[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #4647: Text in database should not be entity-encoded

[WordPress Trac]

#4647: Text in database should not be entity-encoded
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 Reporter:  redsweater    |       Owner:  (none)
     Type:  defect (bug)  |      Status:  closed
 Priority:  normal        |   Milestone:
Component:  General       |     Version:  2.2.1
 Severity:  normal        |  Resolution:  wontfix
 Keywords:  needs-patch   |     Focuses:
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Comment (by everymadep):

 I agree that storing entity-encoded text like & in the database can
 lead to inconsistencies, especially when some fields (like Title and
 Excerpt) store raw characters while others (like Category names and
 post_content) store XML entities. This inconsistency makes it difficult to
 predict how the data will appear when accessed through different
 interfaces — particularly XML-RPC, as you mentioned.

 From a data management and architectural standpoint, it does make more
 sense to store the raw, unencoded text in the database and handle any
 necessary entity encoding at the presentation or output level (e.g., when
 rendering HTML or preparing XML). Encoding at the database level mixes
 concerns and can lead to double encoding, display bugs, and added
 complexity when parsing or outputting content.

 I'd support standardizing this — ideally by normalizing all stored content
 to raw text and letting each interface (e.g., web output, XML-RPC, REST
 API) handle encoding appropriately based on its context.

 Looking forward to your follow-up on how this affects the XML-RPC
 interface — sounds like that could highlight the issue even more.

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Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/4647#comment:10>
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