Version 2.8 beta now available!
After our recent 2.7 release, which took nearly six months to complete, we decided to ramp up our development speed and reduce the number of improvements to be added to 2.8. This has allowed us to complete version 2.8 with less than one month of development time, meaning all of you get the new features and improvements sooner! As of today, the first beta version of 2.8 is available and it introduces support for one-time discount codes, Braintree Payments, and numerous other small improvements throughout the plugin.
How to test the beta
In order to help ensure the final release of 2.8 goes as smoothly as possible, we need your help testing this beta version.
Testing the beta is very simple. Simply log into your testing site that has Restrict Content Pro installed and activated and navigate to Restrict → Settings → Misc and check the box for Opt into beta versions:
The beta update will now be available as a standard WordPress plugin update from your Plugins page, though it could take up to a few hours for the notification to appear.
See our FAQ if you have any questions or issues updating to the beta version.
Note: we do not recommend you test the beta on a live site. Use a testing site. While we do our very best to not cause issues during updates, sometimes issues do slip through unnoticed, so having a staging / testing site is very important.
Let’s now take a look at some of the highlights of version 2.8!
One-time discount codes
Discount codes are a great way to incentivize customers into registering accounts, especially for special promotions and holiday sales. Since version 1.0, however, Restrict Content Pro has always applied discount codes to all payments within a subscription, not just the first payment. For example, if a customer applied a 30% discount to a $10 subscription, the customer’s initial signup payment would be discounted to $7 and all renewal payments after the first payment would also be $7. This is not ideal for many, if not most, membership websites, so in version 2.8 we have introduced the option to make discount codes apply only to the first payment in a subscription.
One-time discount codes can be enabled from the Restrict → Settings → Misc screen:
Braintree Payments integration
We have offered a basic integration for Braintree Payments for quite a while, but it’s always had major weaknesses. With 2.8 we’re please to say that we’ve brought the Braintree Payments integration directly into the core plugin and made it full featured. Unlike with the add-on Braintree plugin we’ve offered previously, this integration supports all of the standard Restrict Content Pro features
Other improvements
Along with the two major enhancements mentioned above, we have also made a number of other small improvements:
- Use count on discount codes now get properly adjusted when account registration fails
- An option has been added to remove all data from the database when uninstalling Restrict Content Pro
- Payment profiles for member accounts can now be cancelled directly from the member Edit screen
- A filter has been added to allow custom metadata to be attached to Stripe subscriptions
- All plugin CSS has been refactored to be more clear and consistent
- Admin email notifications now support email template tags
- An option has been added to allow site admins to select whether Auto Renew is checked by default for new subscribers
Bug fixes
This release also fixes a number of bugs:
- If registration with a free trial fails, it is not possible for members to try again
- Manual renewals improperly prorate payment amounts
- Payment profile IDs do not have whitespace removed
- Responsive list tables do not work with all themes
- Help tabs were not able to be translated
- Auto Renew checkbox not checked by default
- Incorrect behavior with some restriction functions due to empty metadata being saved
Final 2.8 release date
At this time we hope to release the final version of 2.8 within two weeks. To ensure the final release goes smoothly, we’d love and highly appreciate additional testing. If you’re interested in helping us test the beta version, see the top of this blog post for testing instructions.