The last release on Dev4Press.com for 2023 is GD bbPress Toolbox Pro 7.4, bringing several new features, many tweaks and improvements, a few bug fixes, and PHP 8.3 compatibility.
The plugin is updated with the latest shared Dev4Press Library, and it has some visual improvements on the admin side, related to the Library changes. There are many core code updates related to using WordPress replacement functions, code readability and structure, testing with new PHP 8.3, and more.
Feature(s) and More
With the new ‘Not Found’ feature, the plugin has 58 features and over 550 options for configuring these features.
The feature ‘Not Found’ adds custom templates to replace 404 pages for private forums and topics belonging to private forums. If the visitor tries to access a private forum or topic in a private forum, WordPress will return a 404 error, which is not very user-friendly. New replacement templates will show the message with login links, and you can modify templates to show more. Dev4Press support forums have used this feature for the last couple of weeks.
The plugin has several new Tweaks, and new settings for cache expiration, the Booster rebuild process is improved, and the Booster performance has been improved, too; the plugin has support for coreActivity for logging some internal events. The topics, replies, and forums metaboxes have been completely rewritten. There are many small updates, improvements, and changes throughout the plugin, and all are listed in the changelog. This version fixes several bugs related to metaboxes, some plugin settings, setup wizard, and more.
The License
The Plugin Settings now have a new options panel for adding plugin license codes. The plugin dashboard will show a notice about the license code missing.
Currently, the license code requirement is not enforced, and it will be just a plugin dashboard reminder. From version 7.6, the license code will be required to activate the plugin. This will give plenty of time for existing plugin users to start using license codes.
More information about it is available in the knowledge base.
The Knowledge Base
A lot of effort in this development cycle went into the plugin knowledge base. Leading into the new plugin release, the plugin documentation has been rewritten and updated for the latest plugin version. Around 80 new articles, FAQs, and user guides have been added to the knowledge base, with information about almost all plugin features, various tutorials, troubleshooting articles, and more. All outdated articles from the knowledge base have been removed, and some existing articles have been expanded and improved to match the latest plugin release. In the next week, all the plugin features will be documented, with another 40+ articles coming.
In the coming months, all the plugins will get a similar knowledge base treatment, and the plan is to have all plugins fully re-documented in 2024, with about 1000 new articles, user guides, and more.
Next Plugin Updates
Right now, there is no release date for the 7.5 version, but the current plan is to have three major releases next year: 7.5, 7.6, and 7.7. I have a preliminary list of planned features for the next two major updates, and as usual, I am open to new suggestions. Let me know what you think about the 7.4 version, and please report any issues in support forums.
For now, I wish you all a Happy New Year and see you soon with new releases in January.
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