What this PR does

This pull request fixes issue #7476 where optional email fields (fields not marked as required) were incorrectly showing validation errors when left empty. When a user tried to save a post with an empty optional email field, they would see "Invalid email address format" error and then "Please complete these fields before saving: Email" message, preventing them from saving the content.

Problem Description

The JavaScript email validator was using a condition that treated empty strings as invalid values. The validation logic if ( ! value || ! value.match( EMAIL_REGEX ) ) meant that if a value was falsy (empty string, null, undefined) OR didn't match the email regex, it would throw an error. This meant optional fields could never be saved empty.

Solution

Updated the emailValidator function in ui/js/dfv/src/helpers/validators.js to only validate non-empty values:

Before:

if ( ! value || ! value.match( EMAIL_REGEX ) ) {
    throw __( 'Invalid email address format.', 'pods' );
}

After:

// Allow empty values for optional fields (required validation is handled separately).
if ( value && ! value.match( EMAIL_REGEX ) ) {
    throw __( 'Invalid email address format.', 'pods' );
}

This change ensures that:

• Empty values pass through validation for optional fields
• Non-empty values are still validated for proper email format
• Required field validation continues to work as expected
• Invalid email formats still show appropriate error messages

Changes Made

• Modified: ui/js/dfv/src/helpers/validators.js - Updated emailValidator function
• Built: ui/js/dfv/pods-dfv.min.js - Rebuilt minified JavaScript
• Updated: ui/js/dfv/pods-dfv.min.asset.json - Updated asset dependencies

Testing Steps

I have thoroughly tested this fix with the following scenarios:

Test Case 1: Optional Email Field - Empty Value

1. Create a new Pod with an email field
2. Set the field as "Not Required" (optional)
3. Create a new post and leave the email field empty
4. Save/update the post
   Result: Post saves successfully without any errors

Test Case 2: Optional Email Field - Valid Email

1. Edit the same post
2. Enter a valid email address: test@example.com
3. Save/update the post
   Result: Post saves successfully

Test Case 3: Optional Email Field - Remove Email

1. Edit the post with existing email
2. Remove the email address (make field empty)
3. Save/update the post
   Result: Post saves successfully without errors (this was previously broken)

Test Case 4: Optional Email Field - Invalid Email Format

1. Edit the same post
2. Enter an invalid email: not-an-email
3. Attempt to save
   Result: Shows "Invalid email address format" error (expected behavior)

Test Case 5: Required Email Field - Empty Value

1. Create a new Pod with email field marked as "Required"
2. Create a post and leave email empty
3. Attempt to save
   Result: Shows "Email is required" error (expected behavior works correctly)

Test Case 6: Required Email Field - Valid Email

1. Enter valid email in required field
2. Save the post
   Result: Saves successfully (works as expected)

Environment Tested

• WordPress version: 6.9
• Pods version: 3.3.4
• PHP version: 8.3.30
• Browser: Chrome latest

Additional Notes

The PHP-side validation in classes/fields/email.php was already handling empty values correctly. The issue was purely in the JavaScript client-side validation. This fix aligns the JavaScript validation behavior with the PHP validation logic.

Required field validation is handled separately through other validation mechanisms, so this change only affects the email format validation portion.

Checklist

• Code follows WordPress coding standards
• Tested on latest WordPress version
• Tested with both optional and required email fields
• JavaScript assets have been rebuilt
• No breaking changes to existing functionality
• Issue Unable to save an empty email address when the field is marked as optional #7476 is resolved

Related Issue

Fixes #7476

Screen recording

https://videos.faisalahammad.com/recordings/8O6tgvIXigVMg4EdXbta