wppaste
WordPress

wp_authenticate_spam_check( WP_User|WP_Error|null $user ): WP_User|WP_Error

Since
3.7.0
Source
wp-includes/user.php:523
For Multisite blogs, checks if the authenticated user has been marked as a spammer, or if the user's primary blog has been marked as spam.

Compatibility

WordPress
since 3.7.0
PHP
7.4–8.6-dev
  • 6.7.7
  • 6.8.8
  • 6.9.7
  • 7.0.4
  • 7.1.0

Present in every tracked release (6.7.7 to 7.1.0), and compiles on PHP 7.4 through 8.6-dev.

Parameters

$userWP_User|WP_Error|null
WP_User or WP_Error object from a previous callback. Default null.

Return value

WP_User|WP_Error
WP_User on success, WP_Error if the user is considered a spammer.

Performance profile

How much work a call to wp_authenticate_spam_check() does, and what it touches: the algorithmic scaling, the Zend instruction count per call across PHP versions, the hooks it hands control to, and the core code that calls it. Measured from the compiled opcodes, not a stopwatch, so every number is identical on any machine running the same PHP version, and every function in core is ranked by cost.

Cost class
Heavy

Reaches the database via get_user_by().

Scaling
Constant

No loop in the body: the same number of instructions runs whatever you pass in.

Instructions
4–24

Executed per call on PHP 8.5, depending on the branch taken. The body compiles to 25.

Plugin surface
1 hook

Third-party callbacks on 'check_is_user_spammed' run inside this call, and their cost is not bounded by anything here.

Called by
0

Nothing in core calls this; the cost is only what you spend yourself.

What it touches

  • hookthird-party callbacksapply_filters()called directly
  • querycontent queryget_user_by()one call below wp_authenticate_spam_check()

Further down the call graph this can also reach option, cache, serialize and transient. Those are the worst case, several calls deep and usually down an error path, not what a normal call pays.

What one call costs · 4 distinct outcomes

One number would be a lie: the work depends on which branch runs. These are every distinct cost wp_authenticate_spam_check() can have, taken from its control-flow graph on PHP 8.5.

WhenInstructionsCalls it makes
!($user instanceof)4none
$user instanceof && !is_multisite()7is_multisite()
$user instanceof && is_multisite()17is_multisite(), is_user_spammy(), apply_filters()
$user instanceof && is_multisite()24is_multisite(), is_user_spammy(), apply_filters(), __()

Across PHP versions

Compiles the same on PHP 7.4, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5 and 8.6-dev: 25 instructions, 4–24 executed per call, 3 branches. The work does not change between versions.

An instruction is not a fixed amount of time, so a matching count is not necessarily the same speed; what it rules out is a difference in the work itself.

Hooks and filters fired · 1

One hook fires while wp_authenticate_spam_check() runs, in this order:

  1. apply_filters( check_is_user_spammed )filterline 533 (+10 into the body)

    Filters whether the user has been marked as a spammer.

Uses · 5

Source code

function wp_authenticate_spam_check( $user ) {	if ( $user instanceof WP_User && is_multisite() ) {		/**		 * Filters whether the user has been marked as a spammer.		 *		 * @since 3.7.0		 *		 * @param bool    $spammed Whether the user is considered a spammer.		 * @param WP_User $user    User to check against.		 */		$spammed = apply_filters( 'check_is_user_spammed', is_user_spammy( $user ), $user ); 		if ( $spammed ) {			return new WP_Error( 'spammer_account', __( '<strong>Error:</strong> Your account has been marked as a spammer.' ) );		}	}	return $user;}

Changelog

Introduced in 3.7.0. Unchanged from 6.7.7 through 7.1.0.

  1. 6.7.7
  2. 6.8.8
  3. 6.9.7
  4. 7.0.4
  5. 7.1.0

Signature, return type and hooks compared across 5 parsed releases.

About this page

Parsed data
Generated from the wordpress-develop 6.7.7 tag, from src/wp-includes/user.php, and regenerated for each WordPress release so it tracks the code rather than a snapshot of it.
Corrections
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