Follow[ers|ing]: Avoid errors when getting avatar url #2088

obenland · 2025-08-21T20:16:35Z

See https://wordpress.org/support/topic/critical-error-on-this-website-on-followerspage-page-1-page-2-works/

Proposed changes:

This PR adds comprehensive unit tests for the Followers and Following table classes in response to a critical error reported on the WordPress support forums where avatar data processing was failing with a TypeError.

Changes made:

Added unit tests for the Followers table class (tests/includes/wp-admin/table/class-test-followers.php)
Added unit tests for the Following table class (tests/includes/wp-admin/table/class-test-following.php)
Fixed icon processing in the Following table to use object_to_uri() consistently like the Followers table
Tests specifically cover the column_username method with ActivityPub icon objects
Tests use real prepare_items() methods and proper ActivityPub actor creation to verify the complete data flow

Bug context:

The tests were created in response to this WordPress support topic where users experienced a PHP Fatal TypeError with ltrim() when processing avatar data that was an array instead of a string. The tests ensure proper handling of ActivityPub actor icon objects throughout the data processing pipeline.

Other information:

Have you written new tests for your changes, if applicable?

Testing instructions:

Running the new tests:

Ensure you have the WordPress test environment set up with npm run env-start

Run the specific new tests:

npm run env-test -- --filter=test_column_username_with_icon_object

Or run all table tests:

npm run env-test tests/includes/wp-admin/table/

Verifying the fix:

The tests create real ActivityPub actors with icon objects (containing type and url properties)
They use the actual prepare_items() methods to process this data
The tests verify that icon objects are properly converted to URL strings using object_to_uri()
Tests confirm the final HTML output contains the correct escaped avatar URLs

Manual testing (optional):

Set up followers with ActivityPub actors that have complex icon objects
Navigate to WP Admin → Users → Followers page
Verify that avatar images display correctly without PHP errors
Check that the Following page also processes avatars consistently

Changelog entry

Automatically create a changelog entry from the details below.

Changelog Entry Details

Significance

Patch
Minor
Major

Type

Added - for new features
Changed - for changes in existing functionality
Deprecated - for soon-to-be removed features
Removed - for now removed features
Fixed - for any bug fixes
Security - in case of vulnerabilities

Message

Add comprehensive unit tests for Followers and Following table classes with proper ActivityPub icon object handling.

- Add comprehensive test class for WP_Admin\Table\Followers - Test column_username method with ActivityPub actor icon objects - Simulate realistic data processing from icon object to URL extraction - Include proper WordPress screen mocking and setup - Verify HTML output formatting and escaping

- Use Followers::add_follower() to create actual follower relationships - Mock remote actor metadata using pre_get_remote_metadata_by_actor filter - Test complete data flow: add_follower → prepare_items → column_username - Verify ActivityPub icon object processing through object_to_uri() - Test confirms icon object {type: 'Image', url: '...'} → URL string conversion - All tests pass with real integration of components

- Create test class for Following table column_username method - Use Actors::upsert() and Following::follow() for real data setup - Mock remote actor metadata using pre_get_remote_metadata_by_actor filter - Test complete data flow: upsert → follow → prepare_items → column_username - Verify ActivityPub icon object processing through object_to_uri() - Test confirms icon object {type: 'Image', url: '...'} → URL string conversion - Mirrors Followers table test structure for consistency

- Fix Following table to use object_to_uri() for consistent icon processing like Followers table - Clean up Following test formatting and import organization - Remove unnecessary test assertions for cleaner test structure

Copilot

Pull Request Overview

This PR adds comprehensive unit tests for the Followers and Following table classes to address a critical TypeError reported on WordPress support forums where avatar data processing was failing when handling ActivityPub icon objects.

Adds unit tests for both Followers and Following table classes with proper ActivityPub icon object handling
Fixes inconsistent icon processing in the Following table to use object_to_uri() like the Followers table
Tests verify complete data flow from ActivityPub actor creation through table rendering to ensure proper icon object conversion

Reviewed Changes

Copilot reviewed 5 out of 5 changed files in this pull request and generated 2 comments.

