Orphaned Comments From Nonexistent Post Type Causes Capability Warnings in Admin

[Funkatronic]

So I have a comment or two attached to a post type that isn't currently active. Because the post type isn't turned on, I'm getting the following warnings in the admin screen whenever the comment is displayed:

Notice: map_meta_cap was called <strong>incorrectly</strong>. The post type series_season is not registered, so it may not be reliable to check the capability "edit_post" against a post of that type. Please see <a href="https://codex.wordpress.org/Debugging_in_WordPress">Debugging in WordPress</a> for more information. (This message was added in version 4.4.0.) in D:\Web Development\www\beta\wp-includes\functions.php on line 3787

It also shows up on the Dashboard in the comments widget:

I think this is related to #16956 (thanks @boonebgorges). Basically, because the post type doesn't exist anymore, the it messes up the capabilities of a comment that is attached to a post of that post type. I suggest maybe hiding the comments of post types that don't exist/inactive.

[SergeyBiryukov]

I suggest maybe hiding the comments of post types that don't exist/inactive.

This would make them impossible to edit or remove, see comment:51:ticket:16956.

I think the notice was the intended result of [34091].

[boonebgorges]

+1 to SergeyBiryukov. The notice is by design; it warns the admin that the proper cap checks are not taking place. And the decision to leave this content (instead of hiding it) was a conscious one.

That said, @Funkatronic pointed out to me in a DM a powerful argument for hiding comments orphaned in this way: we don't show *posts* from unregistered post types. Does anyone else have a thought about this?

[nekojira]

a powerful argument for hiding comments orphaned in this way: we don't show *posts* from unregistered post types.

+1

[Funkatronic]

Replying to boonebgorges:

+1 to SergeyBiryukov. The notice is by design; it warns the admin that the proper cap checks are not taking place. And the decision to leave this content (instead of hiding it) was a conscious one.

That said, @Funkatronic pointed out to me in a DM a powerful argument for hiding comments orphaned in this way: we don't show *posts* from unregistered post types. Does anyone else have a thought about this?

+1 from me, but that's a given :p.

To me it makes sense to hide the comments if the posts they are connected to are "gone".

[SergeyBiryukov]

Replying to Funkatronic:

To me it makes sense to hide the comments if the posts they are connected to are "gone".

Good point, was just thinking about that too. I guess we should be consistent.

[obrienlabs]

+1, I think maintaining consistency is a good idea

[boonebgorges]

OK, I guess hiding it is OK with me. Let's get a patch, and we can move it to a release.

[Funkatronic]

Replying to boonebgorges:

OK, I guess hiding it is OK with me. Let's get a patch, and we can move it to a release.

To me, it's better than a user disabling a plugin and having all these errors appear because they have comments in a post type in that plugin.

[UmeshSingla]

Attached a patch for hiding the comments if associated post type is not available.

WooCommerce comments were filling up my debug log after I deactivated the plugin, the patch fixes it for me.

Although, I guess I'd need to look up other core files to add a similar check if required elsewhere.

[UmeshSingla]

Hide the comments if associated post type isn't available

[chriscct7]

Closing as duplicate of #36208. A summary of the discussion on this ticket + the patch has been moved to that ticket.