Once again it’s a bit quick but a reported security problem and some much needed bug fixes have made the release of another update necessary. This is a recommended upgrade for all users of any version 3 forum plugin.

Regarding the security scare - we believe we have covered this but research will continue. If we find a little more work is needed then we will release a small upgrade (files only) in due course.

Several of the more annoying bugs have been fixed, notably the error log filling with errors resulting from RSS feeds and the ‘fatal error’ when someone got the math wrong on a new registration!

And for all those users out there of the ‘All In One SEO Pack’ you will be pleased to know that we now support it’s ‘page title’ setting for the browser title bar.

Hopefully this version will prove stable and we can now move on to some exciting new development for a future 3.2!

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I am obviously saddened by the fact that several people had some problems with the initial 3.1 install. It’s one of those cases where, not having an army of testers to call upon coupled with the sheer scope of the plugin, it is too easy to miss some little combination here or sequence of events there….!

So apologies to those effected but hopefully those issues should now be resolved in 3.1.1.

There is an upgrade pack available containing just the changed files which, hopefully, makes the upgrade a little easier.

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While I would much prefer to leave it a little longer before releasing yet another update to Simple:Press Forum, 3.1 is going to be one I have to recommend all users upgrading to when it is released. While there are a few new features (mainly requested items) and quite a number of bug fixes as would be expected, the real goal we set ourselves for 3.1 was optimisation. And on that score it has been a very satisfying development.

It may look more or less the same on the surface but under the hood a lot has changed. The first target were database queries as the forum consumes a large number. The good news is that these have been reduced considerably - in some key areas by as much as 85%. But no page displays have been left out. Major cuts in the database calls have been made everywhere and existing queries re-crafted and consolidated.

The second major goal was to take a long hard look at user data handling. The integration with WP user registrations is essential but some aspects of core WP user handling is not ideal and 3.1 sees the introduction of a new table for user forum specific data which has again enabled us to reduce queries and overhead.

The final goal was to build on the permissions structures introduced in 3.0 and to increase overall performance in what is a tricky data area to manipulate. This too has benefited from an increase in performance and query usage and much more key data is now being cached during page load.

As to new features? More on those later when we have a definitive list.

I have today released a patch that, fingers crosssed, resolves both of the above issues. (The 'AHAH 404' error that a very small number of people have experienced - and the 'Fatal Catchable Error' a few have seen with the 'now reading' plugin and using the new 'upload media' page of WP 2.5.

While on the subject of WP2.5, there is a bug in the WP admin CSS and the patch also has a fix for that.

If you are experiencing NONE of these problems then there is no need to install the patch as it adds no new features or fixes any other known bugs.

There has been a rush in the last week of a hack being widely posted that can cause user credentials to be made available via a SQL Injection. It is stated on these sites that this applies to Version 2.1. This is, actually, the same exploit that was mentioned in this post last October 15th.

It appears that some users of the plugin, whilst apparently running a 2.1 version, are running an earlier ‘beta’ that was offered prior to the final version. As was stated last October, it was very important to take the correct and final release to ensure this exploit was not a threat.

Please check the build number of the version you are currently using. ANY BUILD PRIOR TO 237 must be considered ‘at risk’. Build 237 is the currently available build of 2.1 and has been for a long time. Please note that this security exploit is real and applies to all versions prior to 2.1. Updates should be applied as soon as possible.

There s no need to include the ‘patches’ as the full build already has those applied.

[UPDATE: The Version and Build number can be found in the version strip at the very bottom of the forum page display]

It’s had a long gestation period but it’s finally code complete and starting limited exposure as beta testing gets underway. It also has a new name. Starting with version 3.0 the plugin will be renamed Simple:Press Forum. This is to ensure it it not confused with the standalone commercial package of the same name.

The majority of feature requests - and there were far too many to include them all - have been put in place, especially those that were requested by many users. The list is long and this post will only touch the surface. So - roughly in order of demand:

• ‘Pretty/SEO’ Friendly Permalinks. And the good news - should also be able to display links with the old url structure.
• Private Messaging - the second most regular request.
• Powerful User Group and Permission structure. Fine control over who can see and do what.
• New ‘QuickLinks’ dropdown on the Search Bar displaying recent and unread posts
• Bulk Moderate Posts needing approval and read new posts in one place
• Login Form bought into current page view
• Mass Deletion tool for the removal of old topics
• Many ‘Custom’ options: Up to three custom icons in login bar; set custom icons for all Groups and Forums; Use a graphic in place of page title; Create a special ‘editor’ message
• Redirect RSS Feeds to external services (i.e., FeedBurner)
• ‘Pluggable’ page rendering code allowing replacement functions and custom code routines
• TinyMCE V3 with much improved text handling and formatting
• Optional Image File Uploading (only using TinyMCE editor)
• Improved Notification, Messaging and form validations
• EMail Overrides and create text of New User Email
• Democracy Polls plugin support
• Images as Thumbnails that expand

There is also a long list of smaller features and improvements that include: Increased use of Ajax - On-line Popup Help in all Admin Panels - First and Last Post entries link to their posts - New Members taken to Profile - Online/Offline Status displayed - Location and Registration date added to user profiles - Members can no longer post as Guests - Admin Tabs ’sticky’ after save - Improved Signature display - Check for Updates - Report suspect posts to Admin - Profanity Filter - New Install and Upgrade Procedure - New Template Tags (Statistics, recent Posts) - Options to colour alternate rows differently - Post Permalink popup - Admin Option to edit Time/Date stamp - many, many small bug fixes, cleanups and optimisations…

I am now using the first Beta of Version 3 at my support forum.