[63728] Enhancement: Enhance the Posts list table filtering functionality by adding an aut… #10887

Vedanshmini26 · 2026-02-08T10:00:29Z

Trac: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/63728

Problem

The WordPress Posts list table filter area had several usability and accessibility issues:

No author filtering capability - Users couldn't filter posts by author directly from the list table, requiring manual URL manipulation or additional plugins
Hidden filter labels - All filter dropdowns (date, category, format) had labels hidden with screen-reader-text class, making it difficult for sighted users to understand what each dropdown represented
Poor semantic structure - Filters lacked proper grouping, reducing accessibility for screen reader users
Single-user sites showing unnecessary filters - No conditional logic to hide author filters when only one author exists

Root Cause

The original implementation prioritized visual compactness over usability:

Labels were intentionally hidden to save horizontal space in the admin interface
No author filter existed because it was considered an edge case, despite being a common need for multi-author sites
The lack of semantic HTML grouping (fieldset/legend) meant screen readers couldn't properly announce the filter group context
No conditional rendering logic existed to optimize the UI for single vs multi-author sites

Solution

1. Added Author Filter Dropdown

Created new authors_dropdown() method in WP_Posts_List_Table class
Conditionally displays only when:
- Post type supports authors
- Site has 2 or more authors with published posts
Uses optimized query with has_published_posts parameter to fetch only relevant authors
Includes filter hooks (disable_authors_dropdown, posts_authors_dropdown_authors) for extensibility

2. Made All Filter Labels Visible

Removed screen-reader-text class from date, category, and format filter labels
Labels now display inline before their corresponding dropdowns
Improved label text: simplified "Filter by post format" to just "Format" to reduce repetition

3. Added Semantic Grouping

Wrapped all filters in <fieldset class="filters-group"> element
Added <legend class="screen-reader-text">Filters</legend> for screen reader context
This allows screen readers to announce "Filters" group when navigating the controls

4. Enhanced CSS Styling

Added styles to properly align labels with dropdowns using float: left
Set font-weight: 600 on labels for better visibility
Adjusted line-height: 2.16666667 to vertically align with select elements
Proper spacing with labels having 8px margin and selects after labels having 12px margin

Backward Compatibility

All existing filter hooks remain intact
New filter hooks follow WordPress naming conventions
CSS changes are additive, not destructive
Existing functionality fully preserved

Testing

Tested on:

Single-author sites (author dropdown correctly hidden)
Multi-author sites (author dropdown appears with correct authors)
Custom post types with/without author support
All filter combinations work correctly

…hor filter dropdown and making all filter labels visible.

github-actions · 2026-02-08T10:00:41Z

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 sheldorofazeroth, huzaifaalmesbah, mukesh27, joedolson.

To understand the WordPress project's expectations around crediting contributors, please review the Contributor Attribution page in the Core Handbook.

github-actions · 2026-02-08T10:16:06Z

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huzaifaalmesbah · 2026-02-08T11:52:45Z

src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-posts-list-table.php

+	/**
+	 * Displays an authors drop-down for filtering on the Posts list table.
+	 *
+	 * @since 6.8.0


Will it actually 6.8 or 7.0?

mukeshpanchal27 · 2026-02-09T04:15:17Z

src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-posts-list-table.php

+		// Check if there are multiple authors with published posts for this post type.
+		$authors = get_users(
+			array(
+				'who'                 => 'authors',


The who parameter was deprecated WP 5.9.0. I see below error.

Function WP_User_Query was called with an argument that is deprecated since version 5.9.0! who is deprecated. Use capability instead.

In thinking about this, I was realizing that this is not actually the correct data to pull for this filter. The filter shouldn't be users; it should be "people who have authored posts". Posts can be authored by people who previously had privileges, but don't any more, and this query wouldn't catch those.

