CHANGELOG.md

Change Log for WordPress Coding Standards

All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.

This projects adheres to Semantic Versioning and Keep a CHANGELOG.

Unreleased

No documentation available about unreleased changes as of yet.

2.3.0 - 2020-05-14

Added

• The WordPress.WP.I18n sniff contains a new check for translatable text strings which are wrapped in HTML tags, like <h1>Translate me</h1>. Those tags should be moved out of the translatable string. Note: Translatable strings wrapped in <a href..> tags where the URL is intended to be localized will not trigger this check.

Changed

• The default value for minimum_supported_wp_version, as used by a number of sniffs detecting usage of deprecated WP features, has been updated to 5.1.
• The WordPress.WP.DeprecatedFunctions sniff will now detect functions deprecated in WP 5.4.
• Improved grammar of an error message in the WordPress.WP.DiscouragedFunctions sniff.
• CI: The codebase is now - preliminary - being tested against the PHPCS 4.x development branch.

Fixed

• All function call detection sniffs: fixed a bug where constants with the same name as one of the targeted functions could inadvertently be recognized as if they were a called function.
• WordPress.DB.PreparedSQL: fixed a bug where the sniff would trigger on the namespace separator character \\.
• WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput: fixed a bug with the variable replacement in one of the error messages.

2.2.1 - 2020-02-04

Added

• Metrics to the WordPress.Arrays.CommaAfterArrayItem sniff. These can be displayed using --report=info.
• The sanitize_hex_color() and the sanitize_hex_color_no_hash() functions to the escapingFunctions list used by the WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput sniff.

Changed

• The recommended version of the suggested DealerDirect PHPCS Composer plugin is now ^0.6.

Fixed

• WordPress.PHP.NoSilencedErrors: depending on the custom properties set, the metrics would be different.
• WordPress.WhiteSpace.ControlStructureSpacing: fixed undefined index notice for closures with use.
• WordPress.WP.GlobalVariablesOverride: fixed undefined offset notice when the treat_files_as_scoped property would be set to true.
• WordPress.WP.I18n: fixed a Trying to access array offset on value of type null error when the sniff was run on PHP 7.4 and would encounter a translation function expecting singular and plural texts for which one of these arguments was missing.

2.2.0 - 2019-11-11

Note: The repository has moved. The new URL is https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress-Coding-Standards. The move does not affect the package name for Packagist. This remains the same: wp-coding-standards/wpcs.

Added

• New WordPress.DateTime.CurrentTimeTimestamp sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset, which checks against the use of the WP native current_time() function to retrieve a timestamp as this won't be a real timestamp. Includes an auto-fixer.
• New WordPress.DateTime.RestrictedFunctions sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset, which checks for the use of certain date/time related functions. Initially this sniff forbids the use of the PHP native date_default_timezone_set() and date() functions.
• New WordPress.PHP.DisallowShortTernary sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset, which, as the name implies, disallows the use of short ternaries.
• New WordPress.CodeAnalysis.EscapedNotTranslated sniff to the WordPress-Extra ruleset which will warn when a text string is escaped for output, but not being translated, while the arguments passed to the function call give the impression that translation is intended.
• New WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidPostTypeSlug sniff to the WordPress-Extra ruleset which will examine calls to register_post_type() and throw errors when an invalid post type slug is used.
• Generic.Arrays.DisallowShortArraySyntax to the WordPress-Core ruleset.
• WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals: the PHP prefix has been added to the prefix blacklist as it is reserved by PHP itself.
• The wp_sanitize_redirect() function to the sanitizingFunctions list used by the WordPress.Security.NonceVerification, WordPress.Security.ValidatedSanitizedInput and WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput sniffs.
• The sanitize_key() and the highlight_string() functions to the escapingFunctions list used by the WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput sniff.
• The RECOVERY_MODE_COOKIE constant to the list of WP Core constants which may be defined by plugins and themes and therefore don't need to be prefixed (WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals).
• $content_width, $plugin, $mu_plugin and $network_plugin to the list of WP globals which is used by both the WordPress.Variables.GlobalVariables and the WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniffs.
• Sniff::is_short_list() utility method to determine whether a short array open/close token actually represents a PHP 7.1+ short list.
• Sniff::find_list_open_close() utility method to find the opener and closer for list() constructs, including short lists.
• Sniff::get_list_variables() utility method which will retrieve an array with the token pointers to the variables which are being assigned to in a list() construct. Includes support for short lists.
• Sniff::is_function_deprecated() static utility method to determine whether a declared function has been marked as deprecated in the function DocBlock.
• End-user documentation to the following existing sniffs: WordPress.Arrays.ArrayIndentation, WordPress.Arrays.ArrayKeySpacingRestrictions, WordPress.Arrays.MultipleStatementAlignment, WordPress.Classes.ClassInstantiation, WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidHookName, WordPress.PHP.IniSet, WordPress.Security.SafeRedirect, WordPress.WhiteSpace.CastStructureSpacing, WordPress.WhiteSpace.DisallowInlineTabs, WordPress.WhiteSpace.PrecisionAlignment, WordPress.WP.CronInterval, WordPress.WP.DeprecatedClasses, WordPress.WP.DeprecatedFunctions, WordPress.WP.DeprecatedParameters, WordPress.WP.DeprecatedParameterValues, WordPress.WP.EnqueuedResources, WordPress.WP.PostsPerPage. This documentation can be exposed via the PHP_CodeSniffer --generator=... command-line argument.

Changed

• The default value for minimum_supported_wp_version, as used by a number of sniffs detecting usage of deprecated WP features, has been updated to 5.0.
• The WordPress.Arrays.ArrayKeySpacingRestrictions sniff has two new error codes: TooMuchSpaceBeforeKey and TooMuchSpaceAfterKey. Both auto-fixable. The sniff will now check that there is exactly one space on the inside of the square brackets around the array key for non-string, non-numeric array keys. Previously, it only checked that there was whitespace, not how much whitespace.
• WordPress.Arrays.ArrayKeySpacingRestrictions: the fixers have been made more efficient and less fixer-conflict prone.
• WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals: plugin/theme prefixes should be at least three characters long. A new ShortPrefixPassed error has been added for when the prefix passed does not comply with this rule.
• WordPress.WhiteSpace.CastStructureSpacing now allows for no whitespace before a cast when the cast is preceded by the spread ... operator. This pre-empts a fixer conflict for when the spacing around the spread operator will start to get checked.
• The WordPress.WP.DeprecatedClasses sniff will now detect classes deprecated in WP 4.9 and WP 5.3.
• The WordPress.WP.DeprecatedFunctions sniff will now detect functions deprecated in WP 5.3.
• WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidHookName now has "cleaner" error messages and higher precision for the line on which an error is thrown.
• WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput: if an error refers to array access via a variable, the array index key will now be included in the error message.
• The processing of the WordPress ruleset by PHP_CodeSniffer will now be faster.
• Various minor code tweaks and clean up.
• Various minor documentation fixes.
• Documentation: updated the repo URL in all relevant places.

Deprecated

• The WordPress.WP.TimezoneChange sniff. Use the WordPress.DateTime.RestrictedFunctions instead. The deprecated sniff will be removed in WPCS 3.0.0.

Fixed

• All sniffs in the WordPress.Arrays category will no longer treat short lists as if they were a short array.
• The WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidFunctionName and the WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniff will now ignore functions marked as @deprecated.
• Both the WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniff as well as the WordPress.WP.GlobalVariablesOverride sniff have been updated to recognize variables being declared via (long/short) list() constructs and handle them correctly.
• Both the WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniff as well as the WordPress.WP.GlobalVariablesOverride sniff will now take a limited list of WP global variables which are intended to be overwritten by plugins/themes into account. Initially this list contains the $content_width and the $wp_cockneyreplace variables.
• WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidHookName: will no longer examine a string array access index key as if it were a part of the hook name.
• WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput: will no longer trigger on the typical basename( __FILE__ ) pattern if found as the first parameter passed to a call to _deprecated_file().
• WordPress.WP.CapitalPDangit: now allows for the .test TLD in URLs.
• WPCS is now fully compatible with PHP 7.4. Note: PHP_CodeSniffer itself is only compatible with PHP 7.4 from PHPCS 3.5.0 onwards.

2.1.1 - 2019-05-21

Changed

• The WordPress.WP.CapitalPDangit will now ignore misspelled instances of WordPress within constant declarations. This covers both constants declared using defined() as well as constants declared using the const keyword.
• The default value for minimum_supported_wp_version, as used by a number of sniffs detecting usage of deprecated WP features, has been updated to 4.9.

Removed

• paginate_comments_links() from the list of auto-escaped functions Sniff::$autoEscapedFunctions. This affects the WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput sniff.

Fixed

• The $current_blog and $tag_ID variables have been added to the list of WordPress global variables. This fixes some false positives from the WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals and the WordPress.WP.GlobalVariablesOverride sniffs.
• The generic TestCase class name has been added to the $test_class_whitelist. This fixes some false positives from the WordPress.NamingConventions.FileName, WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals and the WordPress.WP.GlobalVariablesOverride sniffs.
• The WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidVariableName sniff will now correctly recognize $tag_ID as a WordPress native, mixed-case variable.
• The WordPress.Security.NonceVerification sniff will now correctly recognize nonce verification within a nested closure or anonymous class.

2.1.0 - 2019-04-08

Added

• New WordPress.PHP.IniSet sniff to the WordPress-Extra ruleset. This sniff will detect calls to ini_set() and ini_alter() and warn against their use as changing configuration values at runtime leads to an unpredictable runtime environment, which can result in conflicts between core/plugins/themes.
  • The sniff will not throw notices about a very limited set of "safe" ini directives.
  • For a number of ini directives for which there are alternative, non-conflicting ways to achieve the same available, the sniff will throw an error and advise using the alternative.
• doubleval(), count() and sizeof() to Sniff::$unslashingSanitizingFunctions property. While count() and its alias sizeof(), don't actually unslash or sanitize, the output of these functions is safe to use without unslashing or sanitizing. This affects the WordPress.Security.ValidatedSanitizedInput and the WordPress.Security.NonceVerification sniffs.
• The new WP 5.1 WP_UnitTestCase_Base class to the Sniff::$test_class_whitelist property.
• New Sniff::get_array_access_keys() utility method to retrieve all array keys for a variable using multi-level array access.
• New Sniff::is_class_object_call(), Sniff::is_token_namespaced() utility methods. These should help make the checking of whether or not a function call is a global function, method call or a namespaced function call more consistent. This also implements allowing for the namespace keyword being used as an operator.
• New Sniff::is_in_function_call() utility method to facilitate checking whether a token is (part of) a parameter passed to a specific (set of) function(s).
• New Sniff::is_in_type_test() utility method to determine if a variable is being type tested, along with a Sniff::$typeTestFunctions property containing the names of the functions this applies to.
• New Sniff::is_in_array_comparison() utility method to determine if a variable is (part of) a parameter in an array-value comparison, along with a Sniff::$arrayCompareFunctions property containing the names of the relevant functions.
• New Sniff::$arrayWalkingFunctions property containing the names of array functions which apply a callback to the array, but don't change the array by reference.
• New Sniff::$unslashingFunctions property containing the names of functions which unslash data passed to them and return the unslashed result.

Changed

• Moved the WordPress.PHP.StrictComparisons, WordPress.PHP.StrictInArray and the WordPress.CodeAnalysis.AssignmentInCondition sniff from the WordPress-Extra to the WordPress-Core ruleset.
• The Squiz.Commenting.InlineComment.SpacingAfter error is no longer included in the WordPress-Docs ruleset.
• The default value for minimum_supported_wp_version, as used by a number of sniffs detecting usage of deprecated WP features, has been updated to 4.8.
• The WordPress.WP.DeprecatedFunctions sniff will now detect functions deprecated in WP 5.1.
• The WordPress.Security.NonceVerification sniff now allows for variable type testing, comparisons, unslashing and sanitization before the nonce check. A nonce check within the same scope, however, is still required.
• The WordPress.Security.ValidatedSanitizedInput sniff now allows for using a superglobal in an array-value comparison without sanitization, same as when the superglobal is used in a scalar value comparison.
• WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals: some of the error messages have been made more explicit.
• The error messages for the WordPress.Security.ValidatedSanitizedInput sniff will now contain information on the index keys accessed.
• The error message for the WordPress.Security.ValidatedSanitizedInput.InputNotValidated has been reworded to make it more obvious what the actual issue being reported is.
• The error message for the WordPress.Security.ValidatedSanitizedInput.MissingUnslash has been reworded.
• The Sniff::is_comparison() method now has a new $include_coalesce parameter to allow for toggling whether the null coalesce operator should be seen as a comparison operator. Defaults to true.
• All sniffs are now also being tested against PHP 7.4 (unstable) for consistent sniff results.
• The recommended version of the suggested DealerDirect PHPCS Composer plugin is now ^0.5.0.
• Various minor code tweaks and clean up.

