The bp_rewrites_get_url() function causing 404 errors

[emaralive]

Note

This is a placeholder for further analysis and actions to be taken. At the moment, I'm just front loading some of the information and will update this discussion when I have more available time.

Due to the way the bp_rewrites_get_url()¹ is currently coded there is the potential for 404 errors when the permalink structure is missing a trailing slash. For example, the following support topics give indication of such behavior:

• Notification is missing “/” in the URL
• Problem / in Permalinks

Using BuddyPress 14.3.4 as reference line 273 of the bp_rewrites_get_url() function contains the user_trailingslashit() function which will conditionally add or remove the trailing slash depending on the permalink structure. This, in and of itself, appears to be problematic due to the potential to concatenate a URL that will result in a 404 error.

Content taken from a reply to the Problem / in Permalinks topic

Apparently, this is the current behavior of the bp_rewrites_get_url() function, i.e., the missing trailing slash, when the permalink structure is missing a trailing slash. Hence, a permalink of /%postname%/.html will result in a URL with a missing trailing slash, e.g.:

site.url/members/<user_name>

This causes a 404 error when bbPress tries to concatenate the URLs for the following:

• Replies Created
• Engagements
• Favorites
• Subscriptions

What’s peculiar is that “Topics Started” isn’t affected because, for bbPress, all member area URLs (navigation links) are based on either the bp_displayed_user_domain() or the bp_loggedin_user_domain() functions and both of these functions have the bp_rewrites_get_url() function in the chain for return.

Regardless, this appears to be problematic due to some 3rd party themes and plugins that make use of various other BP functions that have bp_rewrites_get_url() function in the chain for return.

As an example to reach the "Replies Created" page the nav link should be (reference: Problem / in Permalinks forum topic):

site.url/members/<user_name>/forums/replies

However, the nav link is:

site.url/members/<user_name>forums/replies - notice the missing slash between "user_name" and "forums"

Screenshot of Forum page in member area

I'm not sure why the coding was written as such, i.e., remove the trailing slash if the permalink structure is missage a trailing slash, the documentation that describes the bp_rewrites_get_url() makes no reference to the "missing slash" behavior, that is, unless I overlooked a reference to such.

Steps to Reproduce

Perhaps, the simplest example for steps to reproduce is to install/activate the Buddyx Theme:

• Set %postname%/.html as a custom permalink structure
• Go to the front-end and click either the messages or notifications icon (main menu area)

Tip

Another method is to set the permalink structure to Numeric, the default is /archives/%post_id%.

Screenshot of the results for the Buddyx theme example

The Buddyx theme constructs the notification icon link as:

bp_loggedin_user_domain() . $bp->notifications->slug

The bp_loggedin_user_domain() function returns a URL without the trailing slash and thus when $bp->notifications->slug is concatenated, the complete URL is erroneous and a 404 error is the result when the link is clicked.

Additional information will be added if warranted and when time is available to do so. For now, this should be enough information in which to engage in conversation.

Can of Worms

Note

The extent of the anomaly and where the issue(s) reside(s) is unknown at this time. This is just a placeholder to remind myself to dig deeper and provide additional detail in support of the following description.

Setting the permalink structure to Plain creates a number of issues with the URL structure which again nets a 404 error or a redirect to an unintended real page, e.g., clicking the Manage link within a Group redirects to the Groups directory page. Additionally, this causes unexpected results for bbPress navigation and appears to have the same consequences for other plugins, as well.

Analysis

For the Groups manage link the redirect to the Group directory page is caused by the & (ampersand) character being converted to its HTML entity equivalent, e.g., & which happens when the URL is run through the wp_filter_kses() function when the bp_get_group_url() function is called. Options to fix are:

1. Use the sanitize_url() function or something similar.
2. Use the html_entity_decode() function after the URL through the wp_filter_kses() function.
3. Someone else has a better idea.

For the bbPress issue, at the moment, it appears to involve the way the URLs are currently constructed.

Footnotes

Footnotes

1. Introduced in BuddyPress 12.0.0 ↩