Title: Authors do not populate
Last modified: April 30, 2026

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# Authors do not populate

 *  Resolved [cmurphy124](https://wordpress.org/support/users/cmurphy124/)
 * (@cmurphy124)
 * [1 week, 1 day ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/authors-do-not-populate/)
 * WordPress Version: 6.9.4 (MultiSite / WPEngine)
 * Plugin: Co-Authors Plus (Version 4.0.2)
 * Problem:
 * When searching for authors to add nothing populates and gray circle just spins.
   In the browser console we see the following error:
 * `Uncaught TypeError: b.split is not a function`
 * The error first appeared after upgrading to version 4.0.1

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

 *  Plugin Contributor [Gary Jones](https://wordpress.org/support/users/garyj/)
 * (@garyj)
 * [1 week ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/authors-do-not-populate/#post-18896358)
 * Thanks for the report [@cmurphy124](https://wordpress.org/support/users/cmurphy124/),
   and especially for capturing the console error — that narrows it down considerably.
 * This looks like a different issue from a couple of other reports we’ve had this
   week, so I’d like to track it separately. To do that, a few things would help:
    1. The full stack trace from the browser console (expand the error so we can see
       the file and line number it was thrown from). The minified `b.split` reference
       on its own is hard to map back to source.
    2. The response body from the network request to `/wp-json/coauthors/v1/search/?
       q=…` when you try to search. If any rows in that response are missing a `userNicename`,`
       id`, or have `null` where a string is expected, that would explain the throw.
    3. Whether the same site reproduces the error on a single-site WordPress install,
       or only on multisite. If you are able to test on a non-multisite staging environment,
       that would help isolate it.
    4. Whether you have any plugins that filter `coAuthors.formatAuthorData.label`,
       or any custom code that filters the search endpoint response.
 * You mentioned this first appeared after upgrading to 4.0.1, which lines up with
   the editor panel rewrite in 4.0. Once I have the stack trace and a sample response,
   I should be able to point at the cause and open a tracking issue.
 *  Thread Starter [cmurphy124](https://wordpress.org/support/users/cmurphy124/)
 * (@cmurphy124)
 * [1 week ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/authors-do-not-populate/#post-18896728)
    1. Here is the full stack. I redacted the URL.
 * `Uncaught TypeError: b.split is not a function
   jQuery 30coauthors_create_autosuggest
   https://[redacted].[redacted].com/wp-content/plugins/co-authors-plus/js/co-authors-
   plus.js:174coauthors_initialize https://[redacted].[redacted].com/wp-content/
   plugins/co-authors-plus/js/co-authors-plus.js:331https://[redacted].[redacted].
   com/wp-content/plugins/co-authors-plus/js/co-authors-plus.js:399jQuery 132 suggest.
   min.js:1:1354jQuery 30coauthors_create_autosuggest https://[redacted].[redacted].
   com/wp-content/plugins/co-authors-plus/js/co-authors-plus.js:174coauthors_initialize
   https://[redacted].[redacted].com/wp-content/plugins/co-authors-plus/js/co-authors-
   plus.js:331https://[redacted].[redacted].com/wp-content/plugins/co-authors-plus/
   js/co-authors-plus.js:399jQuery 13
 * Update:
 * We were able to fix this issue by clearing our Cloudflare cache.
 *  Plugin Contributor [Gary Jones](https://wordpress.org/support/users/garyj/)
 * (@garyj)
 * [4 days, 12 hours ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/authors-do-not-populate/#post-18898138)
 * Glad to hear it’s sorted. Thanks for following up — that’s a useful data point.
   Stale CDN-cached copies of `co-authors-plus.js` from a pre-4.0 release would 
   explain the throw, since the response shape from the suggest endpoint changed
   between major versions and the older script doesn’t know how to parse the newer
   payload. I’ll keep that in mind for similar reports going forward.

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

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 * 3 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [Gary Jones](https://wordpress.org/support/users/garyj/)
 * Last activity: [4 days, 12 hours ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/authors-do-not-populate/#post-18898138)
 * Status: resolved