Fix - Stop registering the IE-conditional html5shiv script that fires a deprecation notice

[rajatgautam755421]

Summary

The theme registered html5shiv.js (an IE 8 polyfill) with wp_script_add_data( 'html5shiv', 'conditional', 'lte IE 8' ). Since WordPress 6.9 that call fires _deprecated_argument() ("IE conditional comments are ignored by all supported browsers") on every front-end request, and the script is no longer printed at all — so it only produced a deprecation notice (visible wherever WP_DEBUG_DISPLAY is on, and in Query Monitor / logs).

Closes themegrill/radiate-pro#38 · Same fix as Spacious Pro (themegrill/spacious-pro#203).

Fix

Replaced the enqueue + conditional with an empty handle:

// Empty handle kept so scripts that list 'html5shiv' as a dependency still load.
wp_register_script( 'html5shiv', false, array(), wp_get_theme()->get( 'Version' ), false );

An empty handle instead of a plain delete so a child theme or plugin that lists html5shiv as a dependency still loads (WordPress drops scripts whose dependencies aren't registered). Verified: a script depending on html5shiv still prints. js/html5shiv*.js are left in place so direct URLs don't 404.

Effect on existing sites: WP 6.9+: no HTML change (the script was already never printed), the notice stops. WP < 6.9: the <!--[if lte IE 8]> comment is no longer printed; it was a plain HTML comment in every browser except IE 8.

Before / After

Before	After

Testing

• Removed .fixme from the quarantined "front page prints no PHP notices" scenario in front-page-health.spec.ts. Passes with the fix and fails on the old code. It only detects the notice where debug display is on; homepage/header specs still pass.
• PHPCS for functions.php unchanged. WP 7.1.2 on the local site; notice reproduced with a probe that prints deprecated_argument_run and gone after the fix.

🤖 Generated with Claude Code

[github-actions]

QA suite — passed ✅

All 10 checks passed.

_{6 passed · 0 failed · 4 skipped · 0 flaky · 14s}

_{Automated check — no AI involved. It runs the tests in this branch.}

[Copilot]

Copilot review overview

🟢 Approval recommended

The fix is appropriate; only a minor issue-reference nit remains.

Review effort: Lite
Findings: 1

Open (1)

• Qualify guard annotation with GitHub repository owner · New

What changed in this PR

Replaces deprecated IE-conditional html5shiv registration with an empty dependency handle and enables the homepage regression test.

Changes:

• Prevents WordPress 6.9+ deprecation notices.
• Preserves html5shiv dependency compatibility.
• Activates the no-PHP-notices regression test.

File	Description
tests/​e2e/​specs/​homepage/​front-page-health.spec.ts	Enables the deprecation regression test; issue guard should use the fully qualified repository reference.
functions.php	Registers an empty html5shiv handle.

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