Posts: Improve display of post titles containing HTML in the admin.

src/wp-admin/comment.php

@@ -205,9 +205,9 @@
 		$post_id = $comment->comment_post_ID;
 		if ( current_user_can( 'edit_post', $post_id ) ) {
 			$post_link  = "<a href='" . esc_url( get_edit_post_link( $post_id ) ) . "'>";
-			$post_link .= esc_html( get_the_title( $post_id ) ) . '</a>';
+			$post_link .= wp_kses_post_title( get_the_title( $post_id ) ) . '</a>';
 		} else {
-			$post_link = esc_html( get_the_title( $post_id ) );
+			$post_link = wp_kses_post_title( get_the_title( $post_id ) );
 		}
 		echo $post_link;
 

src/wp-admin/edit-form-comment.php

@@ -184,9 +184,9 @@
 $post_id = $comment->comment_post_ID;
 if ( current_user_can( 'edit_post', $post_id ) ) {
 	$post_link  = "<a href='" . esc_url( get_edit_post_link( $post_id ) ) . "'>";
-	$post_link .= esc_html( get_the_title( $post_id ) ) . '</a>';
+	$post_link .= wp_kses_post_title( get_the_title( $post_id ) ) . '</a>';
 } else {
-	$post_link = esc_html( get_the_title( $post_id ) );
+	$post_link = wp_kses_post_title( get_the_title( $post_id ) );
 }
 ?>
 

src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-comments-list-table.php

@@ -1121,9 +1121,9 @@ public function column_response( $comment ) {
 
 		if ( current_user_can( 'edit_post', $post->ID ) ) {
 			$post_link  = "<a href='" . get_edit_post_link( $post->ID ) . "' class='comments-edit-item-link'>";
-			$post_link .= esc_html( get_the_title( $post->ID ) ) . '</a>';
+			$post_link .= wp_kses_post_title( get_the_title( $post->ID ) ) . '</a>';
 		} else {
-			$post_link = esc_html( get_the_title( $post->ID ) );
+			$post_link = wp_kses_post_title( get_the_title( $post->ID ) );
 		}
 
 		echo '<div class="response-links">';

src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-media-list-table.php

@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ public function column_cb( $item ) {
 				<span class="screen-reader-text">
 				<?php
 				/* translators: Hidden accessibility text. %s: Attachment title. */
-				printf( __( 'Select %s' ), _draft_or_post_title() );
+				printf( __( 'Select %s' ), _draft_or_post_title( $post ) );
 				?>
 				</span>
 			</label>
@@ -483,7 +483,7 @@ public function column_title( $post ) {
 			}
 		}
 
-		$title      = _draft_or_post_title();
+		$title      = _draft_or_post_title( $post );
 		$thumb      = wp_get_attachment_image( $attachment_id, array( 60, 60 ), true, array( 'alt' => '' ) );
 		$link_start = '';
 		$link_end   = '';
@@ -653,7 +653,7 @@ public function column_parent( $post ) {
 					'<br /><a href="#the-list" onclick="findPosts.open( \'media[]\', \'%s\' ); return false;" class="hide-if-no-js aria-button-if-js" aria-label="%s">%s</a>',
 					$post->ID,
 					/* translators: %s: Attachment title. */
-					esc_attr( sprintf( __( 'Attach &#8220;%s&#8221; to existing content' ), $title ) ),
+					esc_attr( sprintf( __( 'Attach &#8220;%s&#8221; to existing content' ), wp_strip_all_tags( $title ) ) ),
 					__( 'Attach' )
 				);
 			}
@@ -759,7 +759,7 @@ public function display_rows() {
 
 		$this->comment_pending_count = get_pending_comments_num( $post_ids );
 
-		add_filter( 'the_title', 'esc_html' );
+		add_filter( 'the_title', 'wp_kses_post_title' );
 
 		while ( have_posts() ) :
 			the_post();
@@ -777,6 +777,8 @@ public function display_rows() {
 			</tr>
 			<?php
 		endwhile;
+
+		remove_filter( 'the_title', 'wp_kses_post_title' );
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -800,7 +802,8 @@ protected function get_default_primary_column_name() {
 	 * @return array<string, string> An array of row actions.
 	 */
 	private function _get_row_actions( $post, $att_title ) {
-		$actions = array();
+		$att_title = wp_strip_all_tags( $att_title );
+		$actions   = array();
 
 		if ( ! $this->is_trash && current_user_can( 'edit_post', $post->ID ) ) {
 			$actions['edit'] = sprintf(
@@ -927,7 +930,7 @@ protected function handle_row_actions( $item, $column_name, $primary ) {
 		// Restores the more descriptive, specific name for use within this method.
 		$post = $item;
 
