Tag: 1.18

Commons 1.18.1

I’ve just released version 1.18.1 of the CUNY Academic Commons. This maintenance release is a major-update release for plugins and themes. It includes the following fixes:

  • Ensure that CommentPress themes cannot be activated without the CommentPress Core plugin.
  • Fix bug that caused ‘Digital Research Tools’ nav item to appear incorrectly for certain users.
  • Improve messaging about cloning on ‘Create’ page.

For complete details on the release, visit the 1.18.1 milestone.

Commons 1.18.0

I’ve just released version 1.18.0 of the CUNY Academic Commons. Version 1.18.0 is a “feature release” for the Commons, in a series of twice-yearly milestones that include larger features in addition to the smaller fixes that come with our twice-monthly releases.

As in the last few releases, 1.18.0 focuses on making the Commons easier to use for the increasing number of CUNY community members using the network for teaching, learning, and connecting, especially during remote learning. Some feature highlights:

  • Group cloning: In 1.17.0, we introduced “site cloning”, a feature that allows users to create a new site using one of their previous sites as a template. With 1.18.0, we extend this functionality to groups.
  • Directory filters: We have redesigned and rebuilt the filters in our Members, Groups, Sites, and Courses directory, for greater power, consistency, and ease of use.
  • Improved assessment tools: We’ve built new tools for exporting user activity from sites and group forums. We think that instructors using these spaces for courses will enjoy this easy-to-use format for assessing student participation.
  • Group library improvements: The Group Library introduced in version 1.17.0 sees some improvements, including better tools for creating, renaming, and deleting folders.
  • “Pronouns” field: A new profile field gives community members a place to indicate their pronouns, which are then displayed throughout the Commons interface.
  • Two-factor authentication: Members can now opt in to enhanced login security by enabling 2FA in their Settings section.

In addition to these user-facing improvements, we’ve made a couple large infrastructural changes. We’ve moved to a new tool for handling “mapped” domains – cases where non-Commons URLs are used for Commons sites. We’ve migrated our Digital Research Tools integration from the defunct DiRT Directory to its successor, TAPoR. And we’ve improved performance by adding compatibility with new caching APIs in WordPress.

For complete details on the release, visit the 1.18.0 milestone.

The following plugins will receive major updates as part of the 1.18.1 release of the CUNY Academic Commons, scheduled for December 22, 2020:

  • Broadcast (46.16)
  • BuddyPress (6.4)
  • Business Directory Plugin (5.8)
  • Easy search and use CC-licensed images for WP (2.0)
  • Gutenberg (9.5)
  • Imsanity (2.7)
  • Jetpack by WordPress.com (9.2)
  • Media Library Assistant (2.92)
  • MetaSlider (3.19)
  • NS Cloner – Site Copier (4.1)
  • NextGEN Gallery (3.4)
  • Open Graph and Twitter Card Tags (3.1)
  • Smash Balloon Instagram Feed (2.6)
  • The Events Calendar (5.3)
  • WP OAuth Server (4.1)
  • WP Retina 2x (6.1)
  • Yoast SEO (15.4)

The following theme will receive major updates as part of the 1.18.1 release of the CUNY Academic Commons, scheduled for December 22, 2020:

  • Basic (Themify) (5.0)
  • OceanWP (2.0)
  • Sydney (1.72)

For more details on major update releases, please visit our release schedule and procedures page.

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