Version 2.7 beta now available!
After more than five months in development, we are thrilled to announce the release of the first beta version of Restrict Content Pro 2.7. This version includes more than 25 distinct improvements, including a new payment gateway, improved free trials, and more.
How to test the beta
In order to help ensure the final release of 2.7 