[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #47099: term_exists fail when term is surrounded with brackets

[WordPress Trac]

#47099: term_exists fail when term is surrounded with brackets
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 Reporter:  leogermani               |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  defect (bug)             |      Status:  new
 Priority:  normal                   |   Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Taxonomy                 |     Version:
 Severity:  normal                   |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  close reporter-feedback  |     Focuses:
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Changes (by boonebgorges):

 * keywords:   => close reporter-feedback


Comment:

 The issue is that `term_exists()` doesn't know whether you're passing in a
 `slug` or a `name`. When it does a `slug` check, the value is passed
 through `sanitize_title()`. This "sanitizes" `[test]` to `test`.

 One way to address the problem is for you to be able to specify whether
 `[test]` is intended as a `slug` or a `name`. This is called
 `get_term_by()` :) As I've noted previously, my recommendation is to use
 this function instead.

 If we were to change the behavior of `term_exists()`, it'd presumably be
 something along the lines of: when the `$term` passed to the function
 contains characters that'd normally be stripped by `sanitize_title()`,
 skip the `slug` check (or modify it somehow, or something like that). But
 any change of this sort is highly likely to break someone's existing code
 that depends on the existing idiosyncracies of `term_exists()`.

 Given that we have a viable alternative in `get_term_by()`, I don't see
 the benefit of risking these compatibility breaks.

 It's possible that there's a technical strategy for addressing the issue
 that would *not* break compatibility (though it's hard for me to see what
 it'd be, since you are, in fact, suggesting a behavior change!). If you've
 got concrete ideas, please feel free to pitch them. But note that, in my
 opinion, a "fix" for this longstanding behavior that breaks existing
 plugins is probably not going to be viable.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/47099#comment:2>
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