[PHP 8.1] deprecated null in explode() for 'ping_sites' in wp-admin/options-writing.php with "Discourage search engines" on (original) (raw)

#59818 closed defect (bug) (fixed)

Reported by: kitchin's profile Owned by: hellofromtonya's profile hellofromTonya
Milestone: 6.6 Priority: normal
Severity: normal Version:
Component: Administration Keywords: php81 has-patch has-test-info commit
Focuses: php-compatibility Cc:

When "Discourage search engines" is on, any update to Dashboard / Writing causes:
Deprecated: explode(): Passing null to parameter #2 ($string) of type string is deprecated in .../wp-includes/formatting.php

In this case, the 'ping_sites' option is not displayed, so the $_POST value is null. The deprecation warning is triggered in wp-includes/formatting.php, in sanitize_option(), "case 'ping_sites':".

Tested on today's nightly, WordPress 6.5-alpha-57063. Also affects latest release, WP 6.3.2.