Today is the day the much anticipated version 3.1.0 is released to the general public. The new plugin structure (re-built in version 3.0.0) allowed for adding new features using a cleaner and more stable approach. Originally this release was scheduled in April but things went smoother than expected and more interest in the features kept pressure on a faster timeline. Having a robust unit testing suite cut testing time by nearly 2/3rds.
I am very exited to announce the new features which were previously only possible through custom coded filters!
Ability to display widgets everywhere a sidebar is displayed:
This feature solves an often requested ability to display a page or category widget on non related locations. By default the plugin uses the current page or category to determine related categories or pages and build a menu out of them. Many users are interested in having the functionality of the cleanly structured menu and customization without needing a dynamically generated menu. Instead they prefer to just have all categories or all child pages displayed everywhere with the control of selecting the parent. I have received numerous requests to display a menu on a homepage or shop page.
This new feature allows selecting a parent page or parent category and generating a menu from it. You can even just select All to display all categories. The widget shows up where you put it and does not care about the current page or category. You now have full control over where the widgets display and what they display.
Ability to display page siblings under certain circumstances:
A feature which is often requested is to show siblings of child pages when viewing a child page. Sometimes the desire goes one step further with wanting to only display siblings when there are no grandchild pages. The issue here being when you are using “Display parent page only” and viewing a child page which has not children. By default you would end up with a menu which only includes the current page and is not very intuitive.
This new feature allows displaying siblings of child page. Either when you are on any child page or only on child pages which have no children. The choice is up to you and a simple checkbox away. No more dealing with menus which filter down to just one link.
Other misc enhancements:
There have been many behind the scenes changes and improvements to code and descriptions. 1,522 lines of code have changed to be exact. Updated complete German translations were done to showcase the upcoming localization enhancements. All changes in this release came from direct requests or understanding from dozens of support requests received this quarter.
Please enjoy!