[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #34544: Attaching metadata to shared terms can result in data corruption

[WordPress Trac]

#34544: Attaching metadata to shared terms can result in data corruption
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 Reporter:  boonebgorges           |       Owner:  boonebgorges
     Type:  defect (bug)           |      Status:  reopened
 Priority:  high                   |   Milestone:  4.4
Component:  Taxonomy               |     Version:
 Severity:  normal                 |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  has-patch 2nd-opinion  |     Focuses:
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Comment (by jorbin):

 [35515] seems like the right solution to me, as much as I would really
 like to actually throw an exception.

 Looking at the concerns laid out thus far:

 Still having shared terms is a bit of an edgecase, but the most likely
 case where this would occur is from skipping 4.3. Historically, WordPress
 upgrades have been doable in one step, from any version to any other
 version.  We shouldn't require an intermediate stop of 4.3 (and for term
 splitting to finish) to upgrade to 4.4 and use term meta. This is
 absolutely a change that adds complexity, but I think it's worth it to
 keep updates easy.

 For the sites that haven't split terms yet do to a desire to "opt out", I
 don't think that is an edge case that should be supported. Core needs to
 have the flexibility to make underlying data changes and the decision was
 made to split terms.

 One unmentioned use case I could image is for plugin that we will call
 the_awesome_plugin which already implements term meta in some way.
 The_awesome_plugin contains code for migrating to 4.4 term_meta. A user
 that jumps over 4.3 and tries to run the_awesome_plugin's 4.4 script (or
 this script runs automatically) could end up with unintended data (such as
 naming Boone the city in North Carolina the 2nd best karaoke singer when
 really you mean to name Boone the developer the 2nd best karaoke singer).

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/34544#comment:15>
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