same method as the final packages.

#5-1

Jonathan Desrosiers 9:01 pm on February 20, 2019
Tags: 5.1

WordPress 5.1.1

A part of last week’s devchat contained a discussion about short-cycle maintenance releases and how they are handled. Another post will be published to discuss this longer term. But, a short term plan for 5.1.1 needs to be established so component maintainers and committers can prioritize their efforts in the coming weeks.

Keeping with the recent 2-week minor releaseMinor Release A set of releases or versions having the same minor version number may be collectively referred to as .x , for example version 5.2.x to refer to versions 5.2, 5.2.1, 5.2.3, and all other versions in the 5.2 (five dot two) branch of that software. Minor Releases often make improvements to existing features and functionality. cadence used in the 5.0.x releases, and with the proposed 5.2 release schedule in mind, this is the proposed release schedule for WordPress 5.1.1:

March 4, 2019: 5.1.1 RCrelease candidate One of the final stages in the version release cycle, this version signals the potential to be a final release to the public. Also see alpha (beta).
March 7, 2019: 5.1.1 Release Date

Given the shorter release timeline and the quick turnaround of 5.2, 5.1.1 should only consist of:

Important bugbug A bug is an error or unexpected result. Performance improvements, code optimization, and are considered enhancements, not defects. After feature freeze, only bugs are dealt with, with regressions (adverse changes from the previous version) being the highest priority. fixes.
5.1 regressions.
Small blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. editor improvements.

If 5.1.2 is deemed necessary, the same 2 week cadence will be followed, making the preliminary, if necessary release date for 5.1.2 as March 21, 2019.

Release leads have not yet been determined for this release. If you are interested, please comment below. Since this is a smaller release, it is a great opportunity for someone interested in helping with their first release.

#5-1

Joe McGill 10:19 pm on February 14, 2019
Tags: 5.1, core ( 610 ), dev chat ( 778 )

Dev Chat Summary: February 13

This post summarizes the weekly dev chat meeting from February 13th (agenda, Slack archive).

5.1 updates

5.1 is currently on target for the Feb 21 release date.

RC1 went out last week. Two remaining bugs have been fixed (remaining open tickets can be tracked here). Right now, all that is left is the About page, which needs some design work and some minor bugbug A bug is an error or unexpected result. Performance improvements, code optimization, and are considered enhancements, not defects. After feature freeze, only bugs are dealt with, with regressions (adverse changes from the previous version) being the highest priority. fixes. @pento expects to release a small RC2 either late this week, or early next week.

The WordPress 5.1 Field guide is out, thanks to the hard work of @desrosj, @jeffpaul, and the many contributors who wrote individual dev notesdev note Each important change in WordPress Core is documented in a developers note, (usually called dev note). Good dev notes generally include a description of the change, the decision that led to this change, and a description of how developers are supposed to work with that change. Dev notes are published on Make/Core blog during the beta phase of WordPress release cycle. Publishing dev notes is particularly important when plugin/theme authors and WordPress developers need to be aware of those changes.In general, all dev notes are compiled into a Field Guide at the beginning of the release candidate phase. for this release.

Since the meeting adjourned, 5.1 has been branched, and Trunktrunk A directory in Subversion containing the latest development code in preparation for the next major release cycle. If you are running "trunk", then you are on the latest revision. is open for 5.2–alpha enhancements.

5.2 and 5.1.x Logistics

Release target and cadence

Based on the desire to update the PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher requirements in April, @pento proposed targeting late April for a 5.2 release. That leaves about a month for alpha, a month for betaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process., and two weeks for RCrelease candidate One of the final stages in the version release cycle, this version signals the potential to be a final release to the public. Also see alpha (beta)..

@youknowraid proposed shortening the release cycles for WordPress to shorter, predictable cycles that are time-based instead of feature based. After some discussion, @chanthaboune suggested an official proposal be drafted on https://make.wordpress.org/core, and @desrosj volunteered to help draft the post.

