MainWP Version 4.1

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UPDATE INSTRUCTIONS

We have been working a few months on a rather big release that includes a major refactoring of the MainWP Dashboard and Child code in order to bring it more in line with WordPress coding standards.

We have tested this update thoroughly on many different server setups but it’s impossible to test every configuration. That is why I am asking if you could install the Dashboard and Child plugins on some of your test sites and let us know if you find any issues.

New Testing Environment

This update should be stable and not cause any major issues however we do recommend you set-up some dedicated testing sites or sub-domains until you have verified everything works on your server setup.

If you are setting up a new testing environment all you need to do is download and install as normal the Dashboard and Child Plugin.

Existing Sites

If you decide that you want to run the Beta on your existing live environment follow these instructions:

Upgrade Dashboard Plugin

  • Download the MainWP Dashboard Zip from above
  • On your MainWP Dashboard site, deactivate and delete the version that you are currently using
  • Install the new (beta) Dashboard plugin
  • Activate the plugin

Upgrade Child Plugin

  • Download the MainWP Child Zip from above
  • Then get to your MainWP Dashboard
  • Go to the Plugins > Install > Upload page
  • Select the sites you want to upload it to
  • Upload the Child Plugin you downloaded earlier
  • Be sure BOTH “Activate after installation ” and “Overwrite existing” are selected
  • Press the button to complete the process

That will install this version on your child sites for you

To stay notified about 4.1 beta updates, under this post, you can find the option to “watch” this post and get notifications about updates.

RELEASE FOCUS

MainWP version 4.1 introduces big changes in the source code. MainWP code is nearly completely refactored and fully documented. This release has over 150K code changes from previously released versions of the MainWP Dashboard and Child plugin. The goal is to attract more Developers to MainWP.

We took this time to refactor the codebase when we realized that we would never have the time to develop and support all the individual extensions people want so we thought the best use of limited resources was to make extension development easy for any WordPress coder.

During the code refactoring, we made sure that the MainWP code meets WordPress plugin coding standards.

We took the time to rewrite the code and make precise Code Reference to help other WordPress developers to understand how to write their own Extensions since we believe, this is a benefit to all users.

And, even though the refactoring changes are not “visible” to users, we are sure that these changes will attract more developers to build custom features and extensions for MainWP.

OTHER IMPROVEMENTS

With the code refactoring, version 4.1 brings in some new features. Two of the most important additions to this version are Basic Uptime Monitoring and Site Health Monitoring. Along with these two features, 4.1 introduces a templating system for email notifications that your MainWP Dashboard sends. This means that you will be able to fully customize emails.

Basic Uptime Monitoring

Depending on the selected frequency (from 5-minutely to once daily), your MainWP Dashboard will send a simple HTTP request (via cURL) in order to get an HTTP Header response from the site. In case your child site doesn’t return Status Code 200 (OK), your MainWP Dashboard will notify you immediately via email notification. Since it is a custom cURL request, this feature doesn’t rely on any 3rd-party service, such as Uptime Robot or anything similar. In other words, this feature enables you to monitor your sites for free, regardless of the number of child sites that you manage.

Site Health Monitoring

WordPress 5.1 introduced Site Health, which is a suite of features focused on website security and speed. MainWP Site Health Monitoring feature allows you to set if you want to be notified about your child sites Health status or only if it goes under the status Good.

Monitoring Page

The whole new Monitoring page is developed to accompany the new monitoring feature. The page provides you a list of your child sites along with last detected status code, site health, and options to check sites on-demand or see site preview.

Here you can find the monitoring help documentation.

Email Settings

Starting from version 4.1, you will have full control over the email notifications that your MainWP Dashboard plugin sends.


The whole new UI will provide you an easy way to Enable/Disable email notifications, manage recipients, and even create a completely new email template.

It is important to say that all email settings are manageable globally and on a per-site basis. This means that your MainWP Dashboard can send all emails to you as an administrator and if needed, individual emails to your clients that will contain info only for the website owned by the client.

Email Templates

In this version, we changed the default email template and we made email templates fully customizable.


You can simply copy the default template to the suggested location and make changes in it.

Here you can find the email settigns help documentation.

CODE NAME: Developer

START DATE: July 28th, 2020

RELEASE DATE: September 9th, 2020

HOW TO REPORT PROBLEMS WITH MAINWP BETA 4.1

For reporting MainWP 4.1 beta issues, we created a separate subcategory under the Support section. To report problems, please go to the Beta 4.1 Category and post as much as possible details about the problem you have found.

10 Likes

CHANGELOG

MainWP Dashboard 4.1-beta1

  • Fixed: multiple cosmetic and usability problems
  • Fixed: multiple PHP Warnings
  • Fixed: problem with running automated sites checks
  • Added: basic uptime monitoring feature
  • Added: email settings feature
  • Added: quick sites shortcuts sidebar
  • Added: phpDocs blocks for code documentation
  • Added: child site Preview feature
  • Updated: refactored the code to meet WordPress coding standards
  • Updated: multiple usability and cosmetic updates
  • Updated: multiple performance improvements
  • Updated: multiple text notifications
  • Removed: unused files
  • Removed: unused code

MainWP Child 4.1-beta1

  • Updated: refactored the code to meet WordPress coding standards
  • Updated: PHPMailer compatibility
3 Likes

CHANGELOG

MainWP Dashboard 4.1-beta2

  • Fixed: multiple PHP Warnings
  • Fixed: multiple typos
  • Fixed: incorrect link in the Quick Site Shortcuts menu
  • Updated: WordPress 5.5 compatibility
  • Updated: automatic daily sync time cron job to use local WordPress time instead of UTC
  • Updated: default order of items in Manage Plugins and Manage Themes tables
  • Added: mainwp_updatewebsiteoptions and mainwp_getwebsitesbyuserid hooks

MainWP Child 4.1-beta1

  • Fixed: an issue with posting Custom Post Types
  • Updated: WordPress 5.5 compatibility

CHANGELOG

MainWP Dashboard 4.1-beta3

  • Fixed: Multiple PHP Warnings
  • Fixed: An issue with incorrect plugins order in the Manage Plugins table
  • Added: Over 500 hooks
  • Added: New PHP DocsBlocks
  • Added: The Update Everything action to the Bulk Actions menu on Manage Sites page
  • Updated: Sites filters options on the Manage Sites page
  • Updated: Plugin installation process indicator
  • Updated: The Updates table to show plugin and theme status
  • Preventative: Multiple security improvements

MainWP Child 4.1-beta3

  • Fixed: Multiple PHP Warnings
  • Added: New actions and filters
  • Added: New PHP DocsBlocks
  • Preventative: Multiple security improvements
2 Likes