Better guide users when deleting other users in single- and multisites by derpaschi · Pull Request #10502 · WordPress/wordpress-develop

derpaschi · 2025-11-11T09:59:09Z

This pull request refactors and improves the user deletion workflow in multisite and single site WordPress admin. The main focus is on making the "Delete Users" form more accessible, robust, and user-friendly by ensuring that deletion/reassignment options are explicitly selected for each user, and by modernizing the associated JavaScript and PHP logic.

Key improvements and bug fixes:

1. User Deletion Form Usability and Accessibility

Refactored the "Delete Users" form so that each user now has their own set of radio buttons for deletion or content reassignment, instead of a single global option. This ensures that admins make an explicit choice for each user, reducing the risk of accidental data loss. [1] [2] [3]
The form now disables the submit button until all required options are selected, improving accessibility and preventing incomplete submissions.
Added clearer labeling and structure to the form, including using fieldsets and legends, and updating the page heading to "Delete Users" for clarity.

2. JavaScript Modernization

Removed legacy inline JavaScript (delete_users_add_js) and replaced it with a modern, unobtrusive script in common.js that manages form validation and submit button state. [1] [2] [3]

3. Backend Logic and Data Handling

Updated backend handling to process per-user deletion/reassignment options using associative arrays, ensuring each user's content is handled as intended. [1] [2]
Improved detection of whether users have associated content, both in single and multisite, to determine which options to present in the UI. [1] [2]

4. Code Cleanup and Consistency

Removed outdated code and improved variable naming for consistency and clarity throughout the affected files. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

5. Multisite-Specific Enhancements

In multisite, the form now correctly excludes the users being deleted from the reassignment dropdowns and handles cases where users have no content on a given site.

These changes collectively make user deletion safer, more intuitive, and more maintainable for WordPress administrators.

Screenshots Multisite

Single user deletion without attribution selection

Single user deletion with attribution selected

Multiple user deletion without attribution selection

Multiple user deletion with just one attribution selected

Mutliple user deletion with all attributions selected

Screenshot Singlesite

Test steps

Create up to 3 users (single or multisite)
Add posts and assign posts to the created users as author
Delete one of the users and select the user the content should be assigned to
or
Delete multiple users and select another user for attribution
Deleting users should not be possible if not all users that will be deleted have a selection for their content attribution
You should not be able to select a user for content attribution that will be deleted
No default selection for content attribution, so you have to actively decide what should happen.
When deleting multiple users in single-site installations, you can now select what should happen with their contents individually

Trac ticket: https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/56914

Contributors
@ocean90 @krokodok @velthy @KarinChristen

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 · 2025-11-11T09:59:17Z

Hi @derpaschi! 👋

Thank you for your contribution to WordPress! 💖

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The WordPress Project

github-actions · 2025-11-11T09:59:20Z

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 ocean90, hubersen, joedolson, afercia, krokodok.

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

github-actions · 2025-11-11T10:15:46Z

Test using WordPress Playground

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Test this pull request with WordPress Playground.

krokodok · 2025-11-11T12:52:49Z

These changes look very good!

…checked in user deletion form

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Refactor the IIFE structure and remove unnecessary code.

…ution selection.

…0.0 in `deprecated.php`.

…sing list item tag

…nd providing accessible error summaries. This update ensures that users cannot be deleted without a valid reassignment target, improving both functionality and accessibility for assistive technologies.

derpaschi · 2026-06-04T14:59:04Z

Enhanced validation, removed the disabled submit button and added a dedicated error message when something is not selected.

Example:

joedolson

This is looking good! Thank you! I have a few things that this could still use, but it's looking promising, overall.

joedolson · 2026-07-03T22:51:34Z

+				case 'err_missing_reassign':
 					$messages[] = wp_get_admin_notice(
-						__( 'Other users have been deleted.' ),
+						__( 'Users could not be deleted because no user was selected for content reassignment.' ),


This message should probably use _n(), so that it can use proper number depending on whether a single or multiple users are being handled.

Actually, all of the __() strings in this switch should use _n(), so that the strings are more suitable to either single or multiple deletions.

joedolson · 2026-07-03T22:55:21Z

 					/* translators: %s: User login. */
-					__( 'What should be done with content owned by %s?' ),
-					'<em>' . $delete_user->user_login . '</em>'
+					__( '%s: What should be done with the content owned by this user?' ),


I think this may have better visibility if the username was marked in bold. Also, the legend element is reset by core CSS, so you'll need to provide some styling for this to look appropriate.

joedolson · 2026-07-03T23:10:48Z

+				} else {
+					?>
+					<fieldset>
+					<legend>


Same style comments as above.

joedolson · 2026-07-03T23:11:57Z

+					?>
+					</legend>
+
+					<ul style="list-style:none;">


Avoid inline styling; the default styling for ul is already list-style:none, in common.css, so this shouldn't be needed.

joedolson · 2026-07-03T23:19:32Z

+		// so decisions resolved since the last render are no longer flagged.
+		summary.textContent = '';
+		usersForm.querySelectorAll( '[aria-invalid]' ).forEach( function( el ) {
+			el.removeAttribute( 'aria-invalid' );


I'd also add some styling e.g. li:has(select[aria-invalid="true"]) to highlight the problem selector; I think this might be helpful for the multi-user deletion process, though it's pretty irrelevant with the single user scenario.

afercia · 2026-07-09T12:36:39Z

 				);
-				printf(
-					/* translators: 1: User ID, 2: User login. */
-					__( 'ID #%1$s: %2$s' ),


I would keep the ID of the user to be deleted. It may be an important info when deleting a user.

joedolson · 2026-07-09T22:14:47Z

Copied this PR to #12467, as I couldn't push to this.

