Automattic / Automattic/co-authors-plus

Filters for the_author() and the_author_posts_link() do not work

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status: needs investigation
Dominant language
PHP
Stars
322
Forks
218
Avg merge
7h 50m
Merged PRs (30d)
65

Description

https://github.com/Automattic/Co-Authors-Plus/blob/3.1.1/php/class-coauthors-template-filters.php#L10

The plugin filters `the_author()` to use `coauthors()` instead, and likewise for `the_author_posts_link()` and `coauthors_posts_links()`. Now, when I rely on the filter and just use either of the author functions in a theme, the user who put the post online is being displayed instead of the co-authors. When I put the two coauthor equivalents in the theme directly, however, everything works as intended. Hence I assume that the filters might be broken.

I stumbled across this with one of my own themes and when I tried to make the Jetpack mobile theme compatible to Co-Authors Plus as per https://github.com/Automattic/jetpack/pull/825. I have used the same database for testing both themes, though, so I am not sure others are experiencing the same issue.

I originally assumed the issue was related to both filters turning off `echo` in their equivalent coauthor functions, but changing that bit did not help. There is one instance when the filter _does_ seem to be working: when `get_the_author()` is called from within the loop but outside of specific posts, like in the heading for author pages in the Jetpack mobile theme.

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start with php/class-coauthors-template-filters.php at the referenced lines and trace the filters for the_author(), the_author_posts_link(), and get_the_author(). Reproduce the behavior from a theme using the standard functions and compare it with the coauthors equivalents; done means the filtered functions display the co-authors consistently.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
php, wordpress
Domain
backend, content
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
42/100

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