[robertbpugh]

Review: needs an approval before merge.

Podcast Distribution now warns when your site is unlaunched, private, or hidden from search engines, with a link to site visibility settings.

Fixes PODS-213

Proposed changes

• Add a visibility warning above the directory list, with an “Edit site visibility” link to Settings → Reading.
• Keep the warning advisory: visibility alone does not disable Set up buttons, including saved directory URLs, or increase the remaining setup-step count.

Known limitations: Existing metadata and episode checks can still disable manual Set up buttons, including saved URLs. The warning checks visibility flags, not directory access to the feed; custom robots.txt rules and other crawler restrictions are outside its scope. Reload the dashboard after changing visibility.

Risk: Incorrect visibility detection could show or omit the advisory warning.

How to revert: Revert this change.

Related product discussion/links

None.

Does this pull request change what data or activity we track or use?

No new tracking or stored data; the dashboard reads existing visibility settings.

Testing instructions

Tested: No live-site or browser verification.

Added a regression test for site visibility detection in Admin_Page_Test.php.

1. On a connected Jurassic Ninja site with Podcast access and its module active, open Podcast → Settings. Save a category, title, summary, host, owner email, topic, and PNG/JPEG cover at least 1400×1400. Publish an episode in that category. With the site public and indexable, Distribution should show no visibility warning and enable manual Set up buttons.
2. Enable “Discourage search engines from indexing this site” in Settings → Reading, save, and fully reload Distribution. Expect the visibility warning; Set up buttons should remain enabled without an extra setup step.
3. Follow “Edit site visibility” to Settings → Reading. Return to Distribution, save a valid Apple show URL through Set up, and reload. Confirm the modal still opens to view or replace the URL.
4. Check Copy link, Pocket Casts submission, and warning/link readability in the dashboard. Disable search discouragement, save, and reload; the warning should disappear. Remove the summary or cover, or unpublish the episode; existing readiness warnings and manual-button blocking should return.
5. On disposable WordPress.com sites with Podcast access, repeat for default unlaunched/Coming Soon, private, and launched/public states, reloading each time. Expect the warning only in hidden states. Repeat with legacy private/Coming Soon settings on Atomic. These checks remain unrun.

Acceptance (fresh agent, head 8f0084d)

Step	Result	Evidence
Setup: PR build, access, module	PASS	Build ends g8f0084df; Complete license attached; Podcast module activated; has_product_access true. Growth license failed to issue.
1. Public site, ready podcast	PASS	No warning, all buttons enabled. Episode published through REST, no audio. step1-public-no-warning.png, step1-dom.json
2. Discourage search engines, reload	PASS	Warning shown, no extra setup step, all buttons enabled. step2-discouraged-warning.png, step2-dom.json
3a. Edit site visibility link	PASS	Landed on options-reading.php with the visibility field visible. step3-settings-reading.png
3b. Apple URL saved, reloaded	PASS	Modal reopens showing saved URL; Replace opens an editable field. step3-apple-modal-saved-url.png
4a. Copy link	PASS	Label changed to Copied!; clipboard matched the feed URL.
4b. Pocket Casts submission	BLOCKED	Submit enabled, not pressed: it sends the feed to an outside service through WordPress.com, outside the test site.
4c. Warning and link readability	PASS	Text contrast 15.64:1, underlined link 5.25:1, no overflow. step4-warning-crop.png
4d. Discouragement off, reload	PASS	Warning gone, buttons enabled. step4-warning-gone.png, step4-public-dom.json
4e. Remove summary, cover, episode	PASS	Each returned its readiness warning and disabled manual buttons; restoring cleared them. step4-no-*-blocked.png, step4-readiness-dom.json
5a. WordPress.com unlaunched, private, launched	BLOCKED	Needs disposable WordPress.com sites on a person's account with a paid plan. Not run.
5b. Atomic legacy private, Coming Soon	BLOCKED	Same reason. Not run on Atomic; only simulated on Jurassic Ninja in edge E2.
E1. Private, blog_public -1	PASS	Warning shown, manual buttons enabled. edge-private-warning.png, edge-states.json
E2. Simulated launch and legacy states	PASS	Option or stub set by helper plugin. Unlaunched, Coming Soon, legacy states warned; launched did not. edge-states.json
E3. 360px wide window	PASS	Notice inside viewport, no sideways scroll, link readable. edge-narrow-360-warning.png
E4. Empty and 3000-character Apple URL	PASS	Empty: Save disabled. Long: "URL is too long" error. edge-long-url-rejected.png
E5. Hidden site plus missing summary	PASS	Both notices show; manual buttons disabled by the readiness rule only. edge-both-warnings-360.png
Before and after	PASS	Trunk gb4bb810c shows no notice; PR shows it, same hidden state. before.png, after.png
Head SHA re-read	PASS	Still 8f0084d at the end of the run.

VERDICT: PASS

Before	After

_{Opened by the bug pipeline for PODS-213.}

[github-actions]

Are you an Automattician? Please test your changes on all WordPress.com environments to help mitigate accidental explosions.

• To test on WoA, go to the Plugins menu on a WoA dev site. Click on the "Upload" button and follow the upgrade flow to be able to upload, install, and activate the Jetpack Beta plugin. Once the plugin is active, go to Jetpack > Jetpack Beta, select your plugin (Jetpack or WordPress.com Site Helper), and enable the fix/pods-213-warn-in-the-distribution-readiness-check branch.
• To test on Simple, run the following command on your sandbox:

bin/jetpack-downloader test jetpack fix/pods-213-warn-in-the-distribution-readiness-check

bin/jetpack-downloader test jetpack-mu-wpcom-plugin fix/pods-213-warn-in-the-distribution-readiness-check

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[github-actions]

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  • Scheduled release: December 8, 2026
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[jp-launch-control]

Code Coverage Summary

Coverage changed in 1 file.

File	Coverage	Δ%	Δ Uncovered
projects/packages/podcast/src/class-admin-page.php	103/145 (71.03%)	1.69%	0 💚

Full summary · PHP report · JS report

[Copilot]

🟡 Changes recommended

The visibility checks incorrectly retain a warning on public Atomic sites with stale blog_public = '-1'; both checks need host-aware normalization and regression coverage.

1 open issue

• Normalize stale Atomic visibility before checking private-site status · New

What changed in this PR

This PR adds an advisory site-visibility warning to Podcast Distribution, helping users check visibility before submitting their feed to directories.

Changes:

• Detect visibility settings server-side and expose the result to the dashboard.
• Show a warning linking to Settings → Reading without changing setup-button availability or remaining-step counts.
• Add visibility regression cases and package/plugin changelog entries.

File	Description
projects/​plugins/​jetpack/​changelog/​fix-pods-213-site-visibility	Document the warning for Jetpack users.
projects/​packages/​podcast/​tests/​php/​Admin_Page_Test.php	Add visibility-state regression cases.
projects/​packages/​podcast/​src/​dashboard/​distribution/​index.tsx	Display the advisory warning and settings link.
projects/​packages/​podcast/​src/​dashboard/​declarations.d.ts	Declare the dashboard visibility flag.
projects/​packages/​podcast/​src/​class-admin-page.php	Compute and inject site visibility.
projects/​packages/​podcast/​changelog/​fix-pods-213-site-visibility	Record the Distribution change in the package changelog.

_{Review effort: Balanced}