Rename wp_maintenance to maybe_show_wp_maintenance

[ramon fincken]

Conform [maybe_serialize ​https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/maybe_serialize/] calling wp_maintenance may not result in a maintenance call.

wp_maintenance() calls [wp_is_maintenance_mode() ​https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/6.5/src/wp-includes/load.php#L374] to determine if the mode should be triggered/shown or not.

Using wp_maintenance looks a lot like it is going to start a maintenance no matter what. ( wp_maintenance looks like do_wp_maintenance which does not exist ).

Therefore I propose a simple change, rewrite the function name to maybe_show_wp_maintenance for better readability.

Trac ticket: [](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/61565)

Rename wp_maintenance to maybe_show_wp_maintenance

[ramon fincken]

The alternative would be:

OPEN
wp-settings.php

FIND

wp_maintenance();

REPLACE WITH

if( wp_is_maintenance_mode() ) {
        do_wp_maintenance();
}

OPEN
wp-includes/load.php

FIND

function wp_maintenance() {
        // Return if maintenance mode is disabled.
        if ( ! wp_is_maintenance_mode() ) {
                return;
        }

REPLACE WITH

function do_wp_maintenance() {

@ramonfincken
Please update the Trac ticket details in the PR description. Thanks.

@ramonfincken Please update the Trac ticket details in the PR description. Thanks.

apparently it was lost in BB code, now it is present again.

[jorbin]

Unfortunately we can't rename functions since doing so will break any site that is using that function and for a function that has been around since 3.0.0, this risk doesn't seem valuable. The alternative which is to have an alias function just adds bloat. Therefore I am going to recommend that we close this as wontfix.

[ramon fincken]

In that case, the alternative would be ( keeping all function names the same ) :

OPEN
wp-settings.php

FIND

wp_maintenance();

REPLACE WITH

if( wp_is_maintenance_mode() ) {
        wp_maintenance();
}

OPEN
wp-includes/load.php

FIND

function wp_maintenance() {
        // Return if maintenance mode is disabled.
        if ( ! wp_is_maintenance_mode() ) {
                return;
        }
       

REPLACE WITH

function wp_maintenance() {

[jorbin]

@ramon-fincken Can you explain what value you think this would bring? Refactoring requires ​proper justification and clear rationale. While it's not consistent with some other functions, there are about 14 years worth of documentation and examples out there about this function.

[desrosj]

I'm going to close this one out. Unfortunately, this is an instance where we have to live with past naming decisions unless there are clear benefits that outweigh the risks.