[wp-meta] [Making WordPress.org] #5726: Unpick profile link handling

[Making WordPress.org]

#5726: Unpick profile link handling
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 Reporter:  jonoaldersonwp            |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  defect                    |     Status:  new
 Priority:  high                      |  Milestone:
Component:  Make (Get Involved) / P2  |   Keywords:  seo accessibility
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 Links to ''comment authors'' on o2 blog posts behave in ways that are
 harmful to our SEO and to accessibility. There's a heavy reliance on
 JavaScript, which alters the markup and properties of links to author
 profiles/sites.

 I'm unsure how much of this is normal o2 behaviour, and how much of it is
 our own customization (or editable from a theme context). Regardless,
 these issues need to be resolved.

 == On archive templates
 E.g., [https://make.wordpress.org/core/ the core blog front page]

 **See that:**

 - Markup for comments are injected via JS after page load.

 - The ''comment author name'' is linked, with a rel attribute having
 `external` and `nofollow` attributes. \\ E.g., `<a
 href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/schlessera/" rel="external nofollow"
 class="comment-author url ">Alain Schlesser</a>`.

 **We need to:**

 - Remove the `rel` property from the JS templating system.

 == On single post templates
 E.g., [https://make.wordpress.org/core/2021/05/03/feature-project-updates-
 on-updating-the-updaters/ this recent core blog post]

 **See that:**

 - ''Comment author URLs'' link to the user's domain, with a rel attribute
 having `external`, `nofollow` and `ugc` attributes. \\ E.g., `<a
 href='https://www.alainschlesser.com/' rel='external nofollow ugc'
 class='url'>Alain Schlesser</a>`.

 - This is overwritten with JS, which alters the href attribute to
 reference the user profile URL (and alters the `rel` attribute, removing
 the `ugc` value). \\ E.g., `<a
 href="https://profiles.wordpress.org/schlessera/" rel="external nofollow"
 class="comment-author url ">Alain Schlesser</a>`.

 **We need to:**

 - Correct the underlying server-side logic, so that commenter links
 reference their profile URL, and omit the `rel` property.

 - Remove the JS replacement logic (or, alter it so that it doesn't affect
 the commenter link)

 = Notes

 - The JS template/compontent replacement in both templates looks to be
 powered by the o2 HTML fragment with ID `tmpl-o2-comment`.

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Ticket URL: <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/5726>
Making WordPress.org <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/>
Making WordPress.org