From 974ca8d18a65c9f73ab28b22f99e2f1232664bdf Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sainath Poojary <spoojary614@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2026 17:30:23 +0530
Subject: [PATCH 1/3] Themes: Don't return anchor tag if link is empty in
 get_the_author_posts_link().

---
 src/wp-includes/author-template.php | 18 ++++++++++++------
 1 file changed, 12 insertions(+), 6 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/wp-includes/author-template.php b/src/wp-includes/author-template.php
index 4c715a62b51f1..08dbaca00e6b3 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/author-template.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/author-template.php
@@ -323,7 +323,7 @@ function the_author_posts() {
  *
  * @global WP_User $authordata The current author's data.
  *
- * @return string An HTML link to the author page, or an empty string if $authordata is not set.
+ * @return string An HTML link to the author page, or just the author's display name if the URL is empty, or an empty string if $authordata is not set.
  */
 function get_the_author_posts_link() {
 	global $authordata;
@@ -336,11 +336,17 @@ function get_the_author_posts_link() {
 	/* translators: %s: Author's display name. */
 	$title = sprintf( __( 'Posts by %s' ), $author );
 
-	$link = sprintf(
-		'<a href="%1$s" rel="author">%2$s</a>',
-		esc_url( get_author_posts_url( $authordata->ID, $authordata->user_nicename ) ),
-		$author
-	);
+	$url = get_author_posts_url( $authordata->ID, $authordata->user_nicename );
+
+	if ( empty( $url ) || 'http://' === $url ) {
+		$link = $author;
+	} else {
+		$link = sprintf(
+			'<a href="%1$s" rel="author">%2$s</a>',
+			esc_url( $url ),
+			$author
+		);
+	}
 
 	/**
 	 * Filters the link to the author page of the author of the current post.

From 77ae71aa62e4583ff758657b398af97158155540 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sainath Poojary <spoojary614@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2026 17:37:04 +0530
Subject: [PATCH 2/3] Themes: Tests for get_the_author_posts_link()

---
 .../tests/user/getTheAuthorPostsLink.php      | 36 +++++++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 36 insertions(+)

diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/user/getTheAuthorPostsLink.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/user/getTheAuthorPostsLink.php
index fdef10d12a445..ea5f7fba97467 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/user/getTheAuthorPostsLink.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/user/getTheAuthorPostsLink.php
@@ -86,4 +86,40 @@ public function test_get_the_author_posts_link_should_return_empty_string_if_aut
 
 		$this->assertSame( '', get_the_author_posts_link() );
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 39844
+	 */
+	public function test_get_the_author_posts_link_returns_author_name_when_url_is_empty() {
+		$author = get_userdata( self::$author_id );
+
+		$GLOBALS['authordata'] = $author;
+
+		add_filter( 'author_link', '__return_empty_string' );
+		$link = get_the_author_posts_link();
+		remove_filter( 'author_link', '__return_empty_string' );
+
+		unset( $GLOBALS['authordata'] );
+
+		$this->assertSame( 'Test Author', $link );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 39844
+	 */
+	public function test_get_the_author_posts_link_returns_author_name_when_url_is_http_placeholder() {
+		$author = get_userdata( self::$author_id );
+
+		$GLOBALS['authordata'] = $author;
+
+		add_filter( 'author_link', static function () {
+			return 'http://';
+		} );
+		$link = get_the_author_posts_link();
+		remove_all_filters( 'author_link' );
+
+		unset( $GLOBALS['authordata'] );
+
+		$this->assertSame( 'Test Author', $link );
+	}
 }

From 2677c13e2adcc97cedc1e1208ec9702f7ffd2c17 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Sainath Poojary <spoojary614@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 8 Jul 2026 07:38:58 +0530
Subject: [PATCH 3/3] Themes: Fixed PHPCS error

---
 tests/phpunit/tests/user/getTheAuthorPostsLink.php | 9 ++++++---
 1 file changed, 6 insertions(+), 3 deletions(-)

diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/user/getTheAuthorPostsLink.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/user/getTheAuthorPostsLink.php
index ea5f7fba97467..9e88fd96cc8c1 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/user/getTheAuthorPostsLink.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/user/getTheAuthorPostsLink.php
@@ -112,9 +112,12 @@ public function test_get_the_author_posts_link_returns_author_name_when_url_is_h
 
 		$GLOBALS['authordata'] = $author;
 
-		add_filter( 'author_link', static function () {
-			return 'http://';
-		} );
+		add_filter(
+			'author_link',
+			static function () {
+				return 'http://';
+			}
+		);
 		$link = get_the_author_posts_link();
 		remove_all_filters( 'author_link' );