[Resolved] wpv-post-excerpt shortcode function no longer works after plugin update

[Author]

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[sarahP]

A few years ago, I added the following function (adapted from various code I found online) to customize the excerpt to display for password protected sites:

function get_the_custom_excerpt($excerpt) {
    if ( post_password_required() ) {
       $post = get_post();
           $excerpt=  '<p>' . $post->post_excerpt . '</p>';
    }
	if ( is_home() ) {
	$post = get_post();
          $excerpt=  '<p>' . $post->post_excerpt . ' <a class="read-more" href="'. get_permalink($post->ID) . '"> Read More...</a> </p>';
    }
	else { $post = get_post();
          $excerpt=  '<p>' . $post->post_excerpt . '</p>';
    }
return $excerpt;
}
add_filter( 'the_excerpt', 'get_the_custom_excerpt' ); 

Then added this code to make it work with Views:

remove_shortcode('wpv-post-excerpt');
add_shortcode('wpv-post-excerpt', 'get_the_custom_excerpt');

This has been working great to display excerpts on a View for a custom post type with password protected posts.

On a local staging version of the site, I upgraded Types and Views to the latest versions, and now the excerpts display as: "There is no excerpt because this is a protected post. "

I assume the remove_ and add_shortode code in my function is no longer working after the plugin update. Can you please advise how to fix this or why it broke after the update? I know I could just create a custom shortcode, but ideally, I'd prefer to get this working again if possible since I am using the customized excerpt shortcode throughout the site.

Thanks,
Sarah

[Christian Cox]

Not sure offhand, can you tell me what event you are using to trigger this code? Or is it executed directly in functions.php without any hook listener?

remove_shortcode('wpv-post-excerpt');
add_shortcode('wpv-post-excerpt', 'get_the_custom_excerpt');

...vs...

function fix_shortcode(){
  remove_shortcode('wpv-post-excerpt');
  add_shortcode('wpv-post-excerpt', 'get_the_custom_excerpt');  
}
add_action( 'init', 'fix_shortcode' );

It could be that the Toolset shortcode is now initialized later in the request lifecycle, and you need to use a different action hook to do your modifications.

[sarahP]

Hi Christian,
I have the code directly in my functions.php. Just like this:

function get_the_custom_excerpt($excerpt) {
    if ( post_password_required() ) {
       $post = get_post();
           $excerpt=  '<p>' . $post->post_excerpt . '</p>';
    }

	if ( is_home() ) {
	$post = get_post();
          $excerpt=  '<p>' . $post->post_excerpt . ' <a class="read-more" href="'. get_permalink($post->ID) . '"> Read More...</a> </p>';
    }
	else { $post = get_post();
          $excerpt=  '<p>' . $post->post_excerpt . '</p>';
    }
	
return $excerpt;
}
add_filter( 'the_excerpt', 'get_the_custom_excerpt' ); 

// make settings work for [wpv-post-excerpt] shortcode of Views plugin
remove_shortcode('wpv-post-excerpt');
add_shortcode('wpv-post-excerpt', 'get_the_custom_excerpt');

so no action hooks to account for this issue.

[Christian Cox]

After a bit more research, I found this on the WordPress Codex:
https://codex.wordpress.org/Using_Password_Protection
It appears that "There is no excerpt because this is a protected post." is the expected excerpt when the post is password-protected. The expected behavior is what you see, so it looks like this is working correctly now whereas before it was a bug.

Also I wanted to point out that the "else" block in your logic will be triggered if the post is password protected and not is_home. So be aware that modifications to the $excerpt value in the if ( post_password_required()) block may be overridden by the else block unless this code is executed on the home page:

function get_the_custom_excerpt($excerpt) {
    if ( post_password_required() ) {
       $post = get_post();
           $excerpt=  'Protected: <p>' . $post->post_excerpt . '</p>';
    }
    if ( is_home() ) {
    $post = get_post();
          $excerpt=  '<p>' . $post->post_excerpt . ' <a class="read-more" href="'. get_permalink($post->ID) . '"> Read More...</a> </p>';
    }
    else { $post = get_post();
          $excerpt=  'Not home: <p>' . $post->post_excerpt . '</p>';
    }
return $excerpt;
}

[sarahP]

Hi Christian,
I realize that the "There is no excerpt" text is expected behavior for protected posts. That's why I added this code, specifically to counter the expected behavior since I need to display the excerpts, and this worked fine for several years until I updated the toolset plugins.

If I turn off the toolset Archive view where this displays and just use the default WordPress Archive, the excerpt display properly. So, I believe there is nothing wrong with the first part of my code. It is just the second part that applies to the Views shortcode where it is failing. I don't believe it was previously a bug.

If I remove the else block you mentioned and just have the post_password_required, the shortcode still doesn't work as before.

If I remove all the code except

remove_shortcode('wpv-post-excerpt');

the excerpt still displays. Shouldn't it not display at all if I remove_shortcode (or it should display [wpv-post-excerpt] )? So, this reinforces to me that there is something different with how Views handles this code since the update, and it has nothing to do with my preceding code.

-Sarah

[sarahP]

Hello again,
I had some time to play around with the code and stumbled upon a solution.
If I replace the lines

remove_shortcode('wpv-post-excerpt');
add_shortcode('wpv-post-excerpt', 'get_the_custom_excerpt');

with what you provided in your example

function fix_shortcode(){
  remove_shortcode('wpv-post-excerpt');
  add_shortcode('wpv-post-excerpt', 'get_the_custom_excerpt');  
}
add_action( 'init', 'fix_shortcode' );

it works again! (the excerpt displays, so the wpv-post-excerpt is being properly removed and added back with my custom coding applied)

Since my earlier test confirmed that the problems was the remove_shortcode was no longer working, it seems that after the latest Views update, remove_shortcode needs to be included in a function? I can't explain it, but it does work for me now, so thanks (the solution was in your first reply)! I'll keep this in mind if I run into similar difficulties as I update the rest of my sites.

-Sarah