-		$att_title = _draft_or_post_title();
+		$att_title = _draft_or_post_title( $post );
 		$actions   = $this->_get_row_actions( $post, $att_title );
 
 		return $this->row_actions( $actions );

src/wp-admin/includes/class-wp-posts-list-table.php

@@ -812,13 +812,15 @@ public function display_rows( $posts = array(), $level = 0 ) {
 			$posts = $wp_query->posts;
 		}
 
-		add_filter( 'the_title', 'esc_html' );
+		add_filter( 'the_title', 'wp_kses_post_title' );
 
 		if ( $this->hierarchical_display ) {
 			$this->_display_rows_hierarchical( $posts, $this->get_pagenum(), $per_page );
 		} else {
 			$this->_display_rows( $posts, $level );
 		}
+
+		remove_filter( 'the_title', 'wp_kses_post_title' );
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -1078,7 +1080,7 @@ public function column_cb( $item ) {
 		 */
 		if ( apply_filters( 'wp_list_table_show_post_checkbox', $show, $post ) ) :
 
-			$post_title = _draft_or_post_title();
+			$post_title = _draft_or_post_title( $post );
 
 			// If the post has no title, try adding part of the excerpt.
 			$no_title_excerpt = $this->get_no_title_excerpt( $post );
@@ -1141,7 +1143,16 @@ protected function _column_title( $post, $classes, $data, $primary ) {
 	 * @return string The post title, or 'no title' if no title.
 	 */
 	protected function get_primary_column_aria_label( $item ) {
-		return ! empty( $item->post_title ) ? $item->post_title : __( 'no title' );
+		if ( empty( $item->post_title ) ) {
+			return __( 'no title' );
+		}
+
+		// Keep screen-reader labels as plain text, matching media list table behavior.
+		$title = wp_strip_all_tags( $item->post_title );
+		$title = html_entity_decode( $title, ENT_QUOTES, get_bloginfo( 'charset' ) );
+		$title = trim( $title );
+
+		return '' !== $title ? $title : __( 'no title' );
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -1232,7 +1243,7 @@ public function column_title( $post ) {
 
 		echo '<strong>';
 
-		$title = _draft_or_post_title();
+		$title = _draft_or_post_title( $post );
 
 		// If the post has no title, try adding part of the excerpt.
 		$no_title_excerpt = $this->get_no_title_excerpt( $post );
@@ -1261,7 +1272,7 @@ public function column_title( $post ) {
 
 		if ( isset( $parent_name ) ) {
 			$post_type_object = get_post_type_object( $post->post_type );
-			echo ' | ' . $post_type_object->labels->parent_item_colon . ' ' . esc_html( $parent_name );
+			echo ' | ' . $post_type_object->labels->parent_item_colon . ' ' . wp_kses_post_title( $parent_name );
 		}
 
 		echo "</strong>\n";
@@ -1585,7 +1596,7 @@ protected function handle_row_actions( $item, $column_name, $primary ) {
 		$post_type_object = get_post_type_object( $post->post_type );
 		$can_edit_post    = current_user_can( 'edit_post', $post->ID );
 		$actions          = array();
-		$title            = _draft_or_post_title();
+		$title            = wp_strip_all_tags( _draft_or_post_title( $post ) );
 
 		if ( $can_edit_post && 'trash' !== $post->post_status ) {
 			$actions['edit'] = sprintf(

src/wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php

@@ -689,8 +689,8 @@ function wp_dashboard_recent_drafts( $drafts = false ) {
 			'<div class="draft-title"><a href="%s" aria-label="%s">%s</a><time datetime="%s">%s</time></div>',
 			esc_url( $url ),
 			/* translators: %s: Post title. */
-			esc_attr( sprintf( __( 'Edit &#8220;%s&#8221;' ), $title ) ),
-			esc_html( $title ),
+			esc_attr( sprintf( __( 'Edit &#8220;%s&#8221;' ), wp_strip_all_tags( $title ) ) ),
+			$title,
 			get_the_time( 'c', $draft ),
 			get_the_time( __( 'F j, Y' ), $draft )
 		);
@@ -1057,7 +1057,7 @@ function wp_dashboard_recent_posts( $args ) {
 				sprintf( _x( '%1$s, %2$s', 'dashboard' ), $date, get_the_time() ),
 				$recent_post_link,
 				/* translators: %s: Post title. */
-				esc_attr( sprintf( __( 'Edit &#8220;%s&#8221;' ), $draft_or_post_title ) ),
+				esc_attr( sprintf( __( 'Edit &#8220;%s&#8221;' ), wp_strip_all_tags( $draft_or_post_title ) ) ),
 				$draft_or_post_title
 			);
 		}

src/wp-admin/includes/template.php

@@ -2107,6 +2107,7 @@ function the_post_password() {
  * returned.
  *
  * @since 2.7.0
+ * @since 7.2.0 Permits a subset of formatting tags instead of encoding all HTML.
  *
  * @param int|WP_Post $post Optional. Post ID or WP_Post object. Default is global $post.
  * @return string The post title if set.
@@ -2116,7 +2117,7 @@ function _draft_or_post_title( $post = 0 ) {
 	if ( empty( $title ) ) {
 		$title = __( '(no title)' );
 	}
-	return esc_html( $title );
+	return wp_kses_post_title( $title );
 }
 
