LinkControl: prepend https:// to URLs submitted without selecting sug...

[Br1an67]

Fixes #75374

What?

This PR fixes an issue in LinkControl where URLs typed without a protocol (e.g., wordpress.org or www.wordpress.org) and submitted by pressing Enter (without selecting from the dropdown) were saved without the https:// protocol.

Why?

URLs without protocols are invalid and won't work as links. The existing behavior was inconsistent:

• Selecting a suggestion from dropdown: URL gets https:// prepended ✅
• Pressing Enter directly: URL stays as-is without protocol ❌

This created a confusing UX where users had to remember to select from the dropdown to get properly formatted URLs.

How?

The fix imports the existing normalizeUrl function (which already handles prepending https:// to bare domains) and uses it in the onSubmit handler of search-input.js when creating a direct entry suggestion object.

Change made:

• packages/block-editor/src/components/link-control/search-input.js: Import normalizeUrl and use it to normalize the URL value when submitting without a suggestion

Testing Instructions

1. Add a Navigation block to a post or page
2. Add a link and type a URL without a protocol (e.g., wordpress.org or www.wordpress.org)
3. Press Enter without selecting from the dropdown
4. Verify the URL is saved with https:// prepended (e.g., https://wordpress.org)

Testing Instructions for Keyboard

1. Navigate to a Navigation block using keyboard (Tab)
2. Add a new link item
3. Type example.com and press Enter
4. Verify the link works correctly with https://example.com

Screenshots

Before	After
URL saved as wordpress.org (broken link)	URL saved as https://wordpress.org (working link)

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[getdave]

@jeryj I had thought we'd addressed this requirement to default to https://?

[jeryj]

@getdave - I think this issue was already fixed on trunk by #75488.

@Br1an67 - thanks for contributing!

This PR fixes an issue in LinkControl where URLs typed without a protocol (e.g., wordpress.org or www.wordpress.org) and submitted by pressing Enter (without selecting from the dropdown) were saved without the https:// protocol.

Did you encounter this bug on trunk? In my testing pressing Enter when submitting wordpress.org or www.wordpress.org results in https:// being appended. If you encountered it, can you list the reproduction steps?