Admin Dashboard Activity section alignment issue.

[gaurangsondagar]

I upgraded to WordPress RC3, and while testing the admin panel, I noticed a UI glitch in the Activity section of the Admin Dashboard.

The WordPress RC3 version was upgraded using the following CLI command:

wp core update --version=7.0-RC3

I tried debugging the UI issue and noticed that when I commented out the following CSS rule (margin: 0 -12px;), the layout appeared correctly.

File path: /wp-admin/css/dashboard.css(line no: 1085)

Before:

#latest-comments #the-comment-list {
    position: relative;
    margin: 0 -12px;
}

After:

#latest-comments #the-comment-list {
    position: relative;
}

}}}

[gaurangsondagar]

The environment I am using below:

• PHP: 8.2.29
• WordPress: 7.0-RC3-62340
• Web server: Apache
• Database: MySQL
• Browser: Chrome
• OS: Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS
• Theme: Twenty Twenty-Five

Active Plugins:

• AI
• AI Provider for Google
• AI Provider for OpenAI

I have attached two screenshots showing the layout with the existing CSS applied, and another two screenshots after removing the CSS mentioned below, where the Activity section left and right side alignment looks fine.

#latest-comments #the-comment-list {
    position: relative;
}

[abcd95]

Reproduction Report

Description

This report validates whether the issue can be reproduced.

Environment

• WordPress: 7.0-RC3
• PHP: 8.3.30
• Server: PHP.wasm
• Database: WP_SQLite_Driver (Server: 8.0.38 / Client: 3.51.0)
• Browser: Chrome 147.0.0.0
• OS: macOS
• Theme: Twenty Twenty-Five 1.4
• MU Plugins: None activated
• Plugins:
  • AI 0.9.0
  • AI Provider for Google 1.0.3
  • AI Provider for OpenAI 1.0.2
  • Test Reports 1.2.1

Actual Results

❌ Error condition does not occur.

Is there anything else I need to replicate?

Additional Notes

With the same plugins installed, I did not observe the error.

Supplemental Artifacts

[gaurangsondagar]

Hi @abcd95

Thanks for trying to reproduce the issue and sharing your concern.

I have already shared the environment details where I am experiencing the issue. I have also prepared a short video that may help you reproduce the problem.

​https://www.awesomescreenshot.com/video/52413172?key=56373bc3c08a0b339e68f2e91a9258c6

The #latest-comments container already has the .activity-block class which provides margin: 0 -12px 6px -12px and padding: 8px 12px 4px to extend the block edge-to-edge within #dashboard_activity .inside while keeping its inner content aligned with sibling activity blocks.

The additional margin: 0 -12px on #latest-comments #the-comment-list made the comment list and the comment-item backgrounds break out of the activity-block padding a second time, leaving the list horizontally misaligned with the sibling <h3> heading, the views (subsubsub) navigation, and the reply form output below it.

Removing the redundant negative margin lets the comment list respect the parent .activity-block padding, restoring consistent left/right alignment for all elements inside the Activity widget.

Fixes #65217.

[gaurangsondagar]

Hi @khokansardar

Thank you for sharing the patch details. I tested it, and it works perfectly on my end.

Patch testing report:

Patch tested: ​https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/11794

Environment:

• PHP: 8.2.29
• WordPress: 7.0-RC3-62340
• Web server: Apache
• Database: MySQL
• Browser: Chrome
• OS: Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS
• Theme: Twenty Twenty-Five

Steps Followed:

• Before applying the patch, I was experiencing an alignment issue in the Admin Dashboard Activity section.
• After applying the patch, the alignment issue was resolved.

Result:

• The applied patch works as expected and successfully fixes the alignment issue in the Admin Dashboard Activity section.

I have attached a screenshot for reference.

[audrasjb]

Removing trunk version as this is not going to be shipped with WP 7.0 but in the next releases.

[SergeyBiryukov]

Hi there, thanks for the ticket!

It appears that the issue only happens if there are PHP notices or warnings displayed between the list items (outside of the <li> tags), and does not happen under normal circumstances.

It also looks like removing the -12px margin may not be the correct solution here, as that prevents the Recent Comments list items from extending to the full width as the Recently Published list items do, see 65217.list-items-padding.png​. So while this should ideally be fixed, I don't see an easy solution at the moment.

In my testing, the same issue happens in WP 6.9, which makes it not a regression in 7.0. Moving back to Awaiting Review for now.