Multiple prefixes coming with GD Topic Prefix Pro 3.0 for bbPress

By the popular demand, GD Topic Prefix Pro 3.0 will bring multiple prefixes for topics in bbPress powered forums. The new version of the plugin is scheduled to be released on February 22, 2021.

GD Topic Prefix Pro was released almost 4 years ago, and it is among the most popular Dev4Press plugins for bbPress. But, over the years, one feature was requested more than any other feature: the ability to add multiple prefixes to each topic. Version 3.0 is coming soon, and it will finally include this very often requested feature.

Right now, the plugin allows you to register multiple topic prefixes. And, you can register prefix groups – each group can have one or more prefixes. Each group can be assigned to one or more forums, but one forum can have only one group, and for each topic, you can select only one prefix from the assigned group.

With version 3.0, this approach is expanded, and some things will change: you still can define multiple groups with prefixes, but each forum can be assigned one or more groups! The one thing that remains is that you can select only one prefix for each group. The other way to implement was to have one group per forum still but allow multiple prefixes selected. The approach with multiple groups (single prefix specified per group) is more logical because you can group the prefixes and have a better-organized display by changing how prefixes belonging to each group are displayed.

For instance, you create three groups: one group is support severity (low, normal, high), one group is support status (assigned, in progress, solved…), and one group for support type (question, bug report, feature request). And, all 3 groups are assigned to one or more forums. When a new topic is created, every prefix group will be displayed, and for each group, you select one prefix, and you can end up with a topic with prefixes: NORMAL, ASSIGNED, BUG REPORT.

The image above shows the metaboxes for the topic – to selected prefixes (for each of the group assigned to the forum) and for forum – to select active prefix groups.

With the addition of new prefixes for every topic, the problem is how to display all prefixes in the topics list. That is tough to solve because space can be limited (depending on the theme). Still, the new version will introduce many unique settings for each group, including priority of the prefix display, change the location for the prefix (before or after the topic title), and many more things that should help with the positioning of the prefixes.

The new plugin version is mostly functional, but it will require more testing because there are so many changes and new features. Also, very important: if you had any customized code made for the current version, most of that would not work with the latest version. Incompatible functions will be deprecated, but they can’t work in most cases because the changes in the wat plugin works are quite significant. So, make sure you check and update any custom code you might have related to GD Topic Prefix Pro.

And, you should expect that plugin price will be increased on launch of version 3.0, from base price of $29.00 to $39.00.

Let me know what you think and if you have any more suggestions regarding this upcoming major update.