Removed

• ini_set and ini_alter from the list of functions detected by the WordPress.PHP.DiscouragedFunctions sniff. These are now covered via the new WordPress.PHP.IniSet sniff.
• in_array() and array_key_exists() from the list of Sniff::$sanitizingFunctions. These are now handled differently.

Fixed

• The WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniff would underreport when global functions would be autoloaded via a Composer autoload files configuration.

• The WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput sniff will now recognize map_deep() for escaping the values in an array via a callback to an output escaping function. This should prevent false positives.

• The WordPress.Security.NonceVerification sniff will no longer inadvertently allow for a variable to be sanitized without a nonce check within the same scope.

• The WordPress.Security.ValidatedSanitizedInput sniff will no longer throw errors when a variable is only being type tested.

• The WordPress.Security.ValidatedSanitizedInput sniff will now correctly recognize the null coalesce (PHP 7.0) and null coalesce equal (PHP 7.4) operators and will now throw errors for missing unslashing and sanitization where relevant.

• The WordPress.WP.AlternativeFunctions sniff will no longer recommend using the WP_FileSystem when PHP native input streams, like php://input, or the PHP input stream constants are being read or written to.

• The WordPress.WP.AlternativeFunctions sniff will no longer report on usage of the curl_version() function.

• The WordPress.WP.CronInterval sniff now has improved function recognition which should lower the chance of false positives.

• The WordPress.WP.EnqueuedResources sniff will no longer throw false positives for inline jQuery code trying to access a stylesheet link tag.

• Various bugfixes for the Sniff::has_nonce_check() method:

  • The method will no longer incorrectly identify methods/namespaced functions mirroring the name of WP native nonce verification functions as if they were the global functions. This will prevent some false negatives.
  • The method will now skip over nested closed scopes, such as closures and anonymous classes. This should prevent some false negatives for nonce verification being done while not in the correct scope.

  These fixes affect the WordPress.Security.NonceVerification sniff.

• The Sniff::is_in_isset_or_empty() method now also checks for usage of array_key_exist() and key_exists() and will regard these as correct ways to validate a variable. This should prevent false positives for the WordPress.Security.ValidatedSanitizedInput and the WordPress.Security.NonceVerification sniffs.

• Various bugfixes for the Sniff::is_sanitized() method:

  • The method presumed the WordPress coding style regarding code layout, which could lead to false positives.
  • The method will no longer incorrectly identify methods/namespaced functions mirroring the name of WP/PHP native unslashing/sanitization functions as if they were the global functions. This will prevent some false negatives.
  • The method will now recognize map_deep() for sanitizing an array via a callback to a sanitization function. This should prevent false positives.
  • The method will now recognize stripslashes_deep() and stripslashes_from_strings_only() as valid unslashing functions. This should prevent false positives. All these fixes affect both the WordPress.Security.ValidatedSanitizedInput and the WordPress.Security.NonceVerification sniff.

• Various bugfixes for the Sniff::is_validated() method:

  • The method did not verify correctly whether a variable being validated was the same variable as later used which could lead to false negatives.
  • The method did not verify correctly whether a variable being validated had the same array index keys as the variable as later used which could lead to both false negatives as well as false positives.
  • The method now also checks for usage of array_key_exist() and key_exists() and will regard these as correct ways to validate a variable. This should prevent some false positives.
  • The methods will now recognize the null coalesce and the null coalesce equal operators as ways to validate a variable. This prevents some false positives. The results from the WordPress.Security.ValidatedSanitizedInput sniff should be more accurate because of these fixes.

• A potential "Undefined index" notice from the Sniff::is_assignment() method.

2.0.0 - 2019-01-16

Important information about this release:

WordPressCS 2.0.0 contains breaking changes, both for people using custom rulesets as well as for sniff developers who maintain a custom PHPCS standard based on WordPressCS.

Support for PHP_CodeSniffer 2.x has been dropped, the new minimum PHP_CodeSniffer version is 3.3.1. Also, all previously deprecated sniffs, properties and methods have been removed.

Please read the complete changelog carefully before you upgrade.

If you are a maintainer of an external standard based on WordPressCS and any of your custom sniffs are based on or extend WPCS sniffs, please read the Developers Upgrade Guide to WordPressCS 2.0.0.

Changes since 2.0.0-RC1

Fixed

• WordPress-Extra: Reverted back to including the Squiz.WhiteSpace.LanguageConstructSpacing sniff instead of the new Generic.WhiteSpace.LanguageConstructSpacing sniff as the new sniff is not (yet) available when the PEAR install of PHPCS is used.

Changes since 1.2.1

For a full list of changes from the 1.2.1 version, please review the following changelog:

• https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress-Coding-Standards/releases/tag/2.0.0-RC1

2.0.0-RC1 - 2018-12-31

Important information about this release:

This is the first release candidate for WordPressCS 2.0.0. WordPressCS 2.0.0 contains breaking changes, both for people using custom rulesets as well as for sniff developers who maintain a custom PHPCS standard based on WordPressCS.

Support for PHP_CodeSniffer 2.x has been dropped, the new minimum PHP_CodeSniffer version is 3.3.1. Also, all previously deprecated sniffs, properties and methods have been removed.

Please read the complete changelog carefully before you upgrade.

If you are a maintainer of an external standard based on WordPressCS and any of your custom sniffs are based on or extend WPCS sniffs, please read the Developers Upgrade Guide to WordPressCS 2.0.0.

Added

• Generic.PHP.DiscourageGoto, Generic.PHP.LowerCaseType, Generic.WhiteSpace.ArbitraryParenthesesSpacing and PSR12.Keywords.ShortFormTypeKeywords to the WordPress-Core ruleset.
• Checking the spacing around the instanceof operator to the WordPress.WhiteSpace.OperatorSpacing sniff.

Changed

• The minimum required PHP_CodeSniffer version to 3.3.1 (was 2.9.0).
• The namespace used by WordPressCS has been changed from WordPress to WordPressCS\WordPress. This was not possible while PHP_CodeSniffer 2.x was still supported, but WordPressCS, as a good Open Source citizen, does not want to occupy the WordPress namespace and is releasing its use of it now this is viable.
• The WordPress.DB.PreparedSQL sniff used the same error code for two different errors. The NotPrepared error code remains, however an additional InterpolatedNotPrepared error code has been added for the second error. If you are referencing the old error code in a ruleset XML file or in inline annotations, you may need to update it.
• The WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniff used the same error code for some errors as well as warnings. The NonPrefixedConstantFound error code remains for the related error, but the warning will now use the new VariableConstantNameFound error code. The NonPrefixedHooknameFound error code remains for the related error, but the warning will now use the new DynamicHooknameFound error code. If you are referencing the old error codes in a ruleset XML file or in inline annotations, you may need to update these to use the new codes instead.
• WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidVariableName: the error messages and error codes used by this sniff have been changed for improved usability and consistency.
  • The error messages will now show a suggestion for a valid alternative name for the variable.
  • The NotSnakeCaseMemberVar error code has been renamed to UsedPropertyNotSnakeCase.
  • The NotSnakeCase error code has been renamed to VariableNotSnakeCase.
  • The MemberNotSnakeCase error code has been renamed to PropertyNotSnakeCase.
  • The StringNotSnakeCase error code has been renamed to InterpolatedVariableNotSnakeCase. If you are referencing the old error codes in a ruleset XML file or in inline annotations, you may need to update these to use the new codes instead.
• The WordPress.Security.NonceVerification sniff used the same error code for both an error as well as a warning. The old error code NoNonceVerification is no longer used. The error now uses the Missing error code, while the warning now uses the Recommended error code. If you are referencing the old error code in a ruleset XML file or in inline annotations, please update these to use the new codes instead.
• The WordPress.WP.DiscouragedConstants sniff used to have two error codes UsageFound and DeclarationFound. These error codes will now be prefixed by the name of the constant found to allow for more fine-grained excluding/ignoring of warnings generated by this sniff. If you are referencing the old error codes in a ruleset XML file or in inline annotations, you may need to update these to use the new codes instead.
• The WordPress.WP.GlobalVariablesOverride.OverrideProhibited error code has been replaced by the WordPress.WP.GlobalVariablesOverride.Prohibited error code. If you are referencing the old error code in a ruleset XML file or in inline annotations, you may need to update it.
• WordPress-Extra: Replaced the inclusion of the Generic.Files.OneClassPerFile, Generic.Files.OneInterfacePerFile and the Generic.Files.OneTraitPerFile sniffs with the new Generic.Files.OneObjectStructurePerFile sniff.
• WordPress-Extra: Replaced the inclusion of the Squiz.WhiteSpace.LanguageConstructSpacing sniff with the new Generic.WhiteSpace.LanguageConstructSpacing sniff.
• WordPress-Extra: Replaced the inclusion of the Squiz.Scope.MemberVarScope sniff with the more comprehensive PSR2.Classes.PropertyDeclaration sniff.
• WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidFunctionName: Added a unit test confirming support for interfaces extending multiple interfaces.
• WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidVariableName: Added unit tests confirming support for multi-variable/property declarations.
• The get_name_suggestion() method has been moved from the WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidFunctionName sniff to the base Sniff class, renamed to get_snake_case_name_suggestion() and made static.
• The rulesets are now validated against the PHP_CodeSniffer XSD schema.
• Updated the custom ruleset example to use the recommended ruleset syntax for PHP_CodeSniffer 3.3.1+, including using the new array property format which is now supported.
• Dev: The command to run the unit tests has changed. Please see the updated instructions in the CONTRIBUTING.md file. The bin/pre-commit example git hook has been updated to match. Additionally a run-tests script has been added to the composer.json file for your convenience. To facilitate this, PHPUnit has been added to require-dev, even though it is strictly speaking a dependency of PHPCS, not of WPCS.
• Dev: The DealerDirect PHPCS Composer plugin has been added to require-dev.
• Various code tweaks and clean up.
• User facing documentation, including the wiki, as well as inline documentation has been updated for all the changes contained in WordPressCS 2.0 and other recommended best practices for PHP_CodeSniffer 3.3.1+.

Deprecated

• The use of the WordPressCS native whitelist comments, which were introduced in WPCS 0.4.0, have been deprecated and support will be removed in WPCS 3.0.0. The WordPressCS native whitelist comments will continue to work for now, but a deprecation warning will be thrown when they are encountered. You are encouraged to upgrade our whitelist comment to use the PHPCS native selective ignore annotations as introduced in PHP_CodeSniffer 3.2.0, as soon as possible.

