Bug in wpForo Cross Posting — new topic created instead of linking to existing topic - wpForo Blog Cross Posting

RE: Bug in wpForo Cross Posting — new topic created instead of linking to existing topic

Astghik — Tue, 11 Nov 2025 10:01:53 +0000

@tennis2table

Please provide us with a detailed list of the steps you’ve taken, so we can try to replicate the issue on our test websites for further investigation.

At the moment, we’re unable to reproduce the same issue on our end.

RE: Bug in wpForo Cross Posting — new topic created instead of linking to existing topic

Tennis2table — Fri, 07 Nov 2025 12:30:15 +0000

Hello,

After updating wpForo Cross Posting, the forum topic linked to a post is not detected automatically. I patched the code to make detection work and can share the diff if you’d like.

Second issue: the initial import of forum replies into WordPress comments works, but ongoing synchronization only pulls administrator replies. Replies from other user roles are ignored. I suspect a capabilities/permissions check, but I’m not sure where to look (hook, filter, or role check) in your add-on.

Have you seen this before? Could you point me to the part that handles permission checks for syncing (e.g., role checks, current_user_can, etc.)?
I can provide the patch and logs if helpful.

Thanks for your support,

RE: Bug in wpForo Cross Posting — new topic created instead of linking to existing topic

Astghik — Sat, 01 Nov 2025 11:38:48 +0000

Please update the addon to the latest version, delete all kinds of caches and check again.

The issue should be solved

Bug in wpForo Cross Posting — new topic created instead of linking to existing topic

Tennis2table — Sat, 01 Nov 2025 10:12:20 +0000

Hello,

We’ve identified a bug in wpForo Cross Posting that causes a new topic to be created instead of linking a post to an existing topic when a topicid is manually entered in the post editor.

Symptom

Expected: when an existing topicid (e.g., 7955) is entered, the post should link to that topic.
Actual: a new topic is created (e.g., 8133), and the post links to this new topic.

Root cause 1 — Meta key mismatch (missing underscore)

The code reads the meta with an underscore before the prefix ('_' . $prefix . META_POST_TOPIC_ID) but writes it without the underscore ($prefix . META_POST_TOPIC_ID).
As a result, the stored topicid is never read back, the mapping appears “missing,” and a new topic is created.

Minimal fix (examples):

Apply similarly to the other related keys (forum/post):

Root cause 2 — User-entered topicid is overwritten by empty meta

In the save routine, the topicid from the form is read, but then it’s overwritten by the meta value (which is empty on the first link), forcing the “create topic” branch.

Logical fix (honor the user-entered value):

// After retrieving $topicID from $args:
if (!empty($topicID)) {
$topic = WPF()->topic->get_topic((int)$topicID);
if ($topic) {
// Persist immediately to the correct meta key (with underscore)
update_post_meta($postID, '_' . $prefix . wpForoCrossPostingOptions::META_POST_TOPIC_ID, (int)$topicID);
update_post_meta($postID, '_' . $prefix . wpForoCrossPostingOptions::META_POST_FORUM_ID, (int)$topic);
}
}

// Then read from meta (now set) $topicID = get_post_meta($postID, '_' . $prefix . wpForoCrossPostingOptions::META_POST_TOPIC_ID, true); $topic = WPF()->topic->get_topic($topicID);

Outcome

Read/write use the same meta key, so the existing topicid is recognized.
The user-entered topicid is respected, preventing duplicate topics.

I can provide a precise patch/diff against your file if helpful.

Many thanks in advance!

Best regards,