Commons 2.0.14

I’ve just released version 2.0.14 of the CUNY Academic Commons. This maintenance release is a major-update release for plugins and themes. Other fixes include:

  • Better messaging for compatibility between Custom Sidebars and the block editor
  • Fixed AJAX validation of non-CUNY registration codes

For complete details, visit the 2.0.14 milestone.

Commons 2.0.0

I’ve just released version 2.0.0 of the CUNY Academic Commons. This is the latest in our twice-yearly “feature releases”, where we introduce major changes to the site.

Highlights from the 2.0.0 release:

  • A redesigned interface for People, Groups, Sites, and Courses directories. This is a continuation of redesign work that we began in version 1.19.0.
  • In the redesign vein, we also reworked the appearance of the registration page.
  • Improvements to group forums, including better search and pagination
  • Integration between the WP Grade Comments plugin and the Reckoning tool, often used by instructors to review student work.
  • Improved tools for leaving sites, writing site descriptions for display in directories, and uploading site logos.

For complete details on the release, visit the 2.0.0 milestone.

Commons 1.18.12

I’ve just released version 1.18.12 of the CUNY Academic Commons. This maintenance release includes fixes for the following:

  • Improved compatibility between Elementor tools and the Commons admin bar
  • Improved appearance of form elements during group and site creation
  • Fixed bug that prevented email addresses from being properly validated during registration

For complete details on the release, visit the 1.18.12 milestone.

Commons 1.16.9

I’ve just released version 1.16.9 of the CUNY Academic Commons. This maintenance release is a major update release for themes and plugins, and includes an update to WordPress 5.4.x. Other fixes include:

  • Updates to Google Docs Shortcode plugin, for better compatibility with Block Editor
  • Improvements to registration workflow
  • Added AMP plugin

For complete details, visit the 1.16.9 milestone.

Commons 1.13.10

I’ve just released version 1.13.10 of the CUNY Academic Commons. This maintenance release is also a major update release for themes and plugins. Fixed in this release:

  • Improvements to the registration process to avoid problems with commons username and email address confusion
  • Improvements to the email notification unsubscribing process
  • Removed unneeded “Topic Status” selector from group forum topic creation process

For complete details, visit the 1.13.10 milestone.

Commons 1.13.8

I’ve just released version 1.13.8 of the CUNY Academic Commons. This maintenance release includes:

  • Some fixes for Jetpack connections
  • Fixes for cases where protected content may be posted in blog posts syndicated to the home page
  • Improvements to the registration process to warn against the use of @login.cuny.edu pseudo-email addresses
  • Improvements to the appearance of parts of the invitation modal
  • More consistent display of title data on single forum posts

For more details on the release, visit the 1.13.8 milestone.

Commons 1.13.6

I’ve just released version 1.13.6 of the CUNY Academic Commons. This maintenance release, which is also a major theme/plugin update release, contains some performance improvements for certain scheduled tasks, as well as some streamlining of the way that data is handled during aborted account registrations.

For complete details, visit the 1.13.6 milestone.

Commons 1.12.0

I’ve just released version 1.12.0 of the CUNY Academic Commons. Twice each year – once in the spring, and once in the fall – the Commons team prepares a “major” release, which generally includes some new features or large overhauls to existing functionality. Version 1.12.0 is our major release for Fall 2017.

Here’s a brief overview of the major improvements in 1.12:

  • The registration process has seen a substantial streamlining and redesign. Notable changes include the elimination of many profile fields from the registration page #8637, the addition of an improved avatar upload form #8639, and a new “progress” UI for newly registering members #8640.
  • When participating in group forums via email (“Reply by email”), it is now possible to attach files to the email. As long as these files meet our general size and filetype restrictions, they’ll be added as attachments to the forum post #8386.
  • Groups on the Commons are now automatically provided with cuny.is URLs. Group administrators who would like to customize the automatically-generated URL can request a new one on the group’s Manage panel #6241.
  • We’ve made some under-the-hood improvements to the way that uploaded files on non-public Commons sites are protected. First, we removed a layer of protection for public sites that have no need to hide uploaded images, etc; this change means significant performance improvements, especially on image-heavy pages like the Media Library. Second, we added additional tools that ensure that files uploaded to non-public sites cannot be accessed by guessing their non-public URLs #7997.

For complete details, visit the 1.12 milestone.

A small programming note. We generally do minor releases on the 1st, 11th, and 21st of each month. Because November 1 is only two days from now, I’ve slated 1.12.1 for November 11. This means there will be no release on November 1, unless there is some sort of urgent issue that must be fixed earlier.