Misleading warning when editing the page_for_posts page

[karmatosed]

Whilst I was using Twenty Seventeen, I discovered some unusual page locking. It seemed the blog page was locked and I was unable to edit it, despite it being apparently not locked. I've not experienced this before and whilst it feels like a rare experience, I wanted to bring it to attention incase there was something deeper wrong.

​Here is the video.

Along with this, I experienced a further issue that I almost feel needs another ticket but going to throw it in together. I found I could upload and change featured images, despite a page lock. This felt weird and something I'd expect to not be able to happen.

Note: I can't see a pages component so putting under posts but unsure if correct placement.

[swissspidy]

This is not a page lock, just a warning that one is editing the page_for_posts page which is special in WordPress as it displays the latest posts, not some static content. See #17470.

Not sure if/how the wording could be improved.

[cathibosco1]

In reviewing the text - we suggest the following

You are attempting to edit a placeholder page that lists your latest blog posts.

In place of:

You are currently editing the page that shows your latest posts.

[SirLouen]

Reproduction Report

Description

✅ This report validates that the issue can be reproduced.

Environment

• WordPress: 6.9-alpha-60093-src
• PHP: 8.2.29
• Server: nginx/1.29.1
• Database: mysqli (Server: 8.4.6 / Client: mysqlnd 8.2.29)
• Browser: Chrome 139.0.0.0
• OS: Windows 10/11
• Theme: Twenty Twenty 2.9
• MU Plugins: None activated
• Plugins:
  • AAA Testing Dolly
  • Health Check & Troubleshooting 1.7.1
  • Micro Email Testing 1.0.0
  • Test Reports 1.2.0

Testing Instructions

1. Create a Blog page
2. Create a Home page
3. Go to Settings > Reading and add as Static Page each of them (Home for Homepage, Blog for Post Page)
4. Go the pages and Edit the Blog page

Actual Results

1. ✅ Error condition occurs (reproduced).

Additional Notes

• I agree that the copy is very misleading because like shown in the example, it feels that the user could be in the Customizer "editing" and its not actually editing anything. Blog page is simply a placeholder to act as the proxy for the posts page, but the copy is confusing.

This has been like this since [31550]/#17470. I understand that is coming from a even greater confussion where this message was not even in place. But maybe it should say something like, "This page is being used as the Post Page, no edits are permitted."

As I show in the screenshots, this is affecting both Block and Classic Editor

Supplemental Artifacts

Block Editor:

Classic Editor: