[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #55121: classic widgets with no settings won't show up in 5.9

[WordPress Trac]

#55121: classic widgets with no settings won't show up in 5.9
----------------------------+-----------------------
 Reporter:  joncampbell     |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  defect (bug)    |      Status:  reopened
 Priority:  normal          |   Milestone:  5.9.2
Component:  Widgets         |     Version:  5.9
 Severity:  normal          |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  has-patch php8  |     Focuses:
----------------------------+-----------------------
Changes (by peterwilsoncc):

 * status:  closed => reopened
 * resolution:  invalid =>
 * milestone:   => 5.9.2


Comment:

 I discussed this with @hellofromTonya to get another perspective and to
 collect the contributing factors:

 * underlying cause is a [https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=80162 reported
 PHP bug]
 * Confusing documentation contributed to the prevalence of this
   - return type is documented as `array` but descriptive text is
 `array|false`
   - WordPress developer docs lead people to using empty `update()`
 functions per [comment:17 Scott's comments above]

 As a path forward, Tonya and I figured:

 * change the return type to `array|false|null` to match the documentation
 within code/the developer docs
 * work around the PHP bug and comment that the code can be removed once
 the bug is fixed upstream

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/55121#comment:19>
WordPress Trac <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/>
WordPress publishing platform