How to resolve Strings should have translatable content in Wordpress? - php

Question

I am trying to fix the linting issue here is code.
function get_the_breadcrumb() {
if ( ! is_front_page() ) {
// Start the breadcrumb with a link to your homepage.
echo '<div class="o__breadcrumb">';
echo '<a href="';
echo esc_html( get_option( 'home' ) );
echo '"> Home';
echo '</a> <span> ';
echo esc_html( Load::atom( 'icons/breadcrumb_arrow' ) );
echo '</span>';
// Check if the current page is a category, an archive or a single page. If so show the category or archive name.
if ( is_category() || is_single() ) {
the_category( 'title_li=' );
} elseif ( is_archive() || is_single() ) {
if ( is_day() ) {
/* translators: %s: text term */
printf( esc_html( __( '%s', 'text_domain' ) ), esc_html( get_the_date() ) );
} elseif ( is_month() ) {
/* translators: %s: text term */
printf( esc_html( __( '%s', 'text_domain' ) ), get_the_date( _x( 'F Y', 'monthly archives date format', 'text_domain' ) ) );
} elseif ( is_year() ) {
/* translators: %s: text term */
printf( esc_html( __( '%s', 'text_domain' ) ), get_the_date( _x( 'Y', 'yearly archives date format', 'text_domain' ) ) );
} else {
esc_attr_e( 'Blog Archives', 'text_domain' );
}
}
// If the current page is a single post, show its title with the separator.
if ( is_single() ) {
echo '<span>';
echo esc_html( Load::atom( 'icons/breadcrumb_arrow' ) );
echo '</span>';
the_title();
}
// If the current page is a static page, show its title.
if ( is_page() ) {
echo the_title();
}
// if you have a static page assigned to be you posts list page. It will find the title of the static page and display it. i.e Home >> Blog.
if ( is_home() ) {
global $post;
$page_for_posts_id = get_option( 'page_for_posts' );
if ( $page_for_posts_id ) {
$post = get_page( $page_for_posts_id );
setup_postdata( $post );
the_title();
rewind_posts();
}
}
echo '</div>';
}
}
Linting response
FOUND 3 ERRORS AFFECTING 3 LINES
----------------------------------------------------------------------
193 | ERROR | Strings should have translatable content
196 | ERROR | Strings should have translatable content
199 | ERROR | Strings should have translatable content
Line number 193
printf( esc_html( __( '%s', 'text_domain' ) ), esc_html( get_the_date() ) );
Line number 196
printf( esc_html( __( '%s', 'text_domain' ) ), get_the_date( _x( 'F Y', 'monthly archives date format', 'text_domain' ) ) );
Line number 199
printf( esc_html( __( '%s', 'text_domain' ) ), get_the_date( _x( 'Y', 'yearly archives date format', 'text_domain' ) ) );

Answer 1

It's because you have %s as the text inside the translation function call __(...), which is not translatable.
Instead you should have your printf() call inside the translation call, so the translator can actually see what the heck you're trying to translate.
But, you shouldn't be trying to translate the date this way. It won't work because the date is always changing and the way __() translation works is by matching the exact string passed in to a translation. According to this answer, you should use date_i18n
And why are you trying to translate the date formatting strings you are passing to get_the_date, those are code values used by php, they don't change based on where you are. Translating these can only cause you problems.
You also call esc_html twice on line 193.
So, instead you should write your lines of code like so:
Line number 193
esc_html( date_i18n( get_the_date() ) );
Line number 196
esc_html( date_i18n( get_the_date('F Y') ) );
Line number 199
esc_html( date_i18n( get_the_date( 'Y' ) ) );
Note, I don't think the esc_html calls are actually necessary here, since the internals is just WordPress functions that only return dates... no html should be in there