Forums: "Plugin Contributor" badge is displayed instead of "Plugin Author"

[SergeyBiryukov]

Background: #2701

[5286] and [5287] updated the queries for plugin authors and contributors to use the new Plugin Directory WP tables.

Looking at the code (and having confirmed that on a local install), "Plugin Author" should be displayed for those with commit access, and "Plugin Contributor" should be displayed for everyone else listed in the plugin's readme.txt.

However, in some cases "Plugin Contributor" is displayed instead of "Plugin Author":
​https://wordpress.org/support/topic/google-rich-snippets-and-easy-digital-downloads/#post-9008725

Maybe the plugin_committers taxonomy is not properly populated for some plugins?

[SergeyBiryukov]

Hmm, and now the badge is not displayed in that topic at all.

It's displayed for another plugin of the same author though, so it's inconsistent:
​https://wordpress.org/support/topic/toolbar-display/#post-8980799

[GamerZ]

Plugin Author Label missing

[coffee2code]

In 5307:

Support Forums: Change cache group names to avoid conflicts.

See #2710.

[coffee2code]

I'm not sure [5307] solved this issue, but it addressed something that was an issue (the contributors array cache had a cache group name conflict with the plugin directory).

In the cases mentioned in the ticket, the cache for the authors (when only the contributor badge was showing as a fallback) or both caches (when neither badge appeared) had somehow gotten set with an empty array. Temporarily disabling the wp_cache_(get|set)() resulted in the proper authors and contributors.

I'm leaving the ticket open for now to see if the issue crops up again.

[dd32]

#2718 was marked as a duplicate.

[dd32]

I'm not sure [5307] solved this issue, but it addressed something that was an issue (the contributors array cache had a cache group name conflict with the plugin directory).

I'm not sure that's the case - all cache groups have the blog_id included in the resulting memcache key, unless it's marked as a global cache group (which it isn't). For example, key = 'my-super-plugin'; group = 'plugin-contributors-slugs'; will have a resulting memcache_key of 419:plugin-contributors-slugs:my-super-plugin.

In the cases mentioned in the ticket, the cache for the authors (when only the contributor badge was showing as a fallback) or both caches (when neither badge appeared) had somehow gotten set with an empty array. Temporarily disabling the wp_cache_(get|set)() resulted in the proper authors and contributors.

This was the case with #2718 as well.

I think a more likely scenario is that this is being called with invalid data at some point and caching that bad state.

[SergeyBiryukov]

Seeing some more reports on Slack of plugin authors and contributors no longer being recognized as such and not being able to resolve topics:

• ​https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02QB8GMM/p1491923589415860
• ​https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQC6RW/p1491929341352940
• ​https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQC6RW/p1491948136951086

[SergeyBiryukov]

Looking at [5286], it changed the format of $compat_object for plugins, but didn't change the cache group.

Previously, $this->plugin didn't have an ID field, so it might be possible that $this->plugin->ID in ::get_authors() and ::get_contributors() is empty for plugins that still have previous values in cache.

Clearing the plugin-objects cache group or changing its name in ::get_object_by_slug_and_type() should resolve this.

On a related note, is there a reason why we're using direct queries instead of WP_Query?

[SergeyBiryukov]

Replying to SergeyBiryukov:

Previously, $this->plugin didn't have an ID field, so it might be possible that $this->plugin->ID in ::get_authors() and ::get_contributors() is empty for plugins that still have previous values in cache.

That in turn would lead to an empty array being cached for the affected plugins in plugin-authors-slugs and plugin-contributors-slugs cache groups, so I guess clearing just plugin-objects won't be enough.

[coffee2code]

Replying to SergeyBiryukov:

Seeing some more reports on Slack of plugin authors and contributors no longer being recognized as such and not being able to resolve topics:

​https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02QB8GMM/p1491923589415860
​https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQC6RW/p1491929341352940
​https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C02RQC6RW/p1491948136951086

The last of these appear to be that the user doesn't have commit access to the plugin and wasn't listed as a contributor in the readme.

Replying to SergeyBiryukov:

Previously, $this->plugin didn't have an ID field, so it might be possible that $this->plugin->ID in ::get_authors() and ::get_contributors() is empty for plugins that still have previous values in cache.

That in turn would lead to an empty array being cached for the affected plugins in plugin-authors-slugs and plugin-contributors-slugs cache groups, so I guess clearing just plugin-objects won't be enough.

This is all true, though should only have been an issue for the 24 hours after the committed changes in [5286]. The caches for the group plugin-objects are set to expire after 24 hours. The caches for plugin-authors-slugs and plugin-contributors-slugs after only one hour.

[SergeyBiryukov]

Replying to coffee2code:

The last of these appear to be that the user doesn't have commit access to the plugin and wasn't listed as a contributor in the readme.

That's only for one of the four mentioned plugins, the other three do have that username in readme.txt. The user appears to be properly recognized now: ​https://wordpress.org/support/topic/modify-post-type-slug/#post-9016194

This is all true, though should only have been an issue for the 24 hours after the committed changes in [5286]. The caches for the group plugin-objects are set to expire after 24 hours. The caches for plugin-authors-slugs and plugin-contributors-slugs after only one hour.

Yeah, I've seen DAY_IN_SECONDS on the former, but didn't know how the dotorg cache backend handles expiration.

Haven't seen any new reports since yesterday, I guess the issue should have resolved itself by now.

[coffee2code]

In 5327:

Support Forums: Re-query for authors or contributors if an empty array was cached.

See #2710, #2735.

[SergeyBiryukov]

Replying to coffee2code:

In the cases mentioned in the ticket, the cache for the authors (when only the contributor badge was showing as a fallback) or both caches (when neither badge appeared) had somehow gotten set with an empty array.

Found the culprit: [5287] switched User_Badges::get_authors() and ::get_contributors() to use the corresponding methods from \WordPressdotorg\Forums\(Plugin|Theme), but it doesn't account for the fact that ::get_badge_class() is also called in some contexts where the plugin or theme object is not set up:

• When viewing "Plugins and Hacks", "Themes and Template", "Reviews" forums directly.
• In Spam/Pending/Archived moderator views.
• On a single user's "Replies Created" page.

This causes notices due to $this->plugin being empty and pollutes the cache with an empty array:

Notice: Trying to get property of non-object in support-forums/inc/class-directory-compat.php on line 855
Notice: Trying to get property of non-object in support-forums/inc/class-directory-compat.php on line 889

On a related note, [5287] references a non-existing \WordPressdotorg\Forums\Theme class for themes, which results in "Theme Author" badges not being displayed at all, see an ​example for Stargazer theme.

2710.patch​ fixes both issues.

[ocean90]

In 5369:

Support Forums, User Badges: Ensure that caches aren't polluted with empty arrays.

On some pages $this->plugin was empty and caused Trying to get property of non-object PHP notices.

Props SergeyBiryukov.
Fixes #2710.