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.