 /**

src/wp-includes/post-template.php

@@ -181,6 +181,31 @@ function get_the_title( $post = 0 ) {
 	return apply_filters( 'the_title', $post_title, $post_id );
 }
 
+/**
+ * Sanitizes a post title for HTML display, allowing limited formatting tags.
+ *
+ * WordPress permits HTML in post titles. `esc_html()` encodes those tags, so a
+ * title such as `The <em>page</em> title` is shown with the tags as text.
+ * This keeps a small set of inline formatting tags and escapes everything else.
+ *
+ * @since 7.2.0
+ *
+ * @param string $title Post title to sanitize.
+ * @return string Sanitized title safe for HTML display.
+ */
+function wp_kses_post_title( $title ) {
+	return wp_kses(
+		$title,
+		array(
+			'strong' => array( 'class' => true ),
+			'em'     => array( 'class' => true ),
+			'b'      => array( 'class' => true ),
+			'i'      => array( 'class' => true ),
+			'span'   => array( 'class' => true ),
+		)
+	);
+}
+
 /**
  * Displays the Post Global Unique Identifier (guid).
  *

tests/phpunit/tests/admin/wpPostsListTable.php

@@ -596,4 +596,48 @@ public function test_checkbox_label_includes_no_title_excerpt() {
 
 		$this->assertStringContainsString( 'Select (no title) Hello world example excerpt.', $output );
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Formatting tags in a post title are rendered in the list table title column.
+	 *
+	 * @ticket 66244
+	 *
+	 * @covers ::wp_kses_post_title
+	 * @covers ::_draft_or_post_title
+	 * @covers WP_Posts_List_Table::column_title
+	 * @covers WP_Posts_List_Table::get_primary_column_aria_label
+	 */
+	public function test_post_title_formatting_tags_are_rendered_in_list_table() {
+		$user_id = self::factory()->user->create( array( 'role' => 'administrator' ) );
+		if ( is_multisite() ) {
+			grant_super_admin( $user_id );
+		}
+		wp_set_current_user( $user_id );
+
+		$post = self::factory()->post->create_and_get(
+			array(
+				'post_type'  => 'post',
+				'post_title' => 'The <em class="title">page</em> title',
+			)
+		);
+
+		$output = $this->render_column_title( $post, 'list' );
+
+		$this->assertStringContainsString(
+			sprintf( '<a class="row-title" href="%s">The <em class="title">page</em> title</a>', get_edit_post_link( $post->ID ) ),
+			$output
+		);
+		$this->assertStringNotContainsString(
+			sprintf( '<a class="row-title" href="%s">The &lt;em', get_edit_post_link( $post->ID ) ),
+			$output
+		);
+
+		$table  = _get_list_table( 'WP_Posts_List_Table', array( 'screen' => 'edit-post' ) );
+		$method = new ReflectionMethod( $table, 'get_primary_column_aria_label' );
+		if ( PHP_VERSION_ID < 80100 ) {
+			$method->setAccessible( true );
+		}
+
+		$this->assertSame( 'The page title', $method->invoke( $table, $post ) );
+	}
 }

tests/phpunit/tests/kses.php

@@ -2933,4 +2933,39 @@ public function data_allowed_attributes_in_descriptions() {
 			),
 		);
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 66244
+	 * @covers ::wp_kses_post_title
+	 */
+	public function test_wp_kses_post_title_allows_formatting_tags() {
+		$title = 'The <em class="title">page</em> <strong>title</strong>';
+
+		$this->assertSame( $title, wp_kses_post_title( $title ) );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 66244
+	 * @covers ::wp_kses_post_title
+	 */
+	public function test_wp_kses_post_title_strips_disallowed_tags_and_encodes_ampersands() {
+		$result = wp_kses_post_title( 'The <a href="https://example.com">page</a> & title <script>alert(1)</script>' );
+
+		$this->assertStringNotContainsString( '<a ', $result );
+		$this->assertStringNotContainsString( '<script', $result );
+		$this->assertStringContainsString( 'page', $result );
+		$this->assertStringContainsString( '&amp; title', $result );
+		$this->assertStringContainsString( 'alert(1)', $result );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 66244
+	 * @covers ::wp_kses_post_title
+	 */
+	public function test_wp_kses_post_title_strips_disallowed_attributes() {
+		$this->assertSame(
+			'<em class="title">page</em>',
+			wp_kses_post_title( '<em class="title" onclick="alert(1)">page</em>' )
+		);
+	}
 }