Twenty Twenty: Fix post meta wrapper not rendering when action hooks add content without default meta

[shrivastavanolo]

twentytwenty_get_post_meta() uses a $has_meta flag to decide whether to return the meta wrapper HTML. This flag is only set to true when default meta fields (author, date, tags, etc.) are present. As a result, content added via thetwentytwenty_start_of_post_meta_list and twentytwenty_end_of_post_meta_list action hooks is silently discarded when no default meta exists — for example, on a post with no tags in the single-bottom location.

This fix checks whether the output buffer contains any content after stripping tags. The meta wrapper is now returned if either default meta or hook content is present.

Trac ticket: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/58223

Use of AI Tools

AI assistance: Yes
Tool(s): Claude
Model(s): Opus 4.6
Used for: Initial code skeleton and PR description; final implementation and tests were reviewed and edited by me.

---

This Pull Request is for code review only. Please keep all other discussion in the Trac ticket. Do not merge this Pull Request. See GitHub Pull Requests for Code Review in the Core Handbook for more details.

[github-actions]

The following accounts have interacted with this PR and/or linked issues. I will continue to update these lists as activity occurs. You can also manually ask me to refresh this list by adding the props-bot label.

Core Committers: Use this line as a base for the props when committing in SVN:

Props shreya0shrivastava, sabernhardt, karmatosed.

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[github-actions]

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[sabernhardt]

Test Report

Patch tested: https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/pull/11769.diff

Steps taken

1. Activate Twenty Twenty.
2. Create and publish two posts: one with at least one tag and one with zero tags.
3. Use actions to add custom list items at beginning and end of the meta list.
4. Add each filter example—or a combination of them—to change the default output.
5. Reset the actions and filters.
6. Apply the patch.
7. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to test how the same actions and filters work with the patch.

Code samples

I added these in a custom must-use plugin, but you could test with a child theme.

// Add list items at beginning and end.
add_action( 'twentytwenty_start_of_post_meta_list', function() {
	echo '<li>twentytwenty_start_of_post_meta_list</li>';
});
add_action( 'twentytwenty_end_of_post_meta_list', function() {
	echo '<li>twentytwenty_end_of_post_meta_list</li>';
});

// Filter 1: Replace single-top meta with tags list.
add_filter( 'twentytwenty_post_meta_location_single_top', function() {
	return array( 'tags' );
});

// Filter 2: Replace single-bottom meta with 'sticky' (if the posts are *not* sticky).
add_filter( 'twentytwenty_post_meta_location_single_bottom', function() {
	return array( 'sticky' );
});

// Filters 3a +3b: Remove default meta in either location with 'foo' as a dummy array value.
add_filter( 'twentytwenty_post_meta_location_single_top', function() {
	return array( 'foo' );
});
add_filter( 'twentytwenty_post_meta_location_single_bottom', function() {
	return array( 'foo' );
});

// Filters 4a + 4b: Remove all post meta—even custom meta—from either location.
add_filter( 'twentytwenty_post_meta_location_single_top', '__return_empty_array' );
add_filter( 'twentytwenty_post_meta_location_single_bottom', '__return_empty_array' );

Screenshots

✅ With default post meta, the patch does not change the output.

Before patch	With patch

When I added start and end list items in both locations, they appeared in the top and bottom except when the post had zero tags. With the patch, the custom list items display even when the post has no tags.

Before patch	With patch

When I used array( 'tags' ) for meta in the top location, the custom list items similarly did not display before the patch when there were zero tags. Again, with the patch, the custom list items display even when the post has no tags.

Before patch	With patch

When I used array( 'sticky' ) in the bottom location, after applying the patch, the custom list items displayed without showing anything else (because the posts were not sticky).

Before patch	With patch

The screenshots below show results from setting array( 'tags' ) in the top location and array( 'sticky' ) in the bottom location, at the same time.

Before patch	With patch

Using array( 'foo' ) removes any default meta, but the post shows any custom items with the patch applied. In the top location, that removes the author, date, comments, and possibly a note that the post is sticky.

Before patch	With patch

array( 'foo' ) in the bottom location:

Before patch	With patch

An empty array removes any meta, including custom items. These screenshots show the top location without any meta:

Before patch	With patch

Empty array in the bottom location:

Before patch	With patch

Environment

• WordPress: 7.1-alpha-62161-src
• Subdirectory: No
• PHP: 8.3.14
• Server: Apache/2.4.62 (Win64) PHP/8.3.14 mod_fcgid/2.3.10-dev
• Database: mysqli (Server: 9.1.0 / Client: mysqlnd 8.3.14)
• Browser: Firefox
• OS: Windows 11
• Theme: Twenty Twenty 3.1
• MU Plugin: SVN

[karmatosed]

This branch needs a refresh, if we can get that we can consider it.