Thank you so much! This is an helpful and clear explanation. Pointing directly to the source code on GitHub was exactly what I needed to understand this recent change.
Your answer also highlights an important point, the official Developer Reference page for update_option() appears to be out of sync with the core’s current behavior.
For the benefit of all the WordPress developers community I think it’s crucial that this page be updated, as of today (July 20, 2025), it still describes the $autoload parameter as a boolean value and legacy strings, while completely omitting the new ‘on’/’off’ standard and other valid values like ‘auto’.
Thanks again for shedding light on this. It’s a very valuable clarification!
This reply was modified 10 months, 1 week ago by Sergio De Falco.
I’m familiar with that page, but my question is specifically about the value ‘auto’ which I’m seeing in my wp_options table for the autoload column.
The documentation you linked, as well as the Developer Reference for update_option(), clearly states that the $autoload parameter is a boolean, which is stored in the database as either true or false.
Since I’m seeing ‘auto’, I’m wondering if this is perhaps a new, undocumented syntax or simply a non-standard value.
My main technical question is how the WordPress core interprets it. I assume that during the wp_load_alloptions() process, any value other than the exact string ‘yes’ would cause the option not to be autoloaded, effectively treating it as ‘no’.
Could you confirm if this assumption is correct? It would help me understand if this setting is a valid (though undocumented) option or simply an anomaly with no functional impact on autoloading.
Thanks again for your time!
This reply was modified 10 months, 1 week ago by Sergio De Falco.
This reply was modified 10 months, 1 week ago by Sergio De Falco.
This reply was modified 10 months, 1 week ago by Sergio De Falco.
Fixed! It was the very popular theme that maked use of wpseo_sitemap_urlimages filter. It’s still unclear why disabling the theme didn’t work. To fix I removed that filter:
Hi @maybellyne, thanks for your reply. In the meanwhile I think I found the code is attaching every single image to the sitemap. Even if something is still unclear. I will update this once I will have more infos.
Unfortunately I don’t know if there are plugins doing the same thing. When we decided to develop Multipage Plugin 10 years ago there weren’t valid alternatives doing the same thing. I could suggest to use the Table Of Contents Gutenberg Block, but it’s linking to the same page. I don’t rule out that we will return with a new plugin (or updating Multipage) that will do this on the latest WordPress versions, but I cannot promise.
Anyway Multipage Plugin should still work on WordPress version declared on “Tested up to”.
Just tested with WordPress latest version & BuddyPress latest version, all working as expected. Please follow the installing instructions, expecially the part where you have to disable the BuddyPress option for fields syncing (enabled by default). Eventually try to disable all plugins and themes except WordPress, BuddyPress and BuddyPress to WordPress Full Sync and try if it’s working 😉
Unfortunately, due to the deprecation of shortcodes on WordPress and the replacement of the old editor with Gutenberg, this plugin is no longer supported. It is possible that in the future a new version with a new concept will be released and it is likely that at the same time there will also be a tool to convert the old shortcodes to the new version but at the moment there is nothing sure yet.
I had planned to release a premium version, but it’s still a work in progress. The problem is that there are a lot of plugins that store fields in different ways, they don’t adopt the standard WordPress fields via user_metadata so the integration could be different for every plugin.
Do you mean buddypress or bbpress (the forums, but as far as I know bbpress doesn’t have a syncing option)? this version of the plugin is for BuddyPress. The BuddyPress syncing option is not for fields but for the name, unusefull at all in my opinion.
I could develop for you a custom version with the wanted behavior. If you want feel free to contact me at the email address inside the plugin.
Hi, this plugin, in this version, only synces default WordPress fields. Locale is the language used by the user, I suppose this only updates when the user first access to the backend and sets its own language. Locale is not the country but the WordPress language.
Hi,
To understand your problem would be nice to have a debug.log.
The problems with Covers and Profile pictures you’re talking about looks related to BuddyPress/BuddyBoss, not on this specific plugin.
You should ask on the related Support Forum.
Hi, atm no. There are a lot of plugins and everyone works in a different ways, could be very difficult make everyone compatible. Maybe this will become working in a premium version.