Potential features for 5.2

While there are no firm commitments, a few ideas for 5.2 features include:

GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ performance and UXUX User experience improvements
CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. widgets converted to blocks
PHP Fatal Recovery (WSOD)
Site Health Check

5.1.X Releases

Barring any major regressions in 5.1, the target for a 5.1.1 release will be 2 weeks after 5.1. With 5.2 targeted for April, 5.1.x releases will be limited to 5.1 regressions and important bug fixes that would be good to get out earlier, and exclude additional features or enhancements.

Updates from focus leads and component maintainers

An initial implementation of a CODEOWNERS file in Gutenberg was merged, which is kind of a joint JavaScriptJavaScript JavaScript or JS is an object-oriented computer programming language commonly used to create interactive effects within web browsers. WordPress makes extensive use of JS for a better user experience. While PHP is executed on the server, JS executes within a user’s browser. https://www.javascript.com/. and Gutenberg update.

From the Gutenberg desk: there is a lot from last week’s meeting, but there is a call for reviewers that’s worth taking a look at.

From Media: the team did a ticketticket Created for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. triagetriage The act of evaluating and sorting bug reports, in order to decide priority, severity, and other factors. and left excellent notes with calls for testing and patches.

From the JavaScript desk: There’s a request for feedback from @youknowriad on how to tackle selecting data over multiple stores.

General announcements and open floor

The Navigation blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. is currently being discussed and there are mockups in GitHub that would benefit from people’s feedback.

@afercia proposed an audit of the project’s components and maintainers soon to ensure the project is properly organized to maintain all parts of the codebase and increase participation where necessary.

Additionally, @afercia recommended that all components and teams use the correct headings level when authoring a post, and please refrain from using emojis or other extraneous content within the headings. This relates to an ongoing effort to improve the headings hierarchy across the .org networknetwork (versus site, blog).

Finally, @chanthaboune published a post titled, Strengths and Challenges: Follow Up, earlier this week. Everyone should read it, as it applies to all teams. Additionally, she is working on the first “Scrum of Scrums/Weekly Digest/Wayfinding” post, which she expects to publish later this week.

#5-1, #core, #dev-chat

Josepha 9:04 pm on February 12, 2019
Tags: 5.1, agenda ( 1,060 ), core ( 610 )

Dev Chat Agenda: February 13

Below is the agenda for the weekly devchat meeting on Wednesday, February 13, 2019 at 21:00 UTC:

5.1 updates:
- Schedule update
Updates from focus leads and component maintainers
- The Navigation blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. is proving to be complex, and simplifying it requires breaking it down into smaller issues that need your feedback.
Open Floor

If you have anything to propose for the agenda or specific items related to those listed above, please leave a comment below.

This meeting is held in the #core channel in the Making WordPress Slack.

#5-1, #agenda, #core, #dev-chat

#5-1, #agenda, #core

Jeffrey Paul 1:29 am on February 8, 2019
Tags: 5.1, field guide ( 31 )

WordPress 5.1 Field Guide

WordPress 5.1 is officially the best WordPress 2019 has seen yet! Users will see blockBlock Block is the abstract term used to describe units of markup that, composed together, form the content or layout of a webpage using the WordPress editor. The idea combines concepts of what in the past may have achieved with shortcodes, custom HTML, and embed discovery into a single consistent API and user experience. editor improvements while developers will see PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher version upgrade notices and will be able to take advantage of 165 enhancements and features added. Let’s look at the many improvements coming in 5.1…

Site Health 💻🏥

WordPress 5.1 includes portions of the Servehappy and Site Health projects. Notices will start being displayed to administrators of sites that run on long outdated PHP versions. WordPress will also start honoring pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party PHP version requirements.

PHP Site Health Mechanisms in 5.1

Block Editor Goodies 🧱🏗️

The block editor continued its rapid iteration since WordPress 5.0 and now has version 4.8 of the GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ plugin bundled with WordPress 5.1. Most significantly, this includes performance improvements within the editor, a Getting Started with JavaScript tutorial, improvements to the design guidelines to build blocks, and high-quality README files for the UIUI User interface components.

What’s New in Gutenberg? (7th January)

Multisitemultisite Used to describe a WordPress installation with a network of multiple blogs, grouped by sites. This installation type has shared users tables, and creates separate database tables for each blog (wp_posts becomes wp_0_posts). See also network, blog, site Metadata 🏘️🗂️

5.1 brings with it a new database table to store metadata associated with sites, which allows for the storage of arbitrary site data relevant in a multisite / networknetwork (versus site, blog) context.

