Fix: Type Error with gmdate() in dashboard Activity widget #10729

westonruter · 2026-01-13T20:09:27Z

Trac ticket: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/64496

This Pull Request is for code review only. Please keep all other discussion in the Trac ticket. Do not merge this Pull Request. See GitHub Pull Requests for Code Review in the Core Handbook for more details.

Drafted Commit Message

Administration: Avoid PHP type error with gmdate() in wp_dashboard_recent_posts().

This fixes an issue when a non-integer is returned by get_the_time( 'U' ) which can occur when a plugin filters get_the_time. The non-relative date is displayed in the Activity dashboard widget in this case.

Developed in #10729

Props sabernhardt, vanhoucke, westonruter.
Fixes #64496.

github-actions · 2026-01-13T20:09:39Z

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Props sabernhardt, westonruter.

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github-actions · 2026-01-13T20:16:42Z

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sabernhardt · 2026-01-14T17:59:21Z

src/wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php

+			if ( ! is_int( $time ) || gmdate( 'Y', $time ) !== $year ) {
+				/* translators: Date and time format for recent posts on the dashboard, from a different calendar year, see https://www.php.net/manual/datetime.format.php */
+				$relative = date_i18n( __( 'M jS Y' ), $time );


This approach silences the error and shows date information, but the date is not reliable with non-integers.

The numeric string with Simple Location displayed as the next day for two of my posts.

date_i18n() will give the current date whenever its $timestamp_with_offset parameter is not numeric.

I still think that blank space is better than displaying inaccurate information, but this achieves the main focus of the ticket by preventing a predictable fatal error. PHP 8.4.0 does not complain (yet) about using a false value from get_the_time() in the '%1$s, %2$s' string on line 1036.

I needed to include results for at least one of the date translation plugins, and WP-Parsidate filters get_the_time well. It returns an integer when the format is 'U', so it does not cause an error in the widget before or after applying either patch. It also returns the Persian time and date strings for displaying in the widget.

(Both the 'Change Locale in admin' and 'Shamsi date' checkboxes should be checked.)

I don't feel strongly. If you want my suggestion reverted then that is fine with me.

I reverted my changes. I also missed that I was possibly passing non-int into date_i18n().

Argh. I was just too slow to write this response before you reverted.

I tested again without the patch. The numeric string already gave dates one day off (without including the current year), and the false value gave the current date and no time.

According to that testing, this would not introduce inaccurate dates in the widget. That suggests your way is the more appropriate change, even though it is not my preference.

Relatively few sites filter get_the_time( 'U' ) in the admin to a non-integer anyway, and both directions should be viable.

I'm confused because in my way I was possibly passing a non-integer value into date_i18n().

What about this?

--- a/src/wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php +++ b/src/wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php @@ -1014,7 +1014,9 @@ function wp_dashboard_recent_posts( $args ) { $time = get_the_time( 'U' ); - if ( gmdate( 'Y-m-d', $time ) === $today ) { + if ( ! is_int( $time ) ) { + $relative = null; + } elseif ( gmdate( 'Y-m-d', $time ) === $today ) { $relative = __( 'Today' ); } elseif ( gmdate( 'Y-m-d', $time ) === $tomorrow ) { $relative = __( 'Tomorrow' ); @@ -1033,7 +1035,7 @@ function wp_dashboard_recent_posts( $args ) { printf( '<li><span>%1$s</span> <a href="%2$s" aria-label="%3$s">%4$s</a></li>', /* translators: 1: Relative date, 2: Time. */ - sprintf( _x( '%1$s, %2$s', 'dashboard' ), $relative, get_the_time() ), + sprintf( _x( '%1$s, %2$s', 'dashboard' ), $relative ?? get_the_date(), get_the_time() ), $recent_post_link, /* translators: %s: Post title. */ esc_attr( sprintf( __( 'Edit “%s”' ), $draft_or_post_title ) ),

If $relative is not available due to get_the_time( 'U' ) returning non-integer, then we can fall back to get_the_date().

Passing it to date_i18n() is not ideal, but the function has a fallback:

wordpress-develop/src/wp-includes/functions.php

Lines 182 to 186 in d015d16

// If timestamp is omitted it should be current time (summed with offset, unless `$gmt` is true).

if ( ! is_numeric( $timestamp ) ) {

// phpcs:ignore WordPress.DateTime.CurrentTimeTimestamp.Requested

$timestamp = current_time( 'timestamp', $gmt );

}

But that fallback results in the current date being returned, and not the publish date of the post, right?