Removed

• Support for PHP 5.3. PHP 5.4 is the minimum requirement for PHP_CodeSniffer 3.x. Includes removing any and all workarounds which were in place to still support PHP 5.3.
• Support for PHP_CodeSniffer < 3.3.1. Includes removing any and all workarounds which were in place for supporting older PHP_CodeSniffer versions.
• The WordPress-VIP standard which was deprecated since WordPressCS 1.0.0. For checking a theme/plugin for hosting on the WordPress.com VIP platform, please use the Automattic VIP coding standards instead.
• Support for array properties set in a custom ruleset without the type="array" attribute. Support for this was deprecated in WPCS 1.0.0. If in doubt about how properties should be set in your custom ruleset, please refer to the Customizable sniff properties wiki page which contains XML code examples for setting each and every WPCS native sniff property. As the minimum PHP_CodeSniffer version is now 3.3.1, you can now also use the new format for setting array properties, so this would be a great moment to review and update your custom ruleset. Note: the ability to set select properties from the command-line as comma-delimited strings is not affected by this change.
• The following sniffs have been removed outright without deprecation. If you are referencing these sniffs in a ruleset XML file or in inline annotations, please update these to reference the replacement sniffs instead.
  • WordPress.Functions.FunctionCallSignatureNoParams - superseded by a bug fix in the upstream PEAR.Functions.FunctionCallSignature sniff.
  • WordPress.PHP.DiscourageGoto - replaced by the same sniff which is now available upstream: Generic.PHP.DiscourageGoto.
  • WordPress.WhiteSpace.SemicolonSpacing - superseded by a bug fix in the upstream Squiz.WhiteSpace.SemicolonSpacing sniff.
  • WordPress.WhiteSpace.ArbitraryParenthesesSpacing - replaced by the same sniff which is now available upstream: Generic.WhiteSpace.ArbitraryParenthesesSpacing.
• The following "base" sniffs which were previously already deprecated and turned into abstract base classes, have been removed:
  • WordPress.Arrays.ArrayAssignmentRestrictions - use the AbstractArrayAssignmentRestrictionsSniff class instead.
  • WordPress.Functions.FunctionRestrictions - use the AbstractFunctionRestrictionsSniff class instead.
  • WordPress.Variables.VariableRestrictions without replacement.
• The following sniffs which were previously deprecated, have been removed:
  • WordPress.Arrays.ArrayDeclaration - use the other sniffs in the WordPress.Arrays category instead.
  • WordPress.CSRF.NonceVerification - use WordPress.Security.NonceVerification instead.
  • WordPress.Functions.DontExtract - use WordPress.PHP.DontExtract instead.
  • WordPress.Variables.GlobalVariables - use WordPress.WP.GlobalVariablesOverride instead.
  • WordPress.VIP.CronInterval - use WordPress.WP.CronInterval instead.
  • WordPress.VIP.DirectDatabaseQuery - use WordPress.DB.DirectDatabaseQuery instead.
  • WordPress.VIP.PluginMenuSlug - use WordPress.Security.PluginMenuSlug instead.
  • WordPress.VIP.SlowDBQuery - use WordPress.DB.SlowDBQuery instead.
  • WordPress.VIP.TimezoneChange - use WordPress.WP.TimezoneChange instead.
  • WordPress.VIP.ValidatedSanitizedInput - use WordPress.Security.ValidatedSanitizedInput instead.
  • WordPress.WP.PreparedSQL - use WordPress.DB.PreparedSQL instead.
  • WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput - use WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput instead.
  • WordPress.PHP.DiscouragedFunctions without direct replacement. The checks previously contained in this sniff were moved to separate sniffs in WPCS 0.11.0.
  • WordPress.Variables.VariableRestrictions without replacement.
  • WordPress.VIP.AdminBarRemoval without replacement.
  • WordPress.VIP.FileSystemWritesDisallow without replacement.
  • WordPress.VIP.OrderByRand without replacement.
  • WordPress.VIP.PostsPerPage without replacement. Part of the previous functionality was split off in WPCS 1.0.0 to the WordPress.WP.PostsPerPage sniff.
  • WordPress.VIP.RestrictedFunctions without replacement.
  • WordPress.VIP.RestrictedVariables without replacement.
  • WordPress.VIP.SessionFunctionsUsage without replacement.
  • WordPress.VIP.SessionVariableUsage without replacement.
  • WordPress.VIP.SuperGlobalInputUsage without replacement.
• The WordPress.DB.SlowDBQuery.DeprecatedWhitelistFlagFound error code which is superseded by the blanket deprecation warning for using the now deprecated WPCS native whitelist comments.
• The WordPress.PHP.TypeCasts.NonLowercaseFound error code which has been replaced by the upstream Generic.PHP.LowerCaseType sniff.
• The WordPress.PHP.TypeCasts.LongBoolFound and WordPress.PHP.TypeCasts.LongIntFound error codes which has been replaced by the new upstream PSR12.Keywords.ShortFormTypeKeywords sniff.
• The WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput.OutputNotEscapedShortEcho error code which was only ever used if WPCS was run on PHP 5.3 with the short_open_tag ini directive set to off.
• The following sniff categories which were previously deprecated, have been removed, though select categories may be reinstated in the future:
  • CSRF
  • Functions
  • Variables
  • VIP
  • XSS
• WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidVariableName: The customVariableWhitelist property, which had been deprecated since WordPressCS 0.11.0. Use the customPropertiesWhitelist property instead.
• WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput: The customSanitizingFunctions property, which had been deprecated since WordPressCS 0.5.0. Use the customEscapingFunctions property instead.
• WordPress.Security.NonceVerification: The errorForSuperGlobals and warnForSuperGlobals properties, which had been deprecated since WordPressCS 0.12.0.
• The vip_powered_wpcom function from the Sniff::$autoEscapedFunctions list which is used by the WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput sniff.
• The AbstractVariableRestrictionsSniff class, which was deprecated since WordPressCS 1.0.0.
• The Sniff::has_html_open_tag() utility method, which was deprecated since WordPressCS 1.0.0.
• The internal $php_reserved_vars property from the WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidVariableName sniff in favour of using a PHPCS native property which is now available.
• The class aliases and WPCS native autoloader used for PHPCS cross-version support.
• The unit test framework workarounds for PHPCS cross-version unit testing.
• Support for the @codingStandardsChangeSetting annotation, which is generally only used in unit tests.
• The old generic GitHub issue template which was replaced by more specific issue templates in WPCS 1.2.0.

Fixed

• Support for PHP 7.3. PHP_CodeSniffer < 3.3.1 was not fully compatible with PHP 7.3. Now the minimum required PHPCS has been upped to PHP_CodeSniffer 3.3.1, WordPressCS will run on PHP 7.3 without issue.
• WordPress.Arrays.ArrayDeclarationSpacing: improved fixing of the placement of array items following an array item with a trailing multi-line comment.
• WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidFunctionName: the sniff will no longer throw false positives nor duplicate errors for methods declared in nested anonymous classes. The error message has also been improved for methods in anonymous classes.
• WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidFunctionName: the sniff will no longer throw false positives for PHP 4-style class constructors/destructors where the name of the constructor/destructor method did not use the same case as the class name.

1.2.1 - 2018-12-18

Note: This will be the last release supporting PHP_CodeSniffer 2.x.

Changed

• The default value for minimum_supported_wp_version, as used by a number of sniffs detecting usage of deprecated WP features, has been updated to 4.7.
• The WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniff will now report the error for hook names and constant names declared with define() on the line containing the parameter for the hook/constant name. Previously, it would report the error on the line containing the function call.
• Various minor housekeeping fixes to inline documentation, rulesets, code.

Removed

• comment_author_email_link(), comment_author_email(), comment_author_IP(), comment_author_link(), comment_author_rss(), comment_author_url_link(), comment_author_url(), comment_author(), comment_date(), comment_excerpt(), comment_form_title(), comment_form(), comment_id_fields(), comment_ID(), comment_reply_link(), comment_text_rss(), comment_text(), comment_time(), comment_type(), comments_link(), comments_number(), comments_popup_link(), comments_popup_script(), comments_rss_link(), delete_get_calendar_cache(), edit_bookmark_link(), edit_comment_link(), edit_post_link(), edit_tag_link(), get_footer(), get_header(), get_sidebar(), get_the_title(), next_comments_link(), next_image_link(), next_post_link(), next_posts_link(), permalink_anchor(), posts_nav_link(), previous_comments_link(), previous_image_link(), previous_post_link(), previous_posts_link(), sticky_class(), the_attachment_link(), the_author_link(), the_author_meta(), the_author_posts_link(), the_author_posts(), the_category_rss(), the_category(), the_content_rss(), the_content(), the_date_xml(), the_excerpt_rss(), the_excerpt(), the_feed_link(), the_ID(), the_meta(), the_modified_author(), the_modified_date(), the_modified_time(), the_permalink(), the_post_thumbnail(), the_search_query(), the_shortlink(), the_tags(), the_taxonomies(), the_terms(), the_time(), the_title_rss(), the_title(), wp_enqueue_script(), wp_meta(), wp_shortlink_header() and wp_shortlink_wp_head() from the list of auto-escaped functions Sniff::$autoEscapedFunctions. This affects the WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput sniff.

Fixed

• The WordPress.WhiteSpace.PrecisionAlignment sniff would loose the value of a custom set ignoreAlignmentTokens property when scanning more than one file.

1.2.0 - 2018-11-12

Added

• New WordPress.PHP.TypeCasts sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset. This new sniff checks that PHP type casts are:
  • lowercase;
  • short form, i.e. (bool) not (boolean);
  • normalized, i.e. (float) not (real). Additionally, the new sniff discourages the use of the (unset) and (binary) type casts.
• New WordPress.Utils.I18nTextDomainFixer sniff which can compehensively replace/add text-domains in a plugin or theme. Important notes:
  • This sniff is disabled by default and intended as a utility tool.
  • The sniff will fix the text domains in all I18n function calls as well as in a plugin/theme Text Domain: header.
  • Passing the following properties will activate the sniff:
    • old_text_domain: an array with one or more (old) text domains which need to be replaced;
    • new_text_domain: the correct (new) text domain as a string.
• The WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniff will now also verify that namespace names use a valid prefix.
  • The sniff allows for underscores and (other) non-word characters in a passed prefix to be converted to namespace separators when used in a namespace name. In other words, if a prefix of my_plugin is passed as a value to the prefixes property, a namespace name of both My\Plugin as well as My_Plugin\\, will be accepted automatically.
  • Passing a prefix property value containing namespace separators will now also be allowed and will no longer trigger a warning.
• WordPress to the prefix blacklist for the WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniff. While the prefix cannot be WordPress, a prefix can still start with or contain WordPress.
• Additional unit tests covering a change in the tokenizer which will be included in the upcoming PHP_CodeSniffer 3.4.0 release.
• A variety of issue templates for use on GitHub.

Changed

• The Sniff::valid_direct_scope() method will now return the $stackPtr to the valid scope if a valid direct scope has been detected. Previously, it would return true.
• Minor hardening and efficiency improvements to the WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniff.
• The inline documentation of the WordPress-Core ruleset has been updated to be in line again with the handbook.
• The inline links to documentation about the VIP requirements have been updated.
• Updated the custom ruleset example to recommend using PHPCompatibilityWP rather than PHPCompatibility.
• All sniffs are now also being tested against PHP 7.3 for consistent sniff results. Note: PHP 7.3 is only supported in combination with PHPCS 3.3.1 or higher as PHP_CodeSniffer itself has an incompatibility in earlier versions.
• Minor grammar fixes in text strings and documentation.
• Minor consistency improvement for the unit test case files.
• Minor tweaks to the composer.json file.
• Updated the PHPCompatibility dev dependency.

Removed

• The WordPress.WhiteSpace.CastStructureSpacing.NoSpaceAfterCloseParenthesis error code as an error for the same issue was already being thrown by an included upstream sniff.

Fixed

• The WordPress.CodeAnalysis.EmptyStatement would throw a false positive for an empty condition in a for() statement.
• The Sniff::is_class_property() method could, in certain circumstances, incorrectly recognize parameters in a method declaration as class properties. It would also, incorrectly, fail to recognize class properties when the object they are declared in, was nested in parentheses. This affected, amongst others, the GlobalVariablesOverride sniff.
• The Sniff::get_declared_namespace_name() method could get confused over whitespace and comments within a namespace name, which could lead to incorrect results (mostly underreporting). This affected, amongst others, the GlobalVariablesOverride sniff. The return value of the method will now no longer contain any whitespace or comments encountered.
• The Sniff::has_whitelist_comment() method would sometimes incorrectly regard // phpcs:set comments as whitelist comments.

1.1.0 - 2018-09-10

Added

• New WordPress.PHP.NoSilencedErrors sniff. This sniff replaces the Generic.PHP.NoSilencedErrors sniff which was previously used and included in the WordPress-Core ruleset. The WordPress specific version of the sniff differs from the PHPCS version in that it:
  • Allows the error control operator @ if it preceeds a function call to a limited list of PHP functions for which no amount of error checking can prevent a PHP warning from being thrown.
  • Allows for a used-defined list of (additional) function names to be passed to the sniff via the custom_whitelist property in a custom ruleset, for which - if the error control operator is detected in front of a function call to one of the functions in this whitelist - no warnings will be thrown.
  • Displays a brief snippet of code in the warning message text to show the context in which the error control operator is being used. The length of the snippet (in tokens) can be customized via the context_length property.
  • Contains a public use_default_whitelist property which can be set from a custom ruleset which regulates whether or not the standard whitelist of PHP functions should be used by the sniff. The user-defined whitelist will always be respected. By default, this property is set to true for the WordPress-Core ruleset and to false for the WordPress-Extra ruleset (which is stricter regarding these kind of best practices).
• Metrics to the WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniff to aid people in determining the most commonly used prefix in a legacy project. For an example of how to use this feature, please see the detailed explanation in the pull request.

Changed

• The PEAR.Functions.FunctionCallSignature sniff, which is part of the WordPress-Core ruleset, used to allow multiple function call parameters per line in multi-line function calls. This will no longer be allowed. As of this release, if a function call is multi-line, each parameter should start on a new line and an error will be thrown if the code being analysed does not comply with that rule. The sniff behaviour for single-line function calls is not affected by this change.
• Moved the WordPress.CodeAnalysis.EmptyStatement sniff from the WordPress-Extra to the WordPress-Core ruleset.
• Moved the Squiz.PHP.CommentedOutCode sniff from the WordPress-Docs to the WordPress-Extra ruleset and lowered the threshold for determining whether or not a comment is commented out code from 45% to 40%.
• The WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniff now has improved support for recognizing whether or not (non-prefixed) globals are declared in the context of unit tests.
• The is_foreach_as() method has been moved from the GlobalVariablesOverrideSniff class to the WordPress Sniff base class.
• The Sniff::is_token_in_test_method() utility method now has improved support for recognizing test methods in anonymous classes.
• Minor efficiency improvement to the Sniff::is_safe_casted() method.
• CI: Minor tweaks to the Travis script.
• CI: Improved Composer scripts for use by WPCS developers.
• Dev: Removed IDE specific files from .gitignore.
• Readme: Improved the documentation about the project history and the badge display.