Multisite Support for Site Metadata in 5.1

Cron APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways. 🔁🔂

WordPress 5.1 includes a change in behavior for cron spawning on servers running FastCGI and PHP versions 7.0.16 and above. It also includes a change to the Cron API that updates the return values for functions used to modify scheduled tasks, it includes two new functions to assist with returning data (one to retrieve cron jobs ready to be run and another to retrieve a scheduled event), and it includes new filters for modifying cron storage.

Cron Improvements with PHP-FPM in WordPress 5.1

Cron API changes in WordPress 5.1

New JSJS JavaScript, a web scripting language typically executed in the browser. Often used for advanced user interfaces and behaviors. Build Process 🇯🇸🏭

The JavaScriptJavaScript JavaScript or JS is an object-oriented computer programming language commonly used to create interactive effects within web browsers. WordPress makes extensive use of JS for a better user experience. While PHP is executed on the server, JS executes within a user’s browser. https://www.javascript.com/. code reorganization has been in `trunktrunk A directory in Subversion containing the latest development code in preparation for the next major release cycle. If you are running "trunk", then you are on the latest revision. since April 2018 and the new JavaScript build process will ship with WordPress 5.1.

Preparing WordPress for a JavaScript Future Part #1: Build Step and Folder Reorganization

Build tools: We’ve enabled running WordPress from /src again

Updated Styles and Strings 🔗🧵

Read below to learn about how the adminadmin (and super admin) table pagination links have had their CSSCSS Cascading Style Sheets. styling modified to improve accessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) and how LocaleLocale A locale is a combination of language and regional dialect. Usually locales correspond to countries, as is the case with Portuguese (Portugal) and Portuguese (Brazil). Other examples of locales include Canadian English and U.S. English. Managers with commit access on the /dist repository will need to manually translate and deployDeploy Launching code from a local development environment to the production web server, so that it's available to visitors. changes to files that cannot use gettext.

New Styling for Admin Table Pagination Links in WordPress 5.1

WordPress 5.1 String Changes in HTML/PHP Files

Other Developer ❤️

There are even more goodies in 5.1 like updates to values allowed for the WP_DEBUG_LOG constant, new test config file constant in the test suite, new plugin action hooksHooks In WordPress theme and development, hooks are functions that can be applied to an action or a Filter in WordPress. Actions are functions performed when a certain event occurs in WordPress. Filters allow you to modify certain functions. Arguments used to hook both filters and actions look the same., short circuit filters for wp_unique_post_slug() and WP_User_Query and count_users(), a new human_readable_duration function, improved taxonomyTaxonomy A taxonomy is a way to group things together. In WordPress, some common taxonomies are category, link, tag, or post format. https://codex.wordpress.org/Taxonomies#Default_Taxonomies. metaboxMetabox A post metabox is a draggable box shown on the post editing screen. Its purpose is to allow the user to select or enter information in addition to the main post content. This information should be related to the post in some way. sanitization, limited LIKE support for metaMeta Meta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress. keys when using WP_Meta_Query, a new “doing it wrong” notice when registering REST APIREST API The REST API is an acronym for the RESTful Application Program Interface (API) that uses HTTP requests to GET, PUT, POST and DELETE data. It is how the front end of an application (think “phone app” or “website”) can communicate with the data store (think “database” or “file system”) https://developer.wordpress.org/rest-api/. endpoints, and more!

Miscellaneous Developer Focused Changes in 5.1

New function: human_readable_duration

New User Related Short Circuit Filters

Improved taxonomy metabox sanitization in 5.1

LIKE support for meta keys in 5.1

New REST API Notice in 5.1

There are also a few additional changes that will receive a dev note shortly:

Object Caching can now degrade gracefully (#22661)
New parameter for the wp_check_filetype_and_ext filterFilter Filters are one of the two types of Hooks https://codex.wordpress.org/Plugin_API/Hooks. They provide a way for functions to modify data of other functions. They are the counterpart to Actions. Unlike Actions, filters are meant to work in an isolated manner, and should never have side effects such as affecting global variables and output. (#45707)
New filter for filtering and overriding block attributes (#45451)

But Wait, There is More!

