White page on admin.php in WordPress Dashboard

[masoudin]

Hello there,

As we all know, plugins (e.g. WooCommerce, etc.) are using wp-admin/admin.php to handle their option pages.

e.g. http://localhost/wp-admin/admin.php?page=wc-admin

The problem is, when we navigate to admin.php without any query string, it shows a white screen. I believe we can improve it by showing a message or redirecting to the main page of the dashboard.

e.g. http://localhost/wp-admin/admin.php

[rajinsharwar]

+ 1
I am more leaning towards redirecting to the admin dashboard when accessed without any query parameters.

Update admin.php for redirecting to the admin dashboard when access without any query parameters.

Trac ticket: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/58935

[rajinsharwar]

Patch added

[peterwilsoncc]

At the end of admin.php WordPress fires a custom action for requests that include either $_GET['action'] or $_POST['action'] ​(code reference).

The firing of this action does not require a query string parameter to be set, as such making this change would need to consider backward compatibility for plugins POSTing an action to /wp-admin/admin.php without a query string component.

As a proof of concept, I've created a ​mini-plugin to demonstrate the use of admin.php without a query string parameter.

@masoudin You are correct that the user experience could be nicer for people visiting admin.php without any form data (either via POST or GET) but the existing pull request will require a little refactoring to ensure that backward compatibility is retained.

I've removed the version from this ticket as enhancements don't require a version be specified.

[masoudin]

Replying to peterwilsoncc:

Thank you, @peterwilsoncc.

@rajinsharwar

I believe you should refactor your pull request and handle what @peterwilsoncc mentioned.

At the end of admin.php WordPress fires a custom action for requests that include either $_GET['action'] or $_POST['action'] ​(code reference).

The firing of this action does not require a query string parameter to be set, as such making this change would need to consider backward compatibility for plugins POSTing an action to /wp-admin/admin.php without a query string component.

As a proof of concept, I've created a ​mini-plugin to demonstrate the use of admin.php without a query string parameter.

@masoudin You are correct that the user experience could be nicer for people visiting admin.php without any form data (either via POST or GET) but the existing pull request will require a little refactoring to ensure that backward compatibility is retained.

I've removed the version from this ticket as enhancements don't require a version be specified.

[rajinsharwar]

Thanks for the suggestion @masoudin @peterwilsoncc. Just updated the PR code, can you please take a look now?

[ozgursar]

Patch Testing Report

Patch Tested: ​https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/4932

Environment

• WordPress: 7.0-alpha-61215-src
• PHP: 8.2.29
• Server: nginx/1.29.4
• Database: mysqli (Server: 8.4.7 / Client: mysqlnd 8.2.29)
• Browser: Chrome 144.0.0.0
• OS: macOS
• Theme: Twenty Twenty-Five 1.4
• MU Plugins: None activated
• Plugins:
  • Test Reports 1.2.1

Steps taken

1. Login to WordPress dashboard
2. Navigate to /wp-admin/admin.php
3. Confirm that white page being displayed
4. Apply patch
5. Navigate to /wp-admin/admin.php again
6. ✅ Patch is solving the problem. It redirects to /wp-admin/

Expected result

• We are expecting to redirect to dashboard home if no valid query params are added to /admin.php

Screenshots/Screencast with results

Before: ​https://i.imgur.com/IPt2DOz.mp4

After: ​https://i.imgur.com/LncSwpg.mp4