Fixed

• The WordPress.Security.ValidatedSanitizedInput sniff will now recognize array keys in superglobals independently of the string quote-style used for the array key.
• The WordPress.WhiteSpace.PrecisionAlignment sniff will no longer throw false positives for DocBlocks for JavaScript functions within inline HTML.
• WordPress.WP.DeprecatedClasses: The error codes for this sniff were unstable as they were based on the code being analysed instead of on fixed values.
• Various bugfixes for the WordPress.WP.GlobalVariablesOverride sniff:
  • Previously, the sniff only checked variables in the global namespace when a global statement would be encountered. As of now, all variable assignments in the global namespace will be checked.
  • Nested functions/closures/classes which don't import the global variable will now be skipped over when encountered within another function, preventing false positives.
  • Parameters in function declarations will no longer throw false positives.
  • The error message for assignments to a subkey of the $GLOBALS superglobal has been improved.
  • Various efficiency improvements.
• The Sniff::is_in_isset_or_empty() method presumed the WordPress coding style regarding code layout, which could lead to incorrect results (mostly underreporting). This affected, amongst others, the WordPress.Security.ValidatedSanitizedInput sniff.
• Broken links in the inline developer documentation.

1.0.0 - 2018-07-25

Important information about this release:

If you use the WordPress Coding Standards with a custom ruleset, please be aware that a number of sniffs have been moved between categories and that the old sniff names have been deprecated. If you selectively include any of these sniffs in your custom ruleset or set custom property values for these sniffs, your custom ruleset will need to be updated.

The WordPress-VIP ruleset has also been deprecated. If you used that ruleset to check your theme/plugin for hosting on the WordPress.com VIP platform, please use the Automattic VIP coding standards instead. If you used that ruleset for any other reason, you should probably use the WordPress-Extra or WordPress ruleset instead.

These and some related changes have been annotated in detail in the Deprecated section of this changelog.

Please read the complete changelog carefully before you upgrade.

If you are a maintainer of an external standard based on WPCS and any of your custom sniffs are based on or extend WPCS sniffs, the same applies.

Added

• WordPress.PHP.PregQuoteDelimiter sniff to the WordPress-Extra ruleset to warn about calls to preg_quote() which don't pass the $delimiter parameter.
• WordPress.Security.SafeRedirect sniff to the WordPress-Extra ruleset to warn about potential open redirect vulnerabilities.
• WordPress.WP.DeprecatedParameterValues sniff to the WordPress-Extra ruleset to detect deprecated parameter values being passed to select functions.
• WordPress.WP.EnqueuedResourceParameters sniff to the WordPress-Extra ruleset to detect:
  • Calls to the script/style register/enqueue functions which don't pass a $version for the script/style, which can cause issues with browser caching; and/or
  • Calls to the register/enqueue script functions which don't pass the $in_footer parameter, which causes scripts - by default - to be loaded in the HTML header in a layout rendering blocking manner.
• Detection of calls to strip_tags() and various PHP native ..rand() functions to the WordPress.WP.AlternativeFunctions sniff.
• readonly() to the list of auto-escaped functions Sniff::$autoEscapedFunctions. This affects the WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput sniff.
• The WordPress.Security.PluginMenuSlug, WordPress.WP.CronInterval, WordPress.WP.PostsPerPage and WordPress.WP.TimezoneChange sniffs are now included in the WordPress-Extra ruleset. Previously, they were already included in the WordPress and WordPress-VIP rulesets.
• New utility method Sniff::is_use_of_global_constant().
• A rationale to the package suggestion made via composer.json.
• CI: Validation of the composer.json file on each build.
• A wiki page with instructions on how to set up WPCS to run with Eclipse on XAMPP.
• Readme: A link to an external resource with more examples for setting up PHPCS for CI.
• Readme: A badge-based quick overview of the project.

Changed

• The WordPress ruleset no longer includes the WordPress-VIP ruleset, nor does it include any of the (deprecated) VIP sniffs anymore.
• The following sniffs have been moved to a new category:
  • CronInterval from the VIP category to the WP category.
  • DirectDatabaseQuery from the VIP category to the DB category.
  • DontExtract from the Functions category to the PHP category.
  • EscapeOutput from the XSS category to the Security category.
  • GlobalVariables from the Variables category to the WP category.
  • NonceVerification from the CSRF category to the Security category.
  • PluginMenuSlug from the VIP category to the Security category.
  • PreparedSQL from the WP category to the DB category.
  • SlowDBQuery from the VIP category to the DB category.
  • TimezoneChange from the VIP category to the WP category.
  • ValidatedSanitizedInput from the VIP category to the Security category.
• The WordPress.VIP.PostsPerPage sniff has been split into two distinct sniffs:
  • WordPress.WP.PostsPerPage which will check for the use of a high pagination limit and will throw a warning when this is encountered. For the VIP ruleset, the error level remains error.
  • WordPress.VIP.PostsPerPage wich will check for disabling of pagination.
• The default value for minimum_supported_wp_version, as used by a number of sniffs detecting usage of deprecated WP features, has been updated to 4.6.
• The WordPress.WP.AlternativeFunctions sniff will now only throw a warning if/when the recommended alternative function is available in the minimum supported WP version of a project. In addition to this, certain alternatives are only valid alternatives in certain circumstances, like when the WP version only supports the first parameter of the PHP function it is trying to replace. This will now be taken into account for:
  • wp_strip_all_tags() is only a valid alternative for the PHP native strip_tags() when the second parameter $allowed_tags has not been passed.
  • wp_parse_url() only added support for the second parameter $component of the PHP native parse_url() function in WP 4.7.0.
• The WordPress.WP.DeprecatedFunctions sniff will now detect functions deprecated in WP 4.9.
• The WordPress.WP.GlobalVariablesOverride sniff will now display the name of the variable being overridden in the error message.
• The WordPress.WP.I18n sniff now extends the AbstractFunctionRestrictionSniff.
• Assignments in conditions in ternaries as detected by the WordPress.CodeAnalysis.AssignmentInCondition sniff will now be reported under a separate error code FoundInTernaryCondition.
• The default error level for the notices from the WordPress.DB.DirectDatabaseQuery sniff has been lowered from error to warning. For the VIP ruleset, the error level remains error.
• The default error level for the notices from the WordPress.Security.PluginMenuSlug sniff has been lowered from error to warning. For the VIP ruleset, the error level remains error.
• The default error level for the notices from the WordPress.WP.CronInterval sniff has been lowered from error to warning. For the VIP ruleset, the error level remains error.
• The Sniff::get_function_call_parameters() utility method now has improved handling of closures when passed as function call parameters.
• Rulesets: a number of error codes were previously silenced by explicitly exclude-ing them. Now, they will be silenced by setting the severity to 0 which makes it more easily discoverable for maintainers of custom rulesets how to enable these error codes again.
• Various performance optimizations which should most notably make a difference when running WPCS on PHP 7.
• References to the WordPress.com VIP platform have been clarified.
• Unit Tests: custom properties set in unit test files are reset after use.
• Various improvements to the ruleset used by the WPCS project itself and minor code clean up related to this.
• CI: Each change will now also be tested against the lowest supported PHPCS 3 version.
• CI: Each change will now also be checked for PHP cross-version compatibility.
• CI: The rulesets will now also be tested on each change to ensure no unexpected messages are thrown.
• CI: Minor changes to the script to make the build testing faster.
• Updated the custom ruleset example for the changes contained in this release and to reflect current best practices regarding the PHPCompatibility standard.
• The instructions on how to set up WPCS for various IDEs have been moved from the README to the wiki.
• Updated output examples in README.md and CONTRIBUTING.md and other minor changes to these files.
• Updated references to the PHPCompatibility standard to reflect its new location and recommend using PHPCompatibilityWP.

Deprecated

• The WordPress-VIP ruleset has been deprecated. For checking a theme/plugin for hosting on the WordPress.com VIP platform, please use the Automattic VIP coding standards instead. If you used the WordPress-VIP ruleset for any other reason, you should probably use the WordPress-Extra or WordPress ruleset instead.
• The following sniffs have been deprecated and will be removed in WPCS 2.0.0:
  • WordPress.CSRF.NonceVerification - use WordPress.Security.NonceVerification instead.
  • WordPress.Functions.DontExtract - use WordPress.PHP.DontExtract instead.
  • WordPress.Variables.GlobalVariables - use WordPress.WP.GlobalVariablesOverride instead.
  • WordPress.VIP.CronInterval - use WordPress.WP.CronInterval instead.
  • WordPress.VIP.DirectDatabaseQuery - use WordPress.DB.DirectDatabaseQuery instead.
  • WordPress.VIP.PluginMenuSlug - use WordPress.Security.PluginMenuSlug instead.
  • WordPress.VIP.SlowDBQuery - use WordPress.DB.SlowDBQuery instead.
  • WordPress.VIP.TimezoneChange - use WordPress.WP.TimezoneChange instead.
  • WordPress.VIP.ValidatedSanitizedInput - use WordPress.Security.ValidatedSanitizedInput instead.
  • WordPress.WP.PreparedSQL - use WordPress.DB.PreparedSQL instead.
  • WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput - use WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput instead.
  • WordPress.VIP.AdminBarRemoval without replacement.
  • WordPress.VIP.FileSystemWritesDisallow without replacement.
  • WordPress.VIP.OrderByRand without replacement.
  • WordPress.VIP.RestrictedFunctions without replacement.
  • WordPress.VIP.RestrictedVariables without replacement.
  • WordPress.VIP.SessionFunctionsUsage without replacement.
  • WordPress.VIP.SessionVariableUsage without replacement.
  • WordPress.VIP.SuperGlobalInputUsage without replacement.
• The following sniff categories have been deprecated and will be removed in WPCS 2.0.0:
  • CSRF
  • Variables
  • XSS
• The posts_per_page property in the WordPress.VIP.PostsPerPage sniff has been deprecated as the related functionality has been moved to the WordPress.WP.PostsPerPage sniff. See WP PostsPerPage: post limit for more information about this property.
• The exclude property which is available to most sniffs which extend the AbstractArrayAssignmentRestrictions, AbstractFunctionRestrictions and AbstractVariableRestrictions classes or any of their children, used to be a string property and expected a comma-delimited list of groups to exclude. The type of the property has now been changed to array. Custom rulesets which pass this property need to be adjusted to reflect this change. Support for passing the property as a comma-delimited string has been deprecated and will be removed in WPCS 2.0.0. See Excluding a group of checks for more information about the sniffs affected by this change.
• The AbstractVariableRestrictionsSniff class has been deprecated as all sniffs depending on this class have been deprecated. Unless a new sniff is created in the near future which uses this class, the abstract class will be removed in WPCS 2.0.0.
• The Sniff::has_html_open_tag() utility method has been deprecated as it is now only used by deprecated sniffs. The method will be removed in WPCS 2.0.0.

Removed

• cancel_comment_reply_link(), get_bookmark(), get_comment_date(), get_comment_time(), get_template_part(), has_post_thumbnail(), is_attachement(), post_password_required() and wp_attachment_is_image() from the list of auto-escaped functions Sniff::$autoEscapedFunctions. This affects the WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput sniff.
• WPCS no longer explicitly supports HHVM and builds are no longer tested against HHVM. For now, running WPCS on HHVM to test PHP code may still work for a little while, but HHVM has announced they are dropping PHP support.