Over 303 bugs, 156 enhancements, 9 feature requests, and 23 blessed tasks have been marked as fixed in WordPress 5.1. Some additional ones to highlight include:

Bootstrap/Load: WSODs protection returns incorrect content type for JSONJSON JSON, or JavaScript Object Notation, is a minimal, readable format for structuring data. It is used primarily to transmit data between a server and web application, as an alternative to XML. Requests (#45933)
Cache API: Allow object caches to degrade gracefully (#22661)
Customize: Improve browser compatibility of X-Frame-Options and Content-Security-Policy headers for window in preview iframeiframe iFrame is an acronym for an inline frame. An iFrame is used inside a webpage to load another HTML document and render it. This HTML document may also contain JavaScript and/or CSS which is loaded at the time when iframe tag is parsed by the user’s browser. (#40020)
Customize: Use iframe sandbox attribute to restrict browsing in CustomizerCustomizer Tool built into WordPress core that hooks into most modern themes. You can use it to preview and modify many of your site’s appearance settings. preview instead of attempting to rely on JS to intercept top navigation (#42341)
Customize: Fix counting of sections for widgetWidget A WordPress Widget is a small block that performs a specific function. You can add these widgets in sidebars also known as widget-ready areas on your web page. WordPress widgets were originally created to provide a simple and easy-to-use way of giving design and structure control of the WordPress theme to the user. sidebars, allowing non-sidebarSidebar A sidebar in WordPress is referred to a widget-ready area used by WordPress themes to display information that is not a part of the main content. It is not always a vertical column on the side. It can be a horizontal rectangle below or above the content area, footer, header, or any where in the theme. sections to not interfere (#43556)
Customize: Prevent wp_targeted_link_rel() from corrupting Customizer changeset data (#45292)
Media: Parse the creation date out of uploaded audio files (#42017)
Media: No placeholder for ico file in list view of Media Library (#43458)
Media: media_handle_sideload() may unexpectedly return 0 on error (#44303)
Menus: Improve headings and instructions for better accessibility (#43397)
Menus: Show an appropriate message when no menus exist (#45155)
Networks and Sites: Improve site creation in multisite (#40364)
Networks and Sites: Introduce ms-site.php and ms-network.php files (#40647)
Networks and Sites: Implement wp_initialize_site() and wp_uninitialize_site() (#41333)
Plugins: Disable “Install Plugin” button for PHP required version mismatch (#43986)
Privacy: Show the comment / awaiting moderation message even without opt-in (#43857)
Query: post__in orderby not working when passed in an array to orderby (#38034)
REST API: Allow to filter the query in the search controller (#45454)
Taxonomy: Add un|registered_taxonomy_for_object_type action (#44733)
Users: New filter to short circuit WP_User_Query results (#44169)
Widgets: Make the Widgets screen “Enable accessibility mode” link more discoverable (#42778)
Widgets: Fix Gallery Widget preview after an image is deleted (#43139)
Widgets: Fix custom HTMLHTML HyperText Markup Language. The semantic scripting language primarily used for outputting content in web browsers. widget editor content not updating after save (#43657)

Please, test your code. Fixing issues helps you and helps millions of WordPress sites.

Props @desrosj for contributing to this guide.

#5-1, #field-guide

Joe McGill 2:29 am on January 31, 2019
Tags: 5.1, core-php ( 68 ), dev chat ( 778 )

Dev Chat Summary: January 30th

This post summarizes the weekly dev chat meeting from January 30th (agenda, Slack archive).

5.1 updates

BetaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. 3

5.1 Beta 3 was delayed by 24 hours following issues with the PHP error recovery (aka WSOD) feature. The current plan is to release beta 3 a few hours following the dev chat today.

Schedule update

Remaining planned schedule dates remain the same, with RCrelease candidate One of the final stages in the version release cycle, this version signals the potential to be a final release to the public. Also see alpha (beta). 1 and a hard string freeze on February 7 and a final release planned for February 21.

Dev notesdev note Each important change in WordPress Core is documented in a developers note, (usually called dev note). Good dev notes generally include a description of the change, the decision that led to this change, and a description of how developers are supposed to work with that change. Dev notes are published on Make/Core blog during the beta phase of WordPress release cycle. Publishing dev notes is particularly important when plugin/theme authors and WordPress developers need to be aware of those changes.In general, all dev notes are compiled into a Field Guide at the beginning of the release candidate phase. status report

All but three dev notes planned for 5.1 have been published

@desrosj is continuing to coordinate 5.1 dev notes. There are also plans to release a Field GuideField guide The field guide is a type of blogpost published on Make/Core during the release candidate phase of the WordPress release cycle. The field guide generally lists all the dev notes published during the beta cycle. This guide is linked in the about page of the corresponding version of WordPress, in the release post and in the HelpHub version page. for 5.1 on the day that RC1 is released. If any component maintainers have information they would like to have included in the Field Guide, please provide them to @desrosj before February 6, 2019.

Updates from focus reps and component maintainers

Meeting notes and summaries

Other calls/proposals

The REST APIREST API The REST API is an acronym for the RESTful Application Program Interface (API) that uses HTTP requests to GET, PUT, POST and DELETE data. It is how the front end of an application (think “phone app” or “website”) can communicate with the data store (think “database” or “file system”) https://developer.wordpress.org/rest-api/. team is aiming to have owners for every ticketticket Created for both bug reports and feature development on the bug tracker. milestoned for WordPress 5.2, so could use more help if people are looking for tickets to work on.

PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher error recovery (WSOD) update

Earlier this week, security concerns were raised about this feature, which ultimately has lead to the decision by the #core-php team to revert this feature from 5.1 and try again in 5.2 in order to adequately address the issues identified. For additional context, people can reference the original ticket (#44458) and the new ticket created to track new refinements (#46130).

Continued work on this feature will be coordinated in #core-php on SlackSlack Slack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/. and during weekly meetings on Mondays at 16:00 UTC.

Additional follow up

@flixos90 is in touch with the original reporter of the security concern.
@aaroncampbell agreed to follow up with the author of the ZDNet article to inform them about the feature being removed. The article has since been updated to reflect this change.
From a marketing perspective, @joostdevalk reminded that because of the open nature of our project, these kinds of things are going to happen, which isn’t itself a concern, as long as we are actively following up.

Open floor

@kadamwhite mentioned that the upcoming GutenbergGutenberg The Gutenberg project is the new Editor Interface for WordPress. The editor improves the process and experience of creating new content, making writing rich content much simpler. It uses ‘blocks’ to add richness rather than shortcodes, custom HTML etc. https://wordpress.org/gutenberg/ roadmap would likely require enhancements to the REST API in CoreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. and suggested that there be closer coordination between the editor team and the REST API team regarding implementation of new features or enhancements.

It was suggested that when new features require knowledge from other teams, that the people working on those features reach out via component slack channels or in comments to component/team meeting notes, which should be published consistently by all active teams.

#5-1, #dev-chat

Peter Wilson 2:24 am on January 30, 2019
Tags: 5.1, agenda ( 1,060 ), core ( 610 ), dev chat ( 778 )

Dev Chat Agenda: January 30

Below is the agenda for the weekly devchat meeting on Wednesday, January 30, 2019 at 21:00 UTC:

5.1 updates:
- Beta 3 delayed 24 hrs
- Schedule update.
- Field notes and dev notes status report.
Updates from focus leads and component maintainers.
WSOD protection
- the approach has altered following the raising of some security concerns
- the new approach is under development in #46130 after a discussion in the PHP channel
- discussion: the three options for the feature in WordPress 5.1 (please see the Make/core post delaying beta 3)
Open floor.

If you have anything to propose for the agenda or specific items related to those listed above, please leave a comment below.

This meeting is held in the #core channel in the Making WordPress Slack.

#5-1, #agenda, #core, #dev-chat

Gary Pendergast 2:02 am on January 30, 2019
Tags: 5.1

WordPress 5.1 Beta 3 Delay

WordPress 5.1 BetaBeta A pre-release of software that is given out to a large group of users to trial under real conditions. Beta versions have gone through alpha testing in-house and are generally fairly close in look, feel and function to the final product; however, design changes often occur as part of the process. 3 was scheduled to be released today. It is now delayed by one day, and will be released after the coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. dev chat.

