The release of GD Press Tools 4.0 Pro is very close, and here is the first, and hopefully, only Beta version. At this point, all the features are locked, but there are many more planned features that will be added to the roadmap for 4.1 and 4.2 versions. Here is the quick overview of this release.
Very important: Before you install this version, check the system requirements. GD Press Tools 4.0 Pro requires WordPress 3.0 or newer to work. Do not attempt installation on older WordPress versions, it will not work. Also, do not install this Beta version on your production websites, it’s still not ready for live use due to some still unfinished features and potential bugs. Plugin is tested with WP 3.0.4, WP 3.0.5 and WP 3.1 RC4, with both multisite and normal installations.
Plugin can be downloaded through Dev4Press Updater, but you must set it to get Beta versions also, not only stable. For his check out the settings in Dev4Press Updater plugin.
Front Panel
Over the past 2 months, I have published several announcements and many teasers for new and improved features, so you know what to expect. To start this overview, here is the screenshot of the plugin main panel. This panel will be different for multisite installations, depending on WP version. Panel shows system requirements at the bottom, and if something is not right you will see it displayed in red instead green.
Changes Overview
Listing all changes will take a lot of space, and I am not going to do it, but I will refer you to the teasers posts published over the past month to see major feature announcements. On the right, you see the list of all panels in GD Press Tools Pro 4.0. And, here is the short list of major changes:
- Full support for WordPress multisite mode
- Full support for WordPress 3.1 including new network admin
- File manager with editor and upload
- XML Sitemaps Generator
- Backup includes files and folders backup tasks
- Detailed, configurable and expandable debugger
- Vastly improved plugin interface
- Improvements to registration and users pruning
- Improvements to maintenance mode
- Improved code organization and plugin loading
- Updated jQueryUI and other third party libraries
- Many smaller changes, cleanup and updates
- Several bugs and problems fixed
Debugger
But, there is one great new feature in action I would like you to see. As announced previously, plugin adds a debugger that will work in admin and frontend and can integrate into Admin Bar (WP 3.1) or it can be activated through floating button with a red bug, as in the image bellow. Number of tabs with data depends on what can be displayed, so there are total of 8 panels with various debug data (inlcuding PHP warnings, WP hooks, Log and PHP constants).
There are many options to set the way debugger works, and it can be also appended to footer, instead of displayed as popup. I plan to add dock-able display, but I am not sure if that will end up in final 4.0 or not.
Release plans
All features for 4.0 are locked. Nothing new will be added in comparison to this Beta version. There are some things that are in works and missing in Beta, but it’s mostly minor things: improved front panel for WP network mode, some improvements for Registration panel and few other things. There are more features in planning stages that didn’t end up in 4.0, and they are already in roadmap for 4.1 and 4.2. Unfortunately, I had to draw a line somewhere, so I can release 4.0. Some roadmaped features require much more time and that would delay 4.0 for month or so.
Right now I expect most bugs with Backup, since many things there depend on server configuration and access to files for backup. There could be bugs in Sitemaps generator and maybe with debugger. Please report any bugs or problems you find, so I can fix them in time for final release.
Final plugin version will be released sometime next week, I am targeting February 24 2011.
Currently known issues
Due to many changes, there can be problem using some features initially due to new user capabilities. To remedy that, you need to reset capability settings from Plugin Tools panel. If that fails, you need to remove from wp_options table in the database key: gd-press-tools-caps. New installations are not affected by this problem.
Plugin is currently running on GD Star Rating website, without any major problem, apart from missing capabilities after the update. XML Sitemap is rebuilt using GD Press Tools and is working properly, you can see formated index here.
Promo coupon
To get 40% discount for this plugin (for yearly recurring payments standard and developer licenses, coupon is applied to initial payment only): GDPRESSTOOLS4. Coupon is active now, and can be used until March 1 2011.
More about GD Press Tools Pro:
http://dv4p.com/gdpt
