fix(memberships): force non-empty message to allow wc_memberships_notice_html to fire

[dkoo]

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• Have you followed the Newspack Contributing guideline?
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Changes proposed in this Pull Request:

Closes NPPM-2707.

When all WC Memberships message templates are set to empty strings (which is the case when Newspack content gates replace them), the get_message_html() method in WC Memberships skips get_notice_html() entirely. This means the wc_memberships_notice_html filter never fires, so Newspack's content gate is never rendered. The result is that restricted content is truncated but no gate is shown to the reader.

This fix adds a wc_memberships_restricted_message filter that returns a non-breaking space ( ) when the message is empty and a Newspack gate is configured. This ensures get_notice_html() is called, which fires wc_memberships_notice_html, and the gate renders correctly. The placeholder is fully replaced by Newspack's gate HTML in wc_memberships_notice_html().

The filter has three guard clauses to limit its scope:

• Only intervenes when the message is empty (leaves publisher-configured messages alone)
• Only applies to content_ message codes (not product discounts etc.)
• Only activates when a Newspack gate is configured

How to test the changes in this Pull Request:

1. Ensure WC Memberships 1.28.1 is installed and active with a membership plan that restricts all posts.
2. Set the WC Memberships message templates to empty strings (this happens automatically when Newspack content gates are configured, or set manually via update_option('wc_memberships_messages', ['content_restricted_message' => '', ...]))
3. Configure a Newspack content gate (Audience > Access Control > create a gate restricting all posts with registered access).
4. Log in as a subscriber/reader who does NOT have an active membership in the restricting plan.
5. Visit a restricted post.

Expected on release (bug): Content is truncated but no gate appears below it.
Expected on this branch (fix): Content is truncated and the memberships gate is rendered below.

Other information:

• Have you added an explanation of what your changes do and why you'd like us to include them?
• Have you written new tests for your changes, as applicable?
• Have you successfully ran tests with your changes locally?

[github-actions]

🎉 This PR is included in version 6.35.2-hotfix-missing-memberships-gate.1 🎉

The release is available on GitHub release

Your semantic-release bot 📦🚀

[adekbadek]

Tested locally against WC Memberships 1.28.1. Confirmed the bug on release (content truncated, no gate) and verified the fix on this branch (gate renders correctly).

The approach is sound – the three guard clauses (empty message only, content restriction codes only, Newspack gate present) keep the scope tight. The   placeholder is fully replaced by Newspack's gate HTML in wc_memberships_notice_html(), so it never leaks to the frontend.

One minor note: on product pages, the is_product() check in wc_memberships_notice_html would return the notice unchanged, but the str_contains($message_code, 'content_') guard effectively prevents this since product restriction codes don't contain content_.

[github-actions]

Hey @dkoo, good job getting this PR merged! 🎉

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Thank you! ❤️

[github-actions]

🎉 This PR is included in version 6.35.2 🎉

The release is available on GitHub release

Your semantic-release bot 📦🚀