There are recent reports of potential security issues in the new PHP error recovery feature. To address these issues, there’s a promising patchpatch A special text file that describes changes to code, by identifying the files and lines which are added, removed, and altered. It may also be referred to as a diff. A patch can be applied to a codebase for testing. on #46130, but it’s a significant change in behaviour to be committing this late in the release cycle. Ideally, this large a change would’ve been made before Beta 1.

There are a few options to move forward on this:

Continue with the fix in #46130, focussing on ensuring it doesn’t expose new potential security issues.
Disable the feature by default, adding a feature flag for sites to opt-in to error recovery.
Revert the feature from trunk, and aim to include it in WordPress 5.2, instead.

An earlier discussion in #core generally leaned towards reverting it.

Reverting the error recovery feature will not have an effect upon the PHPPHP The web scripting language in which WordPress is primarily architected. WordPress requires PHP 7.4 or higher upgrade notices feature. Both the PHP upgrade notices and the error recovery are part of the broader Site Health project, but are functionally independent of each other.

Delaying the Beta 3 release by a day ensures that everyone involved has the opportunity to discuss the next steps.

#5-1

Felix Arntz 6:02 pm on January 28, 2019
Tags: 5.1, dev-notes ( 557 ), multisite ( 90 ), networks-sites ( 43 )

Multisite Support for Site Metadata in 5.1

WordPress multisitemultisite Used to describe a WordPress installation with a network of multiple blogs, grouped by sites. This installation type has shared users tables, and creates separate database tables for each blog (wp_posts becomes wp_0_posts). See also network, blog, site introduces a new database table to store metadata associated with sites. This allows for the storage of arbitrary site data relevant in a multisite / networknetwork (versus site, blog) context.

Site metadata provides an alternative to using options and can be retrieved from multiple sites in a more performant way—without calling switch_to_blog(). Sites can now also be queried by their metaMeta Meta is a term that refers to the inside workings of a group. For us, this is the team that works on internal WordPress sites like WordCamp Central and Make WordPress. with parameters supported by WP_Meta_Query.

The new wp_blogmeta table is a global table in WordPress and developers should be cautious not to overuse it. There is a trade-off between using site options and site metadata, so it is recommended to think about every piece of extra data associated with a site and how it should be stored.

Use options when the data concerns only the site itself. Using an option should continue to be the default approach for site data.
Use site metadata when the data also needs to be heavily used in the network context, especially when sites need to be queried by it.

A network update is required to install the new database table. The site meta APIAPI An API or Application Programming Interface is a software intermediary that allows programs to interact with each other and share data in limited, clearly defined ways. includes a function is_site_meta_supported() to ensure no unexpected errors occur when that process has not run yet. As of WordPress 5.1, there is only a single use-case for the site meta in coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. which regards the fatal error protection mechanism (see #44458).

This is how the API can be used:

get_site_meta( $id, $meta_key, $single )
update_site_meta( $id, $meta_key, $meta_value, $prev_value )
add_site_meta( $id, $meta_key, $meta_value, $unique )
delete_site_meta( $id, $meta_key, $meta_value )

All of these functions are only available in multisite, however they work similarly to other metadata wrapper functions, such as for posts, terms, comments and users. In addition to these functions, it is now possible to use the common meta query arguments when querying sites with WP_Site_Query or its wrapper get_sites().

Note that the database table for site metadata is called wp_blogmeta. This is because wp_sitemeta is already used for another database table, and furthermore the new name works consistently alongside the related wp_blogs table that stores the most essential site data. The API exposed and described here uses the correct term “site”.

For background information on these changes, see #37923 and #40229.

An additional under-the-hood change related to this is that the metadata API is now loaded earlier in the WordPress bootstrap process so that it is available as early as the multisite bootstrap code. See #40948 for more information.

Props @jeremyfelt for review.

#5-1, #dev-notes, #multisite, #networks-sites

Jb Audras 3:51 pm on January 25, 2019
Tags: 5.1, core-editor ( 720 ), dev chat ( 778 )

Dev Chat Summary: January 23rd

This post summarizes the weekly dev chat meeting from January 23rd (agenda, Slack archive).

5.1 updates