With 096cea0, given this filer code:

add_filter( 'get_the_time', function ( $the_time ) { return (string) $the_time; } );

Without filter With filter

This reverts commit 1253072.

This reverts commit b42c718.

…ails" This reverts commit 102ad11.

…into trac-64496

…fails" This reverts commit 0870b45.

This reverts commit 2aed48c.

This reverts commit add31fb.

sabernhardt · 2026-01-14T21:42:48Z

src/wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php


-			if ( gmdate( 'Y-m-d', $time ) === $today ) {
+			if ( ! is_int( $time ) ) {
+				$relative = null;


This direction seems better.

Also, if you move get_the_date() to this line, the null coalescing operator should be unnecessary.

Suggested change

$relative = null;

$relative = get_the_date();

Great point. Added in 958ce5c. Then I renamed the variable since it's no longer specifically relative.

Co-authored-by: Stephen A. Bernhardt <sabernhardt@yahoo.com>

sabernhardt

Test Report

Description

✅ The patch resolves the error.

Patch tested: https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/10729.diff
(as of commit eb1e6d9)

Environment

WordPress: 7.0-alpha-61215-src (updated to 61492)
PHP: 8.4.0
Server: Apache/2.4.62 (Win64) PHP/8.4.0 mod_fcgid/2.3.10-dev
Database: mysqli (Server: 9.1.0 / Client: mysqlnd 8.4.0)
Browser: Firefox 147.0
OS: Windows 11
Theme: Twenty Seventeen 4.0

Plugins tested, individually:

Hide/Remove Metadata 1.2.9
Simple Location 5.0.23
WP-Parsidate 5.1.8.2

Supplemental Artifacts

Before patch	With PR 10729 (January 16)
No plugins (integer)	No change
WP-Parsidate (integer for the 'U' format, string for display)	No change
Simple Location (numeric string that is six hours ahead in UTC-6)	Date shows year, and it can be correct more often
Hide/Remove Metadata (boolean `false`)	Both time and date are empty
custom must-use plugin ('gotcha' string)	The error is prevented. The date displays with the year, followed by the filtered output of `get_the_time()`.

https://core.trac.wordpress.org/attachment/ticket/64496/64496.diff

43f4a86

Show underlying return value for get_the_time() if relative fails

102ad11

westonruter added 2 commits January 13, 2026 12:28

Use full date as fallback

b42c718

Combine conditions

1253072

sabernhardt reviewed Jan 14, 2026

View reviewed changes

westonruter added 8 commits January 14, 2026 13:02

Revert "Combine conditions"

add31fb

This reverts commit 1253072.

Revert "Use full date as fallback"

2aed48c

This reverts commit b42c718.

Revert "Show underlying return value for get_the_time() if relative f…

0870b45

…ails" This reverts commit 102ad11.

Merge branch 'trunk' of https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop …

238be31

…into trac-64496

Reapply "Show underlying return value for get_the_time() if relative …

ede1099

…fails" This reverts commit 0870b45.

Reapply "Use full date as fallback"

b8a4865

This reverts commit 2aed48c.

Reapply "Combine conditions"

96ba63b

This reverts commit add31fb.

Use get_the_date() when unable to obtain relative date

096cea0

sabernhardt reviewed Jan 14, 2026

View reviewed changes

westonruter and others added 3 commits January 14, 2026 14:08

Remove needless null coalescing

958ce5c

Co-authored-by: Stephen A. Bernhardt <sabernhardt@yahoo.com>

Rename variable since not specifically relative

d57f6b2

Reuse shorter date format

eb1e6d9

westonruter requested a review from sabernhardt January 14, 2026 22:12

sabernhardt approved these changes Jan 16, 2026

View reviewed changes

	// If timestamp is omitted it should be current time (summed with offset, unless `$gmt` is true).
	if ( ! is_numeric( $timestamp ) ) {
	// phpcs:ignore WordPress.DateTime.CurrentTimeTimestamp.Requested
	$timestamp = current_time( 'timestamp', $gmt );
	}

Fix: Type Error with gmdate() in dashboard Activity widget #10729

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Fix: Type Error with gmdate() in dashboard Activity widget #10729

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