Fixed

• Compatibility with PHP 7.3. A change in PHP 7.3 was causing the WordPress.DB.RestrictedClasses, WordPress.DB.RestrictedFunctions and the WordPress.WP.AlternativeFunctions sniffs to fail to correctly detect issues.
• Compatibility with the latest releases from PHP_CodeSniffer. PHPCS 3.2.0 introduced new annotations which can be used inline to selectively disable/ignore certain sniffs. Note: The initial implementation of the new annotations was buggy. If you intend to start using these new style annotations, you are strongly advised to use PHPCS 3.3.0 or higher. For more information about these annotations, please refer to the PHPCS Wiki.
  • The WPCS native whitelist comments can now be combined with the new style PHPCS whitelist annotations in the -- for reasons part of the annotation.
  • WordPress.Arrays.ArrayDeclarationSpacing: the fixer will now handle the new style annotations correctly.
  • WordPress.Arrays.CommaAfterArrayItem: prevent a fixer loop when new style annotations are encountered.
  • WordPress.Files.FileName: respect the new style annotations if these would selectively disable this sniff.
  • WordPress.WhiteSpace.ControlStructureSpacing: handle the new style annotations correctly for the "blank line at the start/end of control structure" checks and prevent a fixer conflict when the new style annotations are encountered.
  • WordPress.WhiteSpace.PrecisionAlignment: allow for checking of for precision alignment on lines containing new style annotations when phpcs is run with --ignore-annotations.
• The Sniff::is_test_class() method now has improved recognition of namespaced test classes. This positively affects the WordPress.Files.FileName, WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals and WordPress.WP.GlobalVariablesOverride sniffs, which each allow for test classes to (partially) not comply with the rules these sniffs check for. This fixes the following bugs:
  • Namespaced classes where the classname was one of the whitelisted global classes would incorrectly be recognized as a test class, even though they were not the same class. This also happened if a namespaced class extended one of the whitelisted global classes.
  • A namespaced custom test class where the name was split between the namespace declaration and the extended class declaration was not correctly recognized as the whitelisted test class.
  • A namespaced test class which extended another class using a FQCN prefixed with a \\ would not be correctly recognized.
  • The custom_test_class_whitelist property which is available for each of these sniffs expects to be passed a Fully Qualified Class Name. FQCNs prefixed with a global namespace indicator will now be correctly handled.
• The determination of whether a T_STRING is a function call or not has been improved in the AbstractFunctionRestrictions class. This improvement benefits all sniffs which extend this abstract and any of its children (> 10 sniffs) and fixes the following false positives:
  • Class declarations will no longer be confused with function calls.
  • Use statement alias declarations will no longer be confused with function calls.
• Various bugs in the WordPress.Arrays.ArrayIndentation sniff:
  • The sniff will no longer throw false positives or try to fix multi-line text strings where the closing quote is on a line by itself.
  • The sniff would go into a fixer loop when it encountered a multi-line trailing comment after an array item.
• The WordPress.CodeAnalysis.AssignmentInCondition was throwing false positives for ternaries in nested, but unrelated, parentheses.
• The WordPress.CodeAnalysis.EmptyStatement and WordPress.Files.FileName sniffs underreported as they did not take PHP short open echo tags into account.
• Various bugs in the WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniff:
  • Parameters in a closure declaration were incorrectly being regarded as global variables.
  • Non-prefixed variables created by a foreach() construct in the global namespace were previously not detected.
  • Non-prefixed globals found in namespaced test classes should be ignored by the sniff, but were not.
  • Definition of non-prefixed global WP constants which are intended to be overruled, should not trigger an error from this sniff.
  • The sniff presumed the WP naming conventions for PHP constructs, while it should check for the construct being prefixed regardless of whether camelCase, PascalCase, snake_case or other naming conventions are used.
  • The sniff presumed the WP naming conventions for prefixes used in hook names. The sniff will now be more tolerant when non-conventional word separators are used in prefixes for hooks.
• The WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidFunctionName sniff no longer "hides" one message behind another. The sniff will now correctly throw a message about function names not being in snake_case, even when the FunctionDoubleUnderscore or MethodDoubleUnderscore error codes have been excluded.
• The WordPress.PHP.StrictInArray sniff will no longer throw an error when in_array, array_search or array_keys are used in a file use statement.
• Various bugs in the WordPress.Security.EscapeOutput sniff:
  • A limited list of native PHP constants which are safe to use, such as PHP_EOL, has been added. When any of these constants are encountered, the sniff will no longer demand output escaping for them.
  • The sniff was underreporting issues with variables passed to trigger_error().
  • While reporting an issue, sometimes the wrong error message was used. The sniff logic has been adjusted to prevent this.
  • The sniff will now correctly ignore the open and close brackets of short arrays.
  • The sniff would throw false positives when echo, print, exit or die were encountered as constants, function or class names. While it may not be a good idea to use PHP keywords in such a way, it is allowed, so the sniff should handle this correctly.
• The WordPress.WhiteSpace.ControlStructureSpacing sniff would inadvertently throw an error for the spacing around the colon for a return type in a function declaration.
• The WordPress.WP.AlternativeFunctions sniff used to flag all function calls to file_get_contents() twice, suggesting to use wp_remote_get() - which is only applicable for remote URLs - and the WP_FileSystem API - which is not needed when just reading local files. These messages contradicted each other. The sniff will now try to determine whether the file requested is local or remote and will only throw a warning suggesting to use wp_remote_get(), if a remote URL is being requested or when it could not be determined if the requested file is local or remote.
• The expected default value for wp_upload_bits() in the WordPress.WP.DeprecatedParameters sniff.
• The WordPress.WP.GlobalVariablesOverride sniff previously did not detect variables created by a foreach() construct which would override WP global variables.
• Various bugs in the WordPress.WP.I18n sniff:
  • The sniff will no longer throw false positives for calls to methods carrying the same name as any of the global WP functions being targeted and has improved handling of parse errors and live coding.
  • A numeric 0 would throw a false positive for "no translatable content found".
• The fixer in the WordPress.WhiteSpace.ControlStructureSpacing sniff will no longer inadvertently remove return type declarations.
• Various bugs in the WordPress.WhiteSpace.PrecisionAlignment sniff:
  • Inline HTML before the first PHP open tag was not being examined.
  • Files which only contained short open echo tags for PHP were not being examined.
  • The last line of inline HTML in a file was not being examined.
• Some best practice sniffs presumed the WordPress coding style regarding code layout, which could lead to incorrect results (mostly underreporting). The following sniffs have received fixes related to this:
  • WordPress.DB.PreparedSQL
  • WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidVariableName
  • WordPress.WP.CronInterval
  • WordPress.WP.I18n
• Various minor fixes based on visual inspection and Scrutinizer analysis feedback.
• Typo in the instructions contained in CONTRIBUTING.md.
• Broken link in the README.md file.

0.14.1 - 2018-02-15

Fixed

• The WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniff contained a bug which could inadvertently trigger class autoloading of the project being sniffed and by extension could cause fatal errors during the PHPCS run.

0.14.0 - 2017-11-01

Added

• WordPress.Arrays.MultipleStatementAlignment sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset which will align the array assignment operator for multi-item, multi-line associative arrays. This new sniff offers four custom properties to customize its behaviour: ignoreNewlines, exact, maxColumn and alignMultilineItems.
• WordPress.DB.PreparedSQLPlaceholders sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset which will analyse the placeholders passed to $wpdb->prepare() for their validity, check whether queries using IN () and LIKE statements are created correctly and will check whether a correct number of replacements are passed. This sniff should help detect queries which are impacted by the security fixes to $wpdb->prepare() which shipped with WP 4.8.2 and 4.8.3. The sniff also adds a new "PreparedSQLPlaceholders replacement count" whitelist comment for pertinent replacement count vs placeholder mismatches. Please consider carefully whether something could be a bug when you are tempted to use the whitelist comment and if so, report it.
• WordPress.PHP.DiscourageGoto sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset.
• WordPress.PHP.RestrictedFunctions sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset which initially forbids the use of create_function(). This was previous only discouraged under certain circumstances.
• WordPress.WhiteSpace.ArbitraryParenthesesSpacing sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset which checks the spacing on the inside of arbitrary parentheses.
• WordPress.WhiteSpace.PrecisionAlignment sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset which will throw a warning when precision alignment is detected in PHP, JS and CSS files.
• WordPress.WhiteSpace.SemicolonSpacing sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset which will throw a (fixable) error when whitespace is found before a semi-colon, except for when the semi-colon denotes an empty for() condition.
• WordPress.CodeAnalysis.AssignmentInCondition sniff to the WordPress-Extra ruleset.
• WordPress.WP.DiscouragedConstants sniff to the WordPress-Extra and WordPress-VIP rulesets to detect usage of deprecated WordPress constants, such as STYLESHEETPATH and HEADER_IMAGE.
• Ability to pass the minimum_supported_version to use for the DeprecatedFunctions, DeprecatedClasses and DeprecatedParameters sniff in one go. You can pass a minimum_supported_wp_version runtime variable for this from the command line or pass it using a config directive in a custom ruleset.
• Generic.Formatting.MultipleStatementAlignment - customized to have a maxPadding of 40 -, Generic.Functions.FunctionCallArgumentSpacing and Squiz.WhiteSpace.ObjectOperatorSpacing to the WordPress-Core ruleset.
• Squiz.Scope.MethodScope, Squiz.Scope.MemberVarScope, Squiz.WhiteSpace.ScopeKeywordSpacing, PSR2.Methods.MethodDeclaration, Generic.Files.OneClassPerFile, Generic.Files.OneInterfacePerFile, Generic.Files.OneTraitPerFile, PEAR.Files.IncludingFile, Squiz.WhiteSpace.LanguageConstructSpacing, PSR2.Namespaces.NamespaceDeclaration to the WordPress-Extra ruleset.
• The is_class_constant(), is_class_property and valid_direct_scope() utility methods to the WordPress\Sniff class.

Changed

• When passing an array property via a custom ruleset to PHP_CodeSniffer, spaces around the key/value are taken as intentional and parsed as part of the array key/value. In practice, this leads to confusion and WPCS does not expect any values which could be preceded/followed by a space, so for the WordPress Coding Standard native array properties, like customAutoEscapedFunction, text_domain, prefixes, WPCS will now trim whitespace from the keys/values received before use.
• The WPCS native whitelist comments used to only work when they were put on the end of the line of the code they applied to. As of now, they will also be recognized when they are be put at the end of the statement they apply to.
• The WordPress.Arrays.ArrayDeclarationSpacing sniff used to enforce all associative arrays to be multi-line. The handbook has been updated to only require this for multi-item associative arrays and the sniff has been updated accordingly. The original behaviour can still be enforced by setting the new allow_single_item_single_line_associative_arrays property to false in a custom ruleset.
• The WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniff will now allow for a limited list of WP core hooks which are intended to be called by plugins and themes.
• The WordPress.PHP.DiscouragedFunctions sniff used to include create_function. This check has been moved to the new WordPress.PHP.RestrictedFunctions sniff.
• The WordPress.PHP.StrictInArray sniff now has a separate error code FoundNonStrictFalse for when the $strict parameter has been set to false. This allows for excluding the warnings for that particular situation, which will normally be intentional, via a custom ruleset.
• The WordPress.VIP.CronInterval sniff now allows for customizing the minimum allowed cron interval by setting a property in a custom ruleset.
• The WordPress.VIP.RestrictedFunctions sniff used to prohibit the use of certain WP native functions, recommending the use of wpcom_vip_get_term_link(), wpcom_vip_get_term_by() and wpcom_vip_get_category_by_slug() instead, as the WP native functions were not being cached. As the results of the relevant WP native functions are cached as of WP 4.8, the advice has now been reversed i.e. use the WP native functions instead of wpcom... functions.
• The WordPress.VIP.PostsPerPage sniff now allows for customizing the post_per_page limit for which the sniff will trigger by setting a property in a custom ruleset.
• The WordPress.WP.I18n sniff will now allow and actively encourage omitting the text domain in I18n function calls if the text domain passed via the text_domain property is default, i.e. the domain used by Core. When default is one of several text domains passed via the text_domain property, the error thrown when the domain is missing has been downgraded to a warning.
• The WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff now has a separate error code OutputNotEscapedShortEcho and the error message texts have been updated.
• Moved Squiz.PHP.Eval from the WordPress-Extra and WordPress-VIP to the WordPress-Core ruleset.
• Removed two sniffs from the WordPress-VIP ruleset which were already included via the WordPress-Core ruleset.
• The unit test suite is now compatible with PHPCS 3.1.0+ and PHPUnit 6.x.
• Some tidying up of the unit test case files.
• All sniffs are now also being tested against PHP 7.2 for consistent sniff results.
• An attempt is made to detect potential fixer conflicts early via a special build test.
• Various minor documentation fixes.
• Improved the Atom setup instructions in the Readme.
• Updated the unit testing information in Contributing.
• Updated the custom ruleset example for the changes contained in this release and to make it more explicit what is recommended versus example code.
• The minimum recommended version for the suggested DealerDirect/phpcodesniffer-composer-installer Composer plugin has gone up to 0.4.3. This patch version fixes support for PHP 5.3.

Fixed

• The WordPress.Arrays.ArrayIndentation sniff did not correctly handle array items with multi-line strings as a value.
• The WordPress.Arrays.ArrayIndentation sniff did not correctly handle array items directly after an array item with a trailing comment.
• The WordPress.Classes.ClassInstantiation sniff will now correctly handle detection when using new $array['key'] or new $array[0].
• The WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniff did not allow for arbitrary word separators in hook names.
• The WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniff did not correctly recognize namespaced constants as prefixed.
• The WordPress.PHP.StrictInArray sniff would erronously trigger if the true for $strict was passed in uppercase.
• The WordPress.PHP.YodaConditions sniff could get confused over complex ternaries containing assignments. This has been remedied.
• The WordPress.WP.PreparedSQL sniff would erronously throw errors about comments found within a DB function call.
• The WordPress.WP.PreparedSQL sniff would erronously throw errors about (int), (float) and (bool) casts and would also flag the subsequent variable which had been safe casted.
• The WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff would erronously trigger when using a fully qualified function call - including the global namespace \ indicator - to one of the escaping functions.
• The lists of WP global variables and WP mixed case variables have been synchronized, which fixes some false positives.

