README

The shared-patches WP-CLI package introduces patches into WordPress. It allows you to update your plugins to new versions without losing the hotfixes that you previously applied to them, if they were not incorporated into the new official release by the plugin vendor.

This is especially useful if you are maintaining many WordPress sites in a team in parallel, without knowing which hotfixes were applied in other projects that you are not working on. The team can share the patches and have them automatically re-applied when installing updates.

Commands

wp plugin patch [<plugin...> | --all]

Apply patches to one or more plugins.

Allows plugins to be updated to later versions while retaining bugfixes that have not been included into the upstream versions by the maintainers yet.

The command follows the synopsis of wp plugin update. It accepts one or more plugin names for which to apply patches, or the option --all:

$ wp plugin patch example-plugin other-plugin
$ wp plugin patch --all

The patches are shared as part of this package, see folder ./patches/.

wp patch create <plugin> <commit> <type> <keywords>

Creates a new patch file from a Git commit.

$ wp patch create example-plugin c03314 fix keywords-context-info

All patches must be "patch serials" in the format of git format-patch. They will be applied using git am. More details on this in the Creating patches chapter.

Installation

Install as WP-CLI package (user-specific)

1. Ensure you have WP-CLI installed and set up in your $PATH.
2. Install the package for the currently logged in system user.

   wp package install makers99/wp-cli-shared-patches

Install as Git submodule

1. In the root folder of your project, add the package as submodule.

   git submodule add --name wp-cli-shared-patches git@github.com:makers99/wp-cli-shared-patches.git .wp-cli/packages/shared-patches

2. Register the command for early WP-CLI bootstrap.

   echo -e "require:\n  - .wp-cli/packages/shared-patches/package.php" >> wp-cli.yml

   Or manually:

   vi wp-cli.yml

   require:
     - .wp-cli/packages/shared-patches/package.php

Install with Composer

1. Install the package with Composer.

   composer require --dev makers99/wp-cli-shared-patches:dev-master

2. Register the command for early WP-CLI bootstrap.

   echo -e "require:\n  - vendor/makers99/wp-cli-shared-patches/package.php" >> wp-cli.yml

   Or manually:

   vi wp-cli.yml

   require:
     - vendor/makers99/wp-cli-shared-patches/package.php

Requirements

• PHP 7.4 or later.

Creating patches

All patches are created from an existing commit, so that the author, committer, date, and further context is included in the patch file.

Only the changes of the specified commit are included in the patch file. Squash your changes into a single commit if you have multiple commits.

Each patch filename must be in the following structure, delimited by dots:

1. Name of the plugin (folder).
2. Patch number, starting from 0000. Automatically generated.
3. Type of change, either "fix" or "feature".
4. Keywords to provide approximate context, delimited by hyphens.

$ wp patch create example-plugin c03314 fix keywords-context-info

This will create a new patch file in the /patches folder, which you can then add to the repository.

Here is how the comand works under the hood:

$ export PATCHES_DIR=.wp-cli/packages/shared-patches/patches
$ export COMMIT=abcdefgh
$ cd wp-content/plugins/example-plugin
$ git format-patch --relative --stdout $COMMIT~1..$COMMIT > \
  $PATCHES_DIR/example-plugin.0001.fix.relevant-context-keywords.patch

(Variables PATCHES_DIR and COMMIT used for clarity only.)

Notes

• On GitHub, you can append ".patch" to the end of the URL of a commit (or PR) to get the changes in the patch serial format. (example)

  • If the commit is from a website project repository and not a plugin repository, you need to adjust the file paths in the .patch file to be relative to the plugin folder.

  • Ensure to download the original raw file content and do not copy/paste what you see in the browser page, because the HTML/web formatting in the browser does not include crucial whitespace characters. You can use the Sources tab in the browser console to download the original raw response.

• git format-patch does not include merge commits. You can create a patch compatible with git am following the instructions in https://stackoverflow.com/a/8840381/811306.

Documenting upstream

If there is a public issue or PR in the upstream vendor repository or issue tracker, then ensure to add it to the commit description of the patch:

Upstream: https://github.com/makers99/wp-cli-shared-patches/pull/10

(The URL should point to the upstream vendor issue, of course.)

Ideally add this info in the initial/original commit message already.

Resolving patch conflicts

Repeat the failing command that you see in the error message; e.g.:

$ git am --directory 'wp-content/plugins/woocommerce-german-market' --3way --keep-cr '.wp-cli/packages/shared-patches/patches/woocommerce-german-market.0001.feature.shop-standards-delivery-times.patch'

This results in a git am merge conflict, which you can resolve like any other merge or rebase conflict.

$ git am --show-current-patch
$ vi wp-content/plugins/woocommerce-german-market/inc/WGM_Template.php
# Resolve conflict markers as with a regular merge

$ git status
$ git add wp-content/plugins/woocommerce-german-market/inc/WGM_Template.php
$ git status

$ git am --continue

$ wp patch create woocommerce-german-market d8e0e9b67 feature shop-standards-delivery-times
$ cd .wp-cli/packages/shared-patches/patches/
$ rm woocommerce-german-market.0001.feature.shop-standards-delivery-times.patch
$ mv woocommerce-german-market.0005.feature.shop-standards-delivery-times.patch woocommerce-german-market.0001.feature.shop-standards-delivery-times.patch
$ git status
$ git add woocommerce-german-market.0001.feature.shop-standards-delivery-times.patch
$ git commit -m "Updated woocommerce-german-market shop-standards delivery times patch."
$ git push
$ cd -

However, if you see conflict markers but no actual changes (in all files affected by the patch), then the patch was incorporated into the new upstream release.

$ git am --show-current-patch
$ vi wp-content/plugins/woocommerce-german-market/inc/WGM_Installation.php
# Search for conflict markers:
/<<<<<

$ vi wp-content/plugins/woocommerce-german-market/WooCommerce-German-Market.php
# Search for conflict markers:
/<<<<<

$ git status
$ git am --abort

$ cd .wp-cli/packages/shared-patches/patches
$ git rm woocommerce-german-market.0004.fix.performance-admin_url-string-translations.patch
$ git commit -m "Removed patch woocommerce-german-market.0004.fix.performance-admin_url-string-translations."
$ cd -

Resolving patch errors

Sometimes a patch might error due to other changes in the diff context. Test the following options of git am to see whether the patch can still be applied:

    --ignore-whitespace   ignore changes in whitespace when finding context
    -C <n>                ensure at least <n> lines of context match

Example:

$ git am --directory local-plugins/wp-lister-amazon --3way --keep-cr .wp-cli/packages/shared-patches/patches/wp-lister-amazon.0001.*.patch
Applying: Added order param to filter hook to amazon lister plugin.
error: sha1 information is lacking or useless (local-plugins/wp-lister-amazon/classes/integration/Woo_OrderBuilder.php).
error: could not build fake ancestor
Patch failed at 0001 Added order param to filter hook to amazon lister plugin.
hint: Use 'git am --show-current-patch=diff' to see the failed patch
When you have resolved this problem, run "git am --continue".
If you prefer to skip this patch, run "git am --skip" instead.
To restore the original branch and stop patching, run "git am --abort".

$ git am --directory local-plugins/wp-lister-amazon --3way --keep-cr --ignore-whitespace -C 0 .wp-cli/packages/shared-patches/patches/wp-lister-amazon.0001.*.patch
Applying: Added order param to filter hook to amazon lister plugin.