Changing user profile fields in Multisite causes error

[dariusk]

When I change any field in a user profile, I see the following error in a Multisite installation of Newspack 6.0.2:

Fatal error:  Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function  Newspack\get_user() in  /web/dev/phpdev/docs/bkc-blogs/wp-content/plugins/newspack-plugin/includes/plugins/co-authors-plus/class-nicename-change.php:209 
Stack trace: 
#0 /web/dev/phpdev/docs/bkc-blogs/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(326):  Newspack\Nicename_Change::profile_update() 
#1 /web/dev/phpdev/docs/bkc-blogs/wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(348):  WP_Hook->apply_filters() 
#2 /web/dev/phpdev/docs/bkc-blogs/wp-includes/plugin.php(517):  WP_Hook->do_action() 
#3 /web/dev/phpdev/docs/bkc-blogs/wp-includes/user.php(2509):  do_action() 
#4 /web/dev/phpdev/docs/bkc-blogs/wp-includes/user.php(2632):  wp_insert_user() 
#5 /web/dev/phpdev/docs/bkc-blogs/wp-admin/includes/user.php(233):  wp_update_user() 
#6 /web/dev/phpdev/docs/bkc-blogs/wp-admin/user-edit.php(171):  edit_user() 
#7 /web/dev/phpdev/docs/bkc-blogs/wp-admin/profile.php(18):  require_once('...') 
#8 {main}  thrown in **/web/dev/phpdev/docs/bkc-blogs/wp-content/plugins/newspack-plugin/includes/plugins/co-authors-plus/class-nicename-change.php** on line **209**`

The change is applied correctly but the error appears as a splash screen after submission!

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Install Newspack 6.0.2 on a Multisite installation
2. Log in to the dashboard
3. Select Users -> Profile
4. Change any field on the profile like "Website" or "First Name"
5. Press "Update Profile"
6. Observe the above error in a splash screen
7. Press the browser back button
8. Observe that the change was correctly applied

Expected behavior
I expect the profile editing page to reload with the "Profile updated." banner at the top

Notes
I'm not a Wordpress dev but I'm guessing that get_user here might be making some assumptions about how to get a user in a multisite installation?

[Takshil-Kunadia]

Thanks @dariusk, I attempted to replicate this issue locally in order to debug it, but I was unable to reproduce the error. Here’s a screen recording of my attempt:

Screen.Recording.2025-04-24.at.11.12.14.AM.mov

Based on the stack trace you provided, it appears the error may be caused by a namespace conflict. Specifically, WordPress provides a global get_user() utility function that many plugins rely on to fetch user data. However, the stack trace suggests that the call to get_user() is being interpreted as a method within the Newspack namespace (e.g., Newspack\get_user()), rather than referencing the global function. Are you still facing the issue? if so we can probe further.
Thanks again!