This actually needs to source the data based on unique values in the post_author column for the post type.

mukeshpanchal27 · 2026-02-09T04:17:48Z

src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-posts-list-table.php

+		/**
+		 * Filters the authors shown in the authors drop-down.
+		 *
+		 * @since 6.8.0
+		 *
+		 * @param WP_User[] $authors   Array of WP_User objects.
+		 * @param string    $post_type Post type slug.
+		 */
+		$authors = apply_filters( 'posts_authors_dropdown_authors', $authors, $post_type );


Why we need this filter?

I can see a good argument for this, since the author list can be a major performance problem on sites with large numbers of authors.

I think it would be better to filter the query arguments, however, not the result. Filtering the result means that you potentially run two author queries, where filtering the arguments only runs one.

After thinking more, I don't think this filter is relevant;; this isn't the right data to be querying.

mukeshpanchal27 · 2026-02-09T04:19:06Z

src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-posts-list-table.php

+		?>
+		<label for="filter-by-author"><?php esc_html_e( 'Filter by author' ); ?></label>
+		<select name="author" id="filter-by-author">
+			<option value="0"<?php selected( $selected_author, 0 ); ?>><?php esc_html_e( 'All authors' ); ?></option>


Suggested change

<option value="0"<?php selected( $selected_author, 0 ); ?>><?php esc_html_e( 'All authors' ); ?></option>

<option value="0"<?php selected( $selected_author, 0 ); ?>><?php _e( 'All authors' ); ?></option>

mukeshpanchal27 · 2026-02-09T04:19:39Z

@Vedanshmini26 Left some questions/suggestions

joedolson · 2026-02-11T19:45:15Z

To be thorough, this should also handle visible labels in the media library. These are being added in #23652 in the modal, but the list view would be better handled in combination with this ticket.

joedolson

This is going to need to query a different type of data for author filters. Querying users isn't the data we're trying to identify; it's "people who wrote posts". We don't need to list users who have never written a post, and we do need to capture people who have written posts, but are no longer privileged.

This will also need some CSS work to style the visible labels.

joedolson · 2026-02-13T00:16:04Z

src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-posts-list-table.php

+		// Check if there are multiple authors with published posts for this post type.
+		$authors = get_users(
+			array(
+				'who'                 => 'authors',


In thinking about this, I was realizing that this is not actually the correct data to pull for this filter. The filter shouldn't be users; it should be "people who have authored posts". Posts can be authored by people who previously had privileges, but don't any more, and this query wouldn't catch those.

This actually needs to source the data based on unique values in the post_author column for the post type.

Enhance the Posts list table filtering functionality by adding an aut…

f0ec0ba

…hor filter dropdown and making all filter labels visible.

Vedanshmini26 added 3 commits February 8, 2026 15:32

PHPCS fixes

1253913

PHPCS fixes

91c7877

PHPCS fixes

9fb4460

huzaifaalmesbah reviewed Feb 8, 2026

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mukeshpanchal27 reviewed Feb 9, 2026

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joedolson requested changes Feb 13, 2026

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	<option value="0"<?php selected( $selected_author, 0 ); ?>><?php esc_html_e( 'All authors' ); ?></option>
	<option value="0"<?php selected( $selected_author, 0 ); ?>><?php _e( 'All authors' ); ?></option>

[63728] Enhancement: Enhance the Posts list table filtering functionality by adding an aut… #10887

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[63728] Enhancement: Enhance the Posts list table filtering functionality by adding an aut… #10887

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Vedanshmini26 commented Feb 8, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

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Problem

Root Cause

Solution

1. Added Author Filter Dropdown

2. Made All Filter Labels Visible

3. Added Semantic Grouping

4. Enhanced CSS Styling

Backward Compatibility

Testing

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github-actions bot commented Feb 8, 2026

Test using WordPress Playground

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mukeshpanchal27 commented Feb 9, 2026

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joedolson commented Feb 11, 2026

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Vedanshmini26 commented Feb 8, 2026 •

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