0.13.1 - 2017-08-07

Fixed

• Fatal error when using PHPCS 3.x with the installed_paths config variable set via the ruleset.

0.13.0 - 2017-08-03

Added

• Support for PHP_CodeSniffer 3.0.2+. The minimum required PHPCS version (2.9.0) stays the same.
• Support for the PHPCS 3 --ignore-annotations command line option. If you pass this option, both PHPCS native @ignore ... annotations as well as the WPCS specific whitelist flags will be ignored.

Changed

• The minimum required PHP version is now 5.3 when used in combination with PHPCS 2.x and PHP 5.4 when used in combination with PHPCS 3.x.
• The way the unit tests can be run is now slightly different for PHPCS 2.x versus 3.x. For more details, please refer to the updated information in the Contributing Guidelines.
• Release archives will no longer contain the unit tests and other typical development files. You can still get these by using Composer with --prefer-source or by checking out a git clone of the repository.
• Various textual improvements to the Readme.
• Various textual improvements to the Contributing Guidelines.
• Minor internal changes.

Removed

• The WordPress.Arrays.ArrayDeclaration sniff has been deprecated. The last remaining checks this sniff contained have been moved to the WordPress.Arrays.ArrayDeclarationSpacing sniff.
• Work-arounds which were in place to support PHP 5.2.

Fixed

• A minor bug where the auto-fixer could accidentally remove a comment near an array opener.

0.12.0 - 2017-07-21

Added

• A default file encoding setting to the WordPress-Core ruleset. All files sniffed will now be regarded as utf-8 by default.
• WordPress.Arrays.ArrayIndentation sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset to verify - and auto-fix - the indentation of array items and the array closer for multi-line arrays. This replaces the (partial) indentation fixing contained within the WordPress.Array.ArrayDeclarationSpacing sniff.
• WordPress.Arrays.CommaAfterArrayItem sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset to enforce that each array item is followed by a comma - except for the last item in a single-line array - and checks the spacing around the comma. This replaces (and improves) the checks which were previously included in the WordPress.Arrays.ArrayDeclaration sniff which were causing incorrect fixes and fixer conflicts.
• WordPress.Functions.FunctionCallSignatureNoParams sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset to verify that function calls without parameters do not have any whitespace between the parentheses.
• WordPress.WhiteSpace.DisallowInlineTabs to the WordPress-Core ruleset to verify - and auto-fix - that spaces are used for mid-line alignment.
• WordPress.WP.CapitalPDangit sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset to - where relevant - verify that WordPress is spelled correctly. For misspellings in text strings and comment text, the sniff can auto-fix violations.
• Squiz.Classes.SelfMemberReference whitespace related checks to the WordPress-Core ruleset and the additional check for using self rather than a FQN to the WordPress-Extra ruleset.
• Squiz.PHP.EmbeddedPhp sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset to check PHP code embedded within HTML blocks.
• PSR2.ControlStructures.SwitchDeclaration to the WordPress-Core ruleset to check for the correct layout of switch control structures.
• WordPress.Classes.ClassInstantion sniff to the WordPress-Extra ruleset to detect - and auto-fix - missing parentheses on object instantiation and superfluous whitespace in PHP and JS files. The sniff will also detect new being assigned by reference.
• WordPress.CodeAnalysis.EmptyStatement sniff to the WordPress-Extra ruleset to detect - and auto-fix - superfluous semi-colons and empty PHP open-close tag combinations.
• WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniff to the WordPress-Extra ruleset to verify that all functions, classes, interfaces, traits, variables, constants and hook names which are declared/defined in the global namespace are prefixed with one of the prefixes provided via a custom property or via the command line. To activate this sniff, one or more allowed prefixes should be provided to the sniff. This can be done using a custom ruleset or via the command line. PHP superglobals and WP global variables are exempt from variable name prefixing. Deprecated hook names will also be disregarded when non-prefixed. Back-fills for known native PHP functionality is also accounted for. For verified exceptions, unprefixed code can be whitelisted. Code in unit test files is automatically exempt from this sniff.
• WordPress.WP.DeprecatedClasses sniff to the WordPress-Extra ruleset to detect usage of deprecated WordPress classes.
• WordPress.WP.DeprecatedParameters sniff to the WordPress-Extra ruleset to detect deprecated parameters being passed to WordPress functions with a value other than the expected default.
• The sanitize_textarea_field() function to the sanitizingFunctions list used by the WordPress.CSRF.NonceVerification, WordPress.VIP.ValidatedSanitizedInput and WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniffs.
• The find_array_open_closer() utility method to the WordPress_Sniff class.
• Information about setting installed_paths using a custom ruleset to the Readme.
• Additional support links to the composer.json file.
• Support for Composer PHPCS plugins which sort out the installed_paths setting.
• Linting and code-style check of the XML ruleset files provided by WPCS.

Changed

• The minimum required PHP_CodeSniffer version to 2.9.0 (was 2.8.1). Take note: PHPCS 3.x is not (yet) supported. The next release is expected to fix that.
• Improved support for detecting issues in code using heredoc and/or nowdoc syntax.
• Improved sniff efficiency, precision and performance for a number of sniffs.
• Updated a few sniffs to take advantage of new features and fixes which are included in PHP_CodeSniffer 2.9.0.
• WordPress.Files.Filename: The "file name mirrors the class name prefixed with 'class'" check for PHP files containing a class will no longer be applied to typical unit test classes, i.e. for classes which extend WP_UnitTestCase, PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase and PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase. Additional test case base classes can be passed to the sniff using the new custom_test_class_whitelist property.
• The WordPress.Files.FileName sniff allows now for more theme-specific template hierarchy based file name exceptions.
• The whitelist flag for the WordPress.VIP.SlowQuery sniff was tax_query which was unintuitive. This has now been changed to slow query to be in line with other whitelist flags.
• The WordPress.WhiteSpace.OperatorSpacing sniff will now ignore operator spacing within declare() statements.
• The WordPress.WhiteSpace.OperatorSpacing sniff now extends the upstream Squiz.WhiteSpace.OperatorSpacing sniff for improved results and will now also examine the spacing around ternary operators and logical (&&, ||) operators.
• The WordPress.WP.DeprecatedFunctions sniff will now detect functions deprecated in WP 4.7 and 4.8. Additionally, a number of other deprecated functions which were previously not being detected have been added to the sniff and for a number of functions the "alternative" for the deprecated function has been added/improved.
• The WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff will now also detect unescaped output when the short open echo tags <?= are used.
• Updated the list of WP globals which is used by both the WordPress.Variables.GlobalVariables and the WordPress.NamingConventions.PrefixAllGlobals sniffs.
• Updated the information on using a custom ruleset and associated naming conventions in the Readme.
• Updated the custom ruleset example to provide a better starting point and renamed the file to follow current PHPCS best practices.
• Various inline documentation improvements.
• Updated the link to the PHPStorm documentation in the Readme.
• Various textual improvements to the Readme.
• Minor improvements to the build script.

Removed

• Squiz.Commenting.LongConditionClosingComment sniff from the WordPress-Core ruleset. This rule has been removed from the WP Coding Standards handbook.
• The exclusion of the Squiz.ControlStructures.ControlSignature.NewlineAfterOpenBrace error from the WordPress-Core ruleset.
• The exclusion of the PEAR.Functions.FunctionCallSignature.ContentAfterOpenBracket and PEAR.Functions.FunctionCallSignature.CloseBracketLine error from the WordPress-Core ruleset when used in combination with the fixer, i.e. phpcbf. The exclusions remain in place for phpcs runs.
• wp_get_post_terms(), wp_get_post_categories(), wp_get_post_tags() and wp_get_object_terms() from the WordPress.VIP.RestrictedFunctions sniff as these functions are now cached natively since WP 4.7.

Fixed

• The WordPress.Array.ArrayDeclarationSpacing could be overeager when fixing associative arrays to be multi-line. Non-associative single-line arrays which contained a nested associative array would also be auto-fixed by the sniff, while only the nested associated array should be fixed.
• The WordPress.Files.FileName sniff did not play nice with IDEs passing a filename to PHPCS via --stdin-path=.
• The WordPress.Files.FileName sniff was being triggered on code passed via stdin where there is no file name to examine.
• The WordPress.PHP.YodaConditions sniff would give a false positive for the result of a condition being assigned to a variable.
• The WordPress.VIP.RestrictedVariables sniff was potentially underreporting issues when the variables being restricted were a combination of variables, object properties and array members.
• The auto-fixer in the WordPress.WhiteSpace.ControlStructureSpacing sniff which deals with "blank line after control structure" issues could cause comments at the end of control structures to be removed.
• The WordPress.WP.DeprecatedFunctions sniff was reporting the wrong WP version for the deprecation of a number of functions.
• The WordPress.WP.EnqueuedResources sniff would potentially underreport issues in certain circumstances.
• The WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff will no now longer report issues when it encounters a __DIR__, (unset) cast or a floating point number, and will correctly disregard more arithmetic operators when deciding whether to report an issue or not.
• The whitelisting of errors using flags was sometimes a bit too eager and could accidentally whitelist code which was not intended to be whitelisted.
• Various (potential) Undefined variable, Undefined index and Undefined offset notices.
• Grammer in one of the WordPress.WP.I18n error messages.

0.11.0 - 2017-03-20

Important notes for end-users:

If you use the WordPress Coding Standards with a custom ruleset, please be aware that some of the checks have been moved between sniffs and that the naming of a number of error codes has changed. If you exclude some sniffs or error codes, you may have to update your custom ruleset to be compatible with WPCS 0.11.0.

Additionally, to make it easier for you to customize your ruleset, two new wiki pages have been published with information on the properties you can adjust from your ruleset:

• WPCS customizable sniff properties
• PHPCS customizable sniff properties

For more detailed information about the changed sniff names and error codes, please refer to PR #633 and PR #814.

Important notes for sniff developers:

If you maintain or develop sniffs based upon the WordPress Coding Standards, most notably, if you use methods and properties from the WordPress_Sniff class, extend one of the abstract sniff classes WPCS provides or extend other sniffs from WPCS to use their properties, please be aware that this release contains significant changes which will, more likely than not, affect your sniffs.

Please read this changelog carefully to understand how this will affect you. For more detailed information on the most significant changes, please refer to PR #795, PR #833 and PR #841. You are also encouraged to check the file history of any WPCS classes you extend.

Added

• WordPress.WP.DeprecatedFunctions sniff to the WordPress-Extra ruleset to check for usage of deprecated WP version and show errors/warnings depending on a minimum_supported_version which can be passed to the sniff from a custom ruleset. The default value for the minimum_supported_version property is three versions before the current WP version.
• WordPress.WP.I18n: ability to check for missing translators comments when a I18n function call contains translatable text strings containing placeholders. This check will also verify that the translators comment is correctly placed in the code and uses the correct comment type for optimal compatibility with the various tools available to create .pot files.
• WordPress.WP.I18n: ability to pass the text_domain to check for from the command line.
• WordPress.Arrays.ArrayDeclarationSpacing: check + fixer for single line associative arrays. The handbook states that these should always be multi-line.
• WordPress.Files.FileName: verification that files containing a class reflect this in the file name as per the core guidelines. This particular check can be disabled in a custom ruleset by setting the new strict_class_file_names property.
• WordPress.Files.FileName: verification that files in /wp-includes/ containing template tags - annotated with @subpackage Template in the file header - use the -template suffix.
• WordPress.Files.FileName: is_theme property which can be set in a custom ruleset. This property can be used to indicate that the project being checked is a theme and will allow for a predefined theme hierarchy based set of exceptions to the file name rules.
• WordPress.VIP.AdminBarRemoval: check for hiding the admin bar using CSS.
• WordPress.VIP.AdminBarRemoval: customizable remove_only property to toggle whether to error of all manipulation of the visibility of the admin bar or to execute more thorough checking for removal only.
• WordPress.WhiteSpace.ControlStructureSpacing: support for checking the whitespace in try/catch constructs.
• WordPress.WhiteSpace.ControlStructureSpacing: check that the space after the open parenthesis and before the closing parenthesis of control structures and functions is exactly one space. Includes auto-fixer.
• WordPress.WhiteSpace.CastStructureSpacing: ability to automatically fix errors thrown by the sniff.
• WordPress.VIP.SessionFunctionsUsage: detection of the session_abort(), session_create_id(), session_gc() and session_reset() functions.
• WordPress.CSRF.NonceVerification: ability to pass custom sanitization functions to the sniff.
• The get_the_ID() function to the autoEscapedFunctions list used by the WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff.
• The wp_strip_all_tags(), sanitize_hex_color_no_hash() and sanitize_hex_color() functions to the sanitizingFunctions list used by the WordPress.CSRF.NonceVerification, WordPress.VIP.ValidatedSanitizedInput and WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniffs.
• The floatval() function to the escapingFunctions, sanitizingFunctions, unslashingSanitizingFunctions, SQLEscapingFunctions lists used by the WordPress.CSRF.NonceVerification, WordPress.VIP.ValidatedSanitizedInput, WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput and WordPress.WP.PreparedSQL sniffs.
• The table name based clean_*_cache() functions to the cacheDeleteFunctions list used by the WordPress.VIP.DirectDatabaseQuery sniff.
• Abstract AbstractFunctionParameter parent class to allow for examining parameters passed in function calls.
• A number of utility functions to the WordPress_Sniff class: strip_quotes(), addMessage(), addFixableMessage(), string_to_errorcode(), does_function_call_have_parameters(), get_function_call_parameter_count(), get_function_call_parameters(), get_function_call_parameter(), has_html_open_tag().
• Squiz.Commenting.LongConditionClosingComment, Squiz.WhiteSpace.CastSpacing, Generic.Formatting.DisallowMultipleStatements to the WordPress-Core ruleset.
• Squiz.PHP.NonExecutableCode, Squiz.Operators.IncrementDecrementUsage, Squiz.Operators.ValidLogicalOperators, Squiz.Functions.FunctionDuplicateArgument, Generic.PHP.BacktickOperator, Squiz.PHP.DisallowSizeFunctionsInLoops to the WordPress-Extra ruleset.
• Numerous additional unit tests covering the correct handling of properties overruled via a custom ruleset by various sniffs.
• Instructions on how to use WPCS with Visual Studio to the Readme.
• Section on how to use WPCS with CI Tools to the Readme, initially covering integration with Travis CI.
• Section on considerations when writing sniffs for WPCS to Contributing.md.

Changed

• The minimum required PHP version to 5.2 (was 5.1).
• The minimum required PHP_CodeSniffer version to 2.8.1 (was 2.6).
• Improved support for detecting issues in code using closures (anonymous functions), short array syntax and anonymous classes.
• Improved sniff efficiency and performance for a number of sniffs.
• The discouraged/restricted functions sniffs have been reorganized and made more modular.
  • The new WordPress.PHP.DevelopmentFunctions sniff now contains the checks related to PHP functions typically used during development which are discouraged in production code.
  • The new WordPress.PHP.DiscouragedPHPFunctions sniff now contains checks related to various PHP functions, use of which is discouraged for various reasons.
  • The new WordPress.WP.AlternativeFunctions sniff contains the checks related to PHP functions for which WP offers an alternative which should be used instead.
  • The new WordPress.WP.DiscouragedFunctions sniff contains checks related to various WP functions, use of which is discouraged for various reasons.
  • A number of checks contained in the WordPress.VIP.RestrictedFunctions sniff have been moved to other sniffs.
  • The WordPress.PHP.DiscouragedFunctions sniff has been deprecated and is no longer used. The checks which were previously contained herein have been moved to other sniffs.
  • The reorganized sniffs also detect a number of additional functions which were previously ignored by these sniffs. For more detail, please refer to the summary of the PR and to PR #759.
• The error codes for these sniffs as well as for WordPress.DB.RestrictedClasses, WordPress.DB.RestrictedFunctions, WordPress.Functions.DontExtract, WordPress.PHP.POSIXFunctions and a number of the VIP sniffs have changed. They were previously based on function group names and will now be based on function group name in combination with the identified function name. Complete function groups can still be silenced by using the exclude property in a custom ruleset.
• WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidVariableName: The customVariablesWhitelist property which could be passed from the ruleset has been renamed to customPropertiesWhitelist as it is only usable to whitelist class properties.
• WordPress.WP.I18n: now allows for an array of text domain names to be passed to the text_domain property from a custom ruleset.
• WordPress.WhiteSpace.CastStructureSpacing: the error level for the checks in this sniff has been raised from warning to error.
• WordPress.Variables.GlobalVariables: will no longer throw errors if the global variable override is done from within a test method. Whether something is considered a "test method" is based on whether the method is in a class which extends a predefined set of known unit test classes. This list can be enhanced by setting the custom_test_class_whitelist property in your ruleset.
• The WordPress.Arrays.ArrayDeclaration sniff has been split into two sniffs: WordPress.Arrays.ArrayDeclaration and WordPress.Arrays.ArrayDeclarationSpacing for better compatibility with PHPCS upstream.
• The WordPress.Arrays.ArrayDeclaration sniff has been synced with the PHPCS upstream version to get the benefit of some bug fixes and improvements which had been made upstream since the sniff was originally copied over.
• The WordPress.VIP.FileSystemWritesDisallow, WordPress.VIP.TimezoneChange and WordPress.VIP.SessionFunctionsUsage sniffs now extend the WordPress_AbstractFunctionRestrictionsSniff.
• Property handling of custom properties set via a custom ruleset where the property is expected to be set in array format (type="array") has been made more lenient and will now also handle properties passed as a comma delimited lists correctly. This affects all customizable properties which expect array format.
• Moved Squiz.PHP.DisallowMultipleAssignments from the WordPress-Extra to the WordPress-Core ruleset.
• Replaced the WordPress.Classes.ValidClassName, WordPress.PHP.DisallowAlternativePHPTags and the WordPress.Classes.ClassOpeningStatement sniffs with the existing PEAR.NamingConventions.ValidClassName and the new upstream Generic.PHP.DisallowAlternativePHPTags and Generic.Classes.OpeningBraceSameLine sniffs in the WordPress-Core ruleset.
• Use the upstream Squiz.PHP.Eval sniff for detecting the use of eval() instead of a WPCS native implementation.
• Made the Generic.WhiteSpace.ScopeIndent sniff in the WordPress-Core ruleset more lenient to allow for different indentation in inline HTML, heredoc and nowdoc structures.
• Made the Generic.Strings.UnnecessaryStringConcat sniff in the WordPress-Extra ruleset more lenient to allow for multi-line string concatenation.
• All sniffs are now also being tested against PHP 7.1 for consistent sniff results.
• The requirements for running the sniffs have been made more explicit in the readme.
• Updated composer installation instructions in the readme.
• Updated information about the rulesets in the readme and moved the information up to make it easier to find.
• Improved the information about running the unit tests in Contributing.md.
• Improved the inline documentation of the rulesets.
• Various other code quality and code consistency improvements under the hood, including refactoring of some of the abstract sniff classes, closer coupling of the child classes to the WordPress_Sniff parent class and changes to the visibility and staticness of properties for a large number of sniffs.

Removed

• Warnings thrown by individual sniffs about parse errors they encounter. This is left up to the Generic.PHP.Syntax sniff which is included in the WordPress-Extra ruleset.
• The post_class() function from the autoEscapedFunctions list used by the WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff.
• The Generic.Files.LowercasedFilename sniff from the WordPress-Core ruleset in favour of the improved WordPress.Files.FileName sniff to prevent duplicate messages being thrown.
• Some temporary work-arounds for changes which were pulled and merged into PHPCS upstream.

Fixed

• WordPress.Variables.GlobalVariables: All known bugs have been fixed. If you'd previously disabled the sniff in your custom ruleset because of these bugs, it should be fine to re-enable it now.
  • Assignments to global variables using other assignment operators than the = operator were not detected.
  • If a global ...; statement was detected, the whole file would be checked for the variables which were made global, not just the code after the global statement.
  • If a global ...; statement was detected, the whole file would be checked for the variables which were made global, including code contained within a function/closure/class scope where there is no access to the global variable.
  • If a global ...; statement was detected within a function call or closure, the whole file would be checked for the variables which were made global, not just the code within the function or closure.
  • If a global ...; statement was detected and an assignment was made to a static class variable using the same name as one of the variables made global, an error would incorrectly be thrown.
  • An override of a protected global via $GLOBALS in combination with simple string concatenation obfuscation was not being detected.
• WordPress.WP.I18n: all reported bugs have been fixed.
  • A superfluous UnorderedPlaceholders error was being thrown when %% (a literal % sign) was encountered in a string.
  • The sniff would sometimes erroneously trigger errors when a literal % was found in a translatable string without placeholders.
  • Not all type of placeholders were being recognized.
  • No warning was being thrown when encountering a mix of ordered and unordered placeholders.
  • The fixer for unordered placeholders was erroneously replacing all placeholders as if they were the first one.
  • The fixer for unordered placeholders could cause faulty replacements in double quoted strings.
  • Compatibility with PHP nightly / PHP 7.2.
• WordPress.WhiteSpace.ControlStructureSpacing: synced in fixes from the upstream version.
  • The fixer would bork on control structures which contained only a single empty line.
  • The sniff did not check the spacing used for do {} while () control structures.
  • Conditional function declarations could cause an infinite loop when using the fixer.
• WordPress.VIP.PluginMenuSlug: the sniff would potentially incorrectly process method calls and namespaced functions with the same function name as the targeted WordPress native functions.
• WordPress.VIP.CronInterval: the native WP time constants were not recognized leading to false positives.
• WordPress.VIP.CronInterval: the finding of the referenced function declaration has been made more accurate.
• WordPress.PHP.YodaConditions: minor clarification of the error message.
• WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidVariableName: now allows for a predefined list of known mixed case global variables coming from WordPress itself reducing false positives.
• The unslashingSanitizingFunctions list was not consistently taken into account when verifying whether a variable was sanitized for the WordPress.VIP.ValidatedSanitizedInput and WordPress.CSRF.NonceVerification sniffs.
• The passing of properties via the ruleset was buggy for a number of sniffs - most notably those sniffs using custom properties in array format - and could lead to unintended bleed-through between sniffs.
• Various (potential) Undefined variable, Undefined index and Undefined offset notices.
• An issue with placeholder replacement not taking place in some error messages.
• A (potential) issue which could play up when sniffs examined text strings which contained quotes.

0.10.0 - 2016-08-29

Added

• WordPress.WP.I18n sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset to flag dynamic translatable strings and text domains.
• WordPress.PHP.DisallowAlternativePHPTags sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset to flag - and fix - ASP and <script> PHP open tags.
• WordPress.Classes.ClassOpeningStatement sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset to flag - and fix - class opening brace placement.
• WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidHookName sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset to flag filter and action hooks which don't comply with the guideline of lowercase letters and underscores. For maintaining backward-compatibility of hook names an additionalWordDelimiters property can be added via a custom ruleset.
• WordPress.Functions.DontExtract sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset to flag usage of the extract() function.
• WordPress.PHP.POSIXFunctions sniff to the WordPress-Core ruleset to flag usage of regex functions from the POSIX PHP extension which was deprecated since PHP 5.3 and removed in PHP 7.
• WordPress.DB.RestrictedFunctions and WordPress.DB.RestrictedClasses sniffs to the WordPress-Core ruleset to flag usage of direct database calls using PHP functions and classes rather than the WP functions for the same.
• Abstract AbstractClassRestrictions parent class to allow for easier sniffing for usage of specific classes.
• Squiz.Strings.ConcatenationSpacing, PSR2.ControlStructures.ElseIfDeclaration, PSR2.Files.ClosingTag, Generic.NamingConventions.UpperCaseConstantName to the WordPress-Core ruleset.
• Ability to add arbitrary variables to the whitelist via a custom ruleset property for the WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidVariableName sniff.
• Ability to use a whitelist comment for tax queries for the WordPress.VIP.SlowDBQuery sniff.
• Instructions on how to use WPCS with Atom and SublimeLinter to the Readme.
• Reference to the wiki to the Readme.
• Recommendation to also use the PHPCompatibility ruleset to the Readme.

Changed

• The minimum required PHP_CodeSniffer version to 2.6.0.
• Moved the WordPress.WP.PreparedSQL sniff from WordPress-Extra to WordPress-Core.
• WordPress.PHP.StrictInArray will now also flag non-strict usage of array_keys() and array_search().
• Added _deprecated_constructor() and _deprecated_hook() to the list of printing functions.
• Added numerous additional functions to sniff for to the WordPress.VIP.RestrictedFunctions sniff as per the VIP guidelines.
• Upped the posts_per_page limit from 50 to 100 in WordPress.VIP.PostsPerPage sniff as per the VIP guidelines.
• Added cat_ID to the whitelisted exceptions for the WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidVariableName sniff.
• Added __debugInfo to the magic method whitelist for class methods starting with double underscore in the WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidFunctionName sniff.
• An error will now also be thrown for non-magic functions using a double underscore prefix - WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidFunctionName sniff.
• The WordPress.Arrays.ArrayAssignmentRestrictions, WordPress.Functions.FunctionRestrictions, WordPress.Variables.VariableRestrictions sniffs weren't in actual fact sniffs, but parent classes for child sniffs. These have now all been turned into proper abstract parent classes and moved to the main WordPress directory.
• The array provided to AbstractFunctionRestrictions can now take a whitelist key to whitelist select functions when blocking a group of functions by function prefix.
• Updated installation instructions in the readme.
• The WordPress-Core ruleset is now ordered according to the handbook
• The WPCS code base itself now complies with the WordPress-Core, -Extra and -Docs coding standards.
• Various other code quality and code consistency improvements under the hood.

Removed

• Squiz.Functions.FunctionDeclarationArgumentSpacing.SpacingBeforeClose from the WordPress-Core standard (was causing duplicate messages for the same issue).
• Squiz.Commenting.FunctionComment.ScalarTypeHintMissing, Squiz.Commenting.InlineComment.NotCapital from the WordPress-Docs standard.
• Removed the sniffing for get_pages() from the WordPress.VIP.RestrictedFunctions sniff as per the VIP guidelines.
• Removed the sniffing for extract() from the WordPress.VIP.RestrictedFunctions sniff as it's now covered in a separate sniff.
• Removed the sniffing for the POSIX functions from the WordPress.PHP.DiscouragedFunctions sniff as it's now covered in a separate sniff.

Fixed

• Error message precision for the WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidVariableName sniff.
• Bug in the WordPress.WhiteSpace.ControlStructureSpacing.BlankLineAfterEnd sniff which was incorrectly being triggered on last method of class.
• Function name sniffs based on the AbstractFunctionRestrictions parent class will now do a case-insensitive function name comparison.
• Function name sniffs in the WordPress.PHP.DiscouragedFunctions sniff will now do a case-insensitive function name comparison.
• Whitelist comments directly followed by a PHP closing tag were not being recognized.
• Some PHP Magic constants were not recognized by the WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff.
• An error message suggesting camel caps rather than the intended snake case format in the WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidFunctionName sniff.
• WordPress.WhiteSpace.ControlStructureSpacing should no longer throw error notices during live code review.
• Errors will be no longer be thrown for methods not complying with the naming conventions when the class extends a parent class or implements an interface - WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidFunctionName sniff.

0.9.0 - 2016-02-01

Added

• count() to the list of auto-escaped functions.
• Squiz.PHP.CommentedOutCode sniff to WordPress-VIP ruleset.
• Support for PHP 5.2.
• attachment_url_to_postid() and parse_url() to the restricted functions for WordPress-VIP.
• WordPress.VIP.OrderByRand sniff.
• WordPress.PHP.StrictInArray sniff for WordPress-VIP and WordPress-Extra.
• get_tag_link(), get_category_link(), get_cat_ID(), url_to_post_id(), attachment_url_to_postid() get_posts(), wp_get_recent_posts(), get_pages(), get_children(), wp_get_post_terms() wp_get_post_categories(), wp_get_post_tags(), wp_get_object_terms(), term_exists(), count_user_posts(), wp_old_slug_redirect(), get_adjacent_post(), get_previous_post(), get_next_post() to uncached functions in WordPress.VIP.RestrictedFunctions sniff.
• wp_handle_upload() and array_key_exists() to the list of sanitizing functions.
• Checking for object properties in WordPress.PHP.YodaConditions sniff.
• WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidVariableName sniff.
• Flagging of function calls incorporated into database queries in WordPress.WP.PreparedSQL.
• Recognition of escaping and auto-escaped functions in WordPress.WP.PreparedSQL.
• true, false, and null to the tokens ignored in WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput.

Fixed

• Incorrect ternary detection in WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff.
• False positives when detecting variables interpolated into strings in the WordPress.WP.PreparedSQL and WordPress.VIP.ValidatedSanitizedInput sniffs.
• False positives in WordPress.PHP.YodaConditions when the variable is being casted.
• $wpdb properties being flagged in WordPress.WP.PreparedSQL sniff.
• False positive in WordPress.PHP.YodaConditions when the a string is on the left side of the comparison.

0.8.0 - 2015-10-02

Added

• implode() and join() to the list of formatting functions in the WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff. This is useful when you need to have HTML in the $glue parameter.
• Support in the WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff for escaping an array of values using array_map(). (Otherwise the support for implode() isn't of much use :)
• Docs for running WPCS in Sublime Text.
• nl2br() to the list of formatting functions.
• wp_dropdown_pages() to the list of printing functions.
• Error codes to all error/warning messages.
• WordPress.WP.PreparedSQL sniff for flagging unprepared SQL queries.

Removed

• Sniffing for the number of spaces before a closure's opening parenthesis from the default configuration of the WordPress.WhiteSpace.ControlStructureSpacing sniff. It can be re-enabled per-project as desired.

Fixed

• The WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff giving error messages with the closing parenthesis in them instead of the offending function's name.

0.7.1 - 2015-08-31

Changed

• The default number of spaces before a closure's opening parenthesis from 1 to 0.

0.7.0 - 2015-08-30

Added

• Automatic error fixing to the WordPress.Arrays.ArrayKeySpacingRestrictions sniff.
• Functions and closures to the control structures checked by the WordPress.WhiteSpace.ControlStructureSpacing sniff.
• Sniffing and fixing for extra spacing in the WordPress.WhiteSpace.ControlStructureSpacing sniff. (Previously it only checked for insufficient spacing.)
• .twig files to the default ignored files.
• esc_url_raw() and hash_equals() to the list of sanitizing functions.
• intval() and boolval() to list of unslashing functions.
• do_shortcode() to the list of auto-escaped functions.

Removed

• WordPress.Functions.FunctionDeclarationArgumentSpacing in favor of the upstream sniff Squiz.Functions.FunctionDeclarationArgumentSpacing.

Fixed

• Reference to incorrect issue in the inline docs of the WordPress.VIP.SessionVariableUsage sniff.
• WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff incorrectly handling ternary conditions in echo statements without parentheses in some cases.

0.6.0 - 2015-06-30

Added

• Support for wp_cache_add() and wp_cache_delete(), as well as custom cache functions,in the WordPress.VIP.DirectDatabaseQuery sniff.

Removed

• WordPress.Functions.FunctionRestrictions and WordPress.Variables.VariableRestrictions from the WordPress-VIP standard, since they are just parents for other sniffs.

0.5.0 - 2015-06-01

Added

• WordPress.CSRF.NonceVerification sniff to flag form processing without nonce verification.
• in_array() and is_array() to the list of sanitizing functions.
• Support for automatic error fixing to the WordPress.Arrays.ArrayDeclaration sniff.
• WordPress.PHP.StrictComparisions to the WordPress-VIP and WordPress-Extra rulesets.
• WordPress-Docs ruleset to sniff for proper commenting.
• Generic.PHP.LowerCaseKeyword, Generic.Files.EndFileNewline, Generic.Files.LowercasedFilename, Generic.Formatting.SpaceAfterCast, and Generic.Functions.OpeningFunctionBraceKernighanRitchie to the WordPress-Core ruleset.
• Generic.PHP.DeprecatedFunctions, Generic.PHP.ForbiddenFunctions, Generic.Functions.CallTimePassByReference, Generic.Formatting.DisallowMultipleStatements, Generic.CodeAnalysis.EmptyStatement, Generic.CodeAnalysis.ForLoopShouldBeWhileLoop, Generic.CodeAnalysis.ForLoopWithTestFunctionCall, Generic.CodeAnalysis.JumbledIncrementer, Generic.CodeAnalysis.UnconditionalIfStatement, Generic.CodeAnalysis.UnnecessaryFinalModifier, Generic.CodeAnalysis.UselessOverridingMethod, Generic.Classes.DuplicateClassName, and Generic.Strings.UnnecessaryStringConcat to the WordPress-Extra ruleset.
• Error for missing use of wp_unslash() on superglobal data to the WordPress.VIP.ValidatedSanitizedInput sniff.

Changed

• The WordPress.VIP.ValidatedSanitizedInput sniff to require sanitization of input even when it is being directly escaped and output.
• The minimum required PHP_CodeSniffer version to 2.2.0.
• The WordPress.VIP.ValidatedSanitizedInput and WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniffs: the list of escaping functions was split from the list of sanitizing functions. The customSanitizingFunctions property has been moved to the ValidatedSanitizedInput sniff, and the customEscapingFunctions property should now be used instead for the EscapeOutput sniff.
• The WordPress.Arrays.ArrayDeclaration sniff to give errors for NoSpaceAfterOpenParenthesis, SpaceAfterArrayOpener, and SpaceAfterArrayCloser, instead of warnings.
• The WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidFunctionName sniff to allow camelCase method names in classes that implement interfaces.

Fixed

• The WordPress.VIP.ValidatedSanitizedInput sniff not reporting missing validation when reporting missing sanitization.
• The WordPress.VIP.ValidatedSanitizedInput sniff flagging superglobals as needing sanitization when they were only being used in a comparison using if or switch, etc.

0.4.0 - 2015-05-01

Added

• Change log file.
• Handling for string-interpolated input variables in the WordPress.VIP.ValidatedSanitizedInput sniff.
• Errors for using uncached functions when cached equivalents exist.
• space_before_colon setting for the WordPress.WhiteSpace.ControlStructureSpacing sniff, for control structures using alternative syntax. Possible values: 'required', 'optional', 'forbidden'.
• Support for sanitization whitelisting comments for the WordPress.VIP.ValidatedSanitizedInput sniff.
• Granular error/warning names for all errors and warnings.
• Handling for ternary conditions in the WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff.
• die, exit, printf, vprintf, wp_die, _deprecated_argument, _deprecated_function, _deprecated_file, _doing_it_wrong, trigger_error, and user_error to the list of printing functions in the WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff.
• customPrintingFunctions setting for the WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff.
• rawurlencode() and wp_parse_id_list() to the list of "sanitizing" functions in the WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff.
• json_encode() to the list of discouraged functions in the WordPress.PHP.DiscouragedFunctions sniff, in favor of wp_json_encode().
• vip_powered_wpcom() to the list of auto-escaped functions in the WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff.
• debug_print_backtrace() and var_export() to the list of discouraged functions in the WordPress.PHP.DiscouragedFunctions sniff.
• Smart handling for formatting functions (sprintf() and wp_sprintf()) in the WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff.
• WordPress.PHP.StrictComparisons sniff.
• Correct handling of array_map() in the WordPress.VIP.ValidatedSanitizedInput sniff.
• $_COOKIE and $_FILE to the list of superglobals flagged by the WordPress.VIP.ValidatedSanitizedInput and WordPress.VIP.SuperGlobalInputUsage sniffs.
• $_SERVER to the list of superglobals flagged by the WordPress.VIP.SuperGlobalInputUsage sniff.
• Squiz.ControlStructures.ControlSignature sniff to the rulesets.

Changed

• WordPress.Arrays.ArrayKeySpacingRestrictions sniff to give errors for NoSpacesAroundArrayKeys and SpacesAroundArrayKeys instead of just warnings.
• WordPress.NamingConventions.ValidFunctionName sniff to allow for camel caps method names in child classes.
• WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff to allow for integers (e.g. echo 5 and print( -1 )).

Removed

• Errors for mixed key/keyless array elements in the WordPress.Arrays.ArrayDeclaration sniff.
• BOM from WordPress.WhiteSpace.OperatorSpacing sniff file.
• $content_width from the list of non-overwritable globals in the WordPress.Variables.GlobalVariables sniff.
• WordPress.Arrays.ArrayAssignmentRestrictions sniff from the WordPress-VIP ruleset.

Fixed

• Incorrect errors for else statements using alternative syntax.
• WordPress.VIP.ValidatedSanitizedInput sniff not always treating casting as sanitization.
• WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff flagging comments as needing to be escaped.
• WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput sniff not sniffing comma-delimited echo arguments after encountering the first escaping function in the statement.
• WordPress.PHP.YodaConditions sniff not flagging comparisons to constants or function calls.
• WordPress.Arrays.ArrayDeclaration sniff not ignoring doc comments.
• Link to phpStorm instructions in README.md.
• Poor performance of the WordPress.Arrays.ArrayAssignmentRestrictions sniff.
• Poor performance of the WordPress.Files.FileName sniff.

0.3.0 - 2014-12-11

See the comparison for full list.

Changed

• Use semantic version tags for releases.

2013-10-06

See the comparison for full list.

2013-06-11

Initial tagged release.