File	Description
tests/includes/wp-admin/table/class-test-following.php	New comprehensive unit tests for Following table class with ActivityPub icon object handling
tests/includes/wp-admin/table/class-test-followers.php	New comprehensive unit tests for Followers table class with ActivityPub icon object handling
includes/wp-admin/table/class-following.php	Fixed icon processing to use `object_to_uri()` consistently with Followers table
includes/wp-admin/table/class-followers.php	Context showing existing `object_to_uri()` usage for icon processing

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includes/wp-admin/table/class-following.php

tests/includes/wp-admin/table/class-test-following.php

Jiwoon-Kim · 2025-08-22T05:51:14Z

It would be useful to have the option to configure a default image that is displayed when a remote profile has no avatar.

pfefferle · 2025-08-24T17:49:32Z

includes/wp-admin/table/class-followers.php

@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ public function prepare_items() {

 			$this->items[] = array(
 				'id'         => $follower->ID,
-				'icon'       => $actor->get_icon()['url'] ?? '',
+				'icon'       => object_to_uri( $actor->get_icon() ?? '' ),


oh, nice solution! never thought about using it here!

obenland · 2025-08-25T13:50:06Z

For posterity, the icon object for the actor mentioned in the support forum looked like this:

  "icon": {
    "url": [
      "https://queef.in/storage/profile.webp"
    ],
    "type": "Image",
    "mediaType": "image/webp"
  },

Add unit test to verify that actors with icon objects containing arrays of URLs are handled correctly by the Following table. Currently this test will fail as the object_to_uri function doesn't fully process nested arrays in Image objects.

Update object_to_uri function to properly handle Image objects where the url property is an array of URLs. This fixes the Following table display when actors have icon objects with multiple URL fallbacks. The fix recursively processes Image url arrays to extract the first URL, matching the ActivityStreams vocabulary specification.

pfefferle · 2025-08-25T14:16:08Z

includes/functions.php

@@ -730,7 +730,8 @@ function object_to_uri( $data ) {
 	// Return part of Object that makes most sense.
 	switch ( $type ) {
 		case 'Image':
-			$data = $data['url'];
+			// See https://www.w3.org/TR/activitystreams-vocabulary/#dfn-image.
+			$data = object_to_uri( $data['url'] );


just wanted to suggest that :)

nice 👍

obenland added 4 commits August 21, 2025 14:50

Fix Following table icon processing and improve test formatting

9aee20d

- Fix Following table to use object_to_uri() for consistent icon processing like Followers table - Clean up Following test formatting and import organization - Remove unnecessary test assertions for cleaner test structure

Copilot AI review requested due to automatic review settings August 21, 2025 20:16

obenland self-assigned this Aug 21, 2025

obenland requested a review from pfefferle August 21, 2025 20:16

Add changelog

1b4ce1b

github-actions bot added the [Feature] WP Admin label Aug 21, 2025

Copilot AI reviewed Aug 21, 2025

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includes/wp-admin/table/class-following.php Show resolved Hide resolved

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obenland changed the title ~~Add comprehensive unit tests for Followers and Following table classes~~ Follow[ers|ing]: Avoid errors when getting avatar url Aug 21, 2025

pfefferle reviewed Aug 24, 2025

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pfefferle previously approved these changes Aug 24, 2025

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Merge branch 'trunk' into add-followers-table-tests

3b6c223

Add test for icon arrays in Following table

1c64aa3

Add unit test to verify that actors with icon objects containing arrays of URLs are handled correctly by the Following table. Currently this test will fail as the object_to_uri function doesn't fully process nested arrays in Image objects.

obenland dismissed pfefferle’s stale review via 1c64aa3 August 25, 2025 14:04

obenland requested a review from pfefferle August 25, 2025 14:13

pfefferle approved these changes Aug 25, 2025

View reviewed changes

Merge branch 'trunk' into add-followers-table-tests

855650c

obenland merged commit 4313bc9 into trunk Aug 25, 2025
13 checks passed

obenland deleted the add-followers-table-tests branch August 25, 2025 14:24

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Follow[ers|ing]: Avoid errors when getting avatar url #2088

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Follow[ers|ing]: Avoid errors when getting avatar url #2088

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Proposed changes:

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Testing instructions:

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obenland commented Aug 21, 2025 •

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