redirect_canonical() on using permalink: Not all $_GET being redirected

[arieputranto]

Using permalink, I suppose that all query_var entered manually on URL or using $_GET will be redirected to proper permalink. Apparently not all being redirected at all. AFAIC:

1. /?post_format=image : should be redirected to /type/image/
2. /?pagename=blog : should be redirected to /blog/
3. /?author_name=admin : should be redirected to /author/admin/

Unfortunately, they are not.

It can be done by filtering redirect_canonical() but it will be better if it's being done by default as we can see that /?category_name=cat will be redirected to /category/cat/

[dd32]

Confirmed all 3 issues are still current, There are existing tickets for 2 & 3 I believe.

[kovshenin]

20920.diff​ fixes all three scenarios, mainly by adding logic to canonical.php. As for the post format canonical redirects, the current tax query redirects seems to handle tags, categories and custom taxonomy well, but the extra post_type query argument added in _post_format_request prevented it from doing so.

I feel weird that categories, tags and custom post types won't append the post_type argument, even if added to other object types with register_taxonomy_for_object_type, so I don't understand the reason why it's there for post formats, since post formats is a taxonomy, just like everything else, except that it has a custom admin interface. Would like feedback on this from Andrew and/or Mark, see [17249].

[brandondove]

Updated patch for 4.1-alpha-30299

[brandondove]

@davejesch, @jdangl, and I tested this at the ocwp meetup on 4.1-alpha-30299 and the patch didn't apply. We updated the patch and applied it. As @kovshenin said, it fixes all three scenarios.

[dd32]

The patch still looks like it's the right direction to go in, although we should also add some unit tests for these new redirections, covering both has-posts and no-posts for authors.

[jubstuff]

Unit tests added

[jubstuff]

I tested the patch, it works for me.

I've added the unit tests, adding elements to the shared fixtures.

G

[SirLouen]

It appears that this persists, but the patch is not applying cleanly any more.
Refresh or new patch needed.

cc @jubstuff

Trac ticket: #20902

[SirLouen]

@sainathpoojary I've added a code review

Reviewing the code, I'm not 100% confident this is the right way to proceed

Related #18475 and #15378

Needs further inspection and evaluating why these changes are appropiate.

[sachinrajcp123]

This patch ensures that all existing $_GET query parameters are preserved during canonical redirects in redirect_canonical(). Previously, some custom query args could be lost when permalinks are enabled. This fix merges all current $_GET arguments into the redirect URL, solving the issue.

[kalpeshh]

Bug Report

Description

Canonical redirects from query vars (post_format, pagename, author_name, category_name) to pretty permalinks are inconsistent.
Pagination requests with paged=1 on post_format and category_name remain on the query-string form instead of redirecting to the canonical pretty URL.

Patch tested: ​https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/9029.diff

Environment

• WordPress: 6.9-alpha-60093-src
• PHP: 8.2.28
• Server: nginx/1.27.5
• Database: mysqli (Server: 8.4.5 / Client: mysqlnd 8.2.28)
• Browser: Chrome 138.0.0.0
• OS: Linux
• Theme: Twenty Twenty-Five 1.2
• MU Plugins: None activated
• Plugins:
  • Test Reports 1.2.0

Steps to Reproduce

Enable pretty permalinks (/%postname%/).

Visit the URLs listed below in a browser or with curl -I.

Expected Results

✅ /?pagename=blog → /blog/

✅ /?author_name=admin → /author/admin/

✅ /?category_name=cat → /category/cat/

✅ /?post_format=image → /type/image/

✅ Pagination should canonicalize:

&paged=1 should either redirect to the base archive or /page/1/ consistently.

&paged>1 should redirect to /.../page/{n}/.

✅ Extra query args should be preserved in redirect.

✅ Invalid values (nopage, unknown author, random post_format, nocat) should not redirect and return 404.

Actual Results

✅ ​http://localhost:8889/type/image/ → redirects correctly

❌ ​http://localhost:8889/?post_format=image&paged=1 → stays on query form (no redirect)

✅ ​http://localhost:8889/?post_format=random → 404 as expected

✅ ​http://localhost:8889/?pagename=blog → redirects correctly

✅ ​http://localhost:8889/?pagename=blog&utm_source=test&foo=bar → redirects correctly preserving parameters

✅ ​http://localhost:8889/?pagename=nopage → 404 as expected

✅ ​http://localhost:8889/?author_name=admin → redirects correctly

✅ ​http://localhost:8889/?author_name=admin&paged=1 → redirects correctly with pagination

✅ ​http://localhost:8889/?author_name=unknown → 404 as expected

✅ ​http://localhost:8889/?category_name=cat → redirects correctly

❌ ​http://localhost:8889/?category_name=cat&paged=1 → stays on query form (no redirect)

✅ ​http://localhost:8889/?category_name=nocat → 404 as expected

Additional Notes

The issue is happening with paged=1 requests for post_format and category_name.

Either it should redirect with paged=1 query parameter or normalize it to /page/1/.

Supplemental Artifacts

Screenshots for failing requests.