Provide clearer guidance for reassigning or deleting content when deleting users in both single and multisite instances. Content assignment is handled on a per-user basis, rather than forcing all content to be assigned to a single user. Add validation to enforce making a selection. Add fieldsets and legends to improve form structure and accessibility. Move inline JS to `common.js`. Improve backend logic to process per-user content handling. Exclude users being deleted from dropdown forms. Developed in #10502, #12467 Props stefan.velthuys, ocean90, hellofromTonya, akshat2802, hubersen, fakhriaz, ozgursar, sirlouen, realloc, audrasjb, joedolson, afercia, krokodok. Fixes #56914. git-svn-id: https://develop.svn.wordpress.org/trunk@62688 602fd350-edb4-49c9-b593-d223f7449a82

github-actions · 2026-07-10T17:02:22Z

A commit was made that fixes the Trac ticket referenced in the description of this pull request.

SVN changeset: 62688
GitHub commit: 3ec2726

This PR will be closed, but please confirm the accuracy of this and reopen if there is more work to be done.

Provide clearer guidance for reassigning or deleting content when deleting users in both single and multisite instances. Content assignment is handled on a per-user basis, rather than forcing all content to be assigned to a single user. Add validation to enforce making a selection. Add fieldsets and legends to improve form structure and accessibility. Move inline JS to `common.js`. Improve backend logic to process per-user content handling. Exclude users being deleted from dropdown forms. Developed in WordPress/wordpress-develop#10502, WordPress/wordpress-develop#12467 Props stefan.velthuys, ocean90, hellofromTonya, akshat2802, hubersen, fakhriaz, ozgursar, sirlouen, realloc, audrasjb, joedolson, afercia, krokodok. Fixes #56914. Built from https://develop.svn.wordpress.org/trunk@62688 git-svn-id: http://core.svn.wordpress.org/trunk@61972 1a063a9b-81f0-0310-95a4-ce76da25c4cd

ocean90 reviewed Nov 11, 2025

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Comment thread src/wp-admin/includes/ms.php Outdated

ocean90 and others added 20 commits February 3, 2026 10:32

Update heading

342f997

Remove default selected option

58b709f

Typecast allusers parameter and reuse variable

fcb23c1

Add TODO

6328326

Update variable

abc9cc9

Exclude user to delete from reassignment dropdown

1ac17bd

Add ID to submit button

908a25c

Add TODO

c2b7fbd

Disable button if nothing is selected

b366373

Use wp_dropdown_users()

1d4cd34

Use required attribute

87143da

Refactor user deletion form, improve UI.

4e057d0

Implement logic to disable submit button until all radio buttons are …

afe1012

…checked in user deletion form

Check if form exists

9d5385d

Co-authored-by: Copilot <175728472+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>

Refactor IIFE in common.js

0add334

Refactor the IIFE structure and remove unnecessary code.

Removed unused function parameter

4fbfce2

Update radio group selection in form validation

271ca0a

When deleting users, check if user has content, otherwise hide attrib…

c3e3a89

…ution selection.

Remove duplicate filter documentation

a2798e8

Fix: added missing comment closing tag

ef2fc0f

ocean90 force-pushed the feature/deleting-users-56914 branch from a997684 to ef2fc0f Compare February 3, 2026 09:32

ocean90 approved these changes Feb 3, 2026

View reviewed changes

Comment thread src/wp-admin/includes/deprecated.php Outdated

Comment thread src/wp-admin/includes/deprecated.php Outdated

joedolson requested changes Feb 14, 2026

View reviewed changes

ocean90 and others added 2 commits May 12, 2026 08:28

Merge branch 'trunk' into feature/deleting-users-56914

77b3528

Update deprecation version for delete_users_add_js() function to 7.…

4f586b5

…0.0 in `deprecated.php`.

ocean90 added 5 commits May 12, 2026 11:26

Remove invalid legends and include user logins in legends

47856ac

Update labels for clarity and accessibility

57f2ac2

Fix HTML structure in confirm_delete_users() by removing an extra clo…

37ad656

…sing list item tag

Fix PHPCS warnings

a7d3ac9

Prevent user deletion without reassignment

93b4b7b

derpaschi requested a review from joedolson May 21, 2026 13:45

Enhance user deletion process by validating reassignment selections a…

73f2efa

…nd providing accessible error summaries. This update ensures that users cannot be deleted without a valid reassignment target, improving both functionality and accessibility for assistive technologies.

derpaschi requested a review from ocean90 June 4, 2026 14:59

joedolson requested changes Jul 3, 2026

View reviewed changes

pento force-pushed the trunk branch from 3af2d27 to 64ede28 Compare July 6, 2026 03:10

afercia reviewed Jul 9, 2026

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joedolson mentioned this pull request Jul 9, 2026

Better guide users when deleting other users in single- and multisites; copy 10502 #12467

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