wp_pattern_category is set public to true, when it should have been false.

[vrajadas]

The pattern categories taxonomy is registered in wp-includes/taxonomy.php at lines 226-245, added by ticket #59379. Not sure why e.g. public is set to true, when it should have been false.
Wordpress version 6.4beta

[hellofromTonya]

Hello @vrajadas,

Welcome to WordPress Core's Trac :) Sorry for the delay in responding to your ticket.

The change: #59379 / [56642].
It was ​originally set to false, but then changed in ​Gutenberg PR 53835, which added the UI and ability to assign categories to the user created patterns.

Hmm I also wonder why the public arg is set to true. Tested with it set to false and am able to add, see, and update pattern categories.

Pinging the contributors for discover the reasoning @glendaviesnz @isabel_brison @mamaduka.

Pulling into 6.4 for awareness and discussion.

[glendaviesnz]

It was initially set to false as the initial PR was just intended to get the infrastructure in place and not make anything available to users.

With 53835 it was set to public, because this taxonomy is intended for use by users either via the admin interface at /wp-admin/edit-tags.php?taxonomy=wp_pattern_category or via the UI added to the editor, so setting public to true seemed like the correct option. We may have misunderstood the meaning of public in this context though because /wp-admin/edit-tags.php?taxonomy=wp_pattern_category is still accessible even if it is set to false as you note.

Should we put up a patch to switch this back to false?

[hellofromTonya]

Thank you @glendaviesnz for explaining :) I get it.

Replying to glendaviesnz:

With 53835 it was set to public, because this taxonomy is intended for use by users either via the admin interface at /wp-admin/edit-tags.php?taxonomy=wp_pattern_category or via the UI added to the editor, so setting public to true seemed like the correct option. We may have misunderstood the meaning of public in this context though because /wp-admin/edit-tags.php?taxonomy=wp_pattern_category is still accessible even if it is set to false as you note.

As long as it's intended for use within the admin only, it should work with the public set to false. In my testing, the pattern categories are still accessible within:

• Pattern Categories wp-admin/edit-tags.php?taxonomy=wp_pattern_category
• Site editor
• Post/Page editors

Should we put up a patch to switch this back to false?

As long as it is working in all admin UIs, then yes, please.

## What?
Sets the pattern categories taxonomy public param to false instead of true

## Why?
It was suggested here that this would be a better setting for this taxonomy as it only needs to be accessed in admin, not the frontend.

Trac ticket: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/59569

[glendaviesnz]

Gutenberg plugin PR is here - ​https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/5604

[glendaviesnz]

@hellofromTonya ignore the notification you may have got asking for an explanation of the reasoning for this, after rereading the docs I see it is just a matter of limiting the permissions to the minimum needed, and there is no need for access to this taxonomy from the front-end.

I think the REST API fixtures need to be regenerated.

Running the unit test ​WP_Test_REST_Schema_Initialization should do it I think.

npm run test:php -- --filter WP_Test_REST_Schema_Initialization

Hmm, the tests are failing. Pulling it down locally to have a peek.

[hellofromTonya]

Thank you @glendaviesnz for quickly investigating and creating the patch.

[hellofromTonya]

Patch: ​https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/5604

This patch is ready for commit.

[hellofromTonya]

In 57044:

Taxonomy: Set "public" to "false" for user pattern categories.

Changes the 'wp_pattern_category' taxonomy's 'public' argument to false.

Follow-up to [56642].

Props vrajadas, glendaviesnz, hellofromTonya, ramonopoly.
Fixes #59569.

[hellofromTonya]

Reopening for 2nd committer review to backport [57044] to the 6.4 branch.

[azaozz]

LGTM.

Committed via https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/57044

[hellofromTonya]

Marking as dev-reviewed with @azaozz and @mikeschroder reviewing it. ​Also see discussion in Make/Core slack.

[hellofromTonya]

In 57045:

Taxonomy: Set "public" to "false" for user pattern categories.

Changes the 'wp_pattern_category' taxonomy's 'public' argument to false.

Follow-up to [56642].

Reviewed by azaozz, mikeschroder.
Merges [57044] to the 6.4 branch.

Props vrajadas, glendaviesnz, hellofromTonya, ramonopoly.
Fixes #59569.