gistfile1.txt

<?php
//for: Molongui authorship version 4.3.9
//bug: does not render correct author
/**
 * To reproduce: 
 * 1. open author.php
 * 2. paste the php code into it
 * 3. open ANY author page, let's call it John doe, with slug of blog.com/authors/john-doe
 * 4. notice how you will get 10 posts, but all of them will say it's author is john doe instead of the real author
 */ 
//Expected result: Each post has correctly shown an author that's that's visible in the WP Admin -> Posts in the author column
//Actual result: when entering from an author page, the current author will always override the author in the loop

$args = array(
    'posts_per_page' => 10,
    'ignore_sticky_posts' => true,
    'meta_key' => 'post_views_count',
    'orderby' => 'meta_value_num',
    'order' => 'DESC',
);
$popular_posts_query = new WP_Query($args);
if ( $popular_posts_query->have_posts() ) : ?>
    <?php while ( $popular_posts_query->have_posts() ) : ?>
        <?php $popular_posts_query->the_post();
        $post = get_post();
        $authorId = (int) get_post_field('post_author', $post->ID);
        ?>
        <a href="<?php echo get_the_permalink(); ?>" target="_self"><?php echo shorten_text_by_words(the_title('', '', false), 9); ?></a>
        <div>
            <img alt="" src="<?php echo get_avatar_url($authorId, ['size' => '96']); ?>" class="avatar avatar-96 photo" height="96" width="96">
            <a href="/author/<?php the_author_meta('user_nicename',$authorId); ?>"><?php echo get_the_author_meta('user_firstname',$authorId); ?> <?php echo get_the_author_meta('user_lastname',$authorId); ?></a>
        </div>
    <?php endwhile; ?>
<?php endif; ?>