Bug - featured image - featured image is getting hidden randomly

[SophieAmnesty]

Describe the bug
I have noticed this a few times recently but I have no idea what's triggering it.

Sometimes the featured image on a post will get hidden and nobody seems to have meant that to happen.

I will go into the post and find the hide featured image setting toggled on, without me or the post editor having selected that setting.

It could just be user error, but it's sort of a difficult setting to change by accident.

It happened on these posts:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/11/ethiopia-end-the-month-long-arbitrary-detention-of-thousands-in-amhara-region/
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/10/damning-evidence-of-war-crimes-as-israeli-attacks-wipe-out-entire-families-in-gaza/

To Reproduce
I haven't figured out how to reproduce this yet. Hopefully I'll be able to come back and add detail to this at some point.

Expected behaviour
Featured image shouldn't be hidden unless the hide featured image setting has been selected by a user.

Actual behaviour
Sometimes the featured image seems to be getting hidden randomly.

[SophieAmnesty]

Sorry this is a bit impossible to diagnose but I have been noticing it happen a bit recently. Will add any more info to this ticket if/when I can!

[SophieAmnesty]

happened again today on this one: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/11/cop29-finance-target-is-a-blueprint-for-inequalities-and-violations/

[jaymcp]

sorry for the slow response on this, @SophieAmnesty.

the only thing in the code that can toggle that option without user interaction is the hero block - if a hero is inserted into a post, display of the featured image is disabled, so that the post doesn't render both the featured image and the hero. but then, if the hero is subsequently removed, we don't toggle the option back.

This is an oversight, but perhaps we should avoid meddling with the display of the featured image at all in the hero block, and leave the decision up to the user. what do you think?

[SophieAmnesty]

Ahh yes ok I see.

Yeah maybe we should do that and then see if the mysterious hidden featured image thing stops happening?

then we can assume people were just adding and removing a hero block.

[SophieAmnesty]

happened again with this post: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2024/12/if-society-is-to-change-people-with-disabilities-must-be-included-in-the-fight/

I asked the user if she'd added the hero block and removed it and she said she's never used a hero block in her life.

So, I'm not 100% sure this fix of removing the hook from the hero block to hide featured image is going to work.

we shall see I guess!

[jaymcp]

Oh, that's unexpected. This is quite the perplexing issue! Thanks for the new info 🙂

[SophieAmnesty]

happened on this post today https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/12/lebanon-israeli-air-strikes-that-killed-at-least-49-civilians-further-evidence-of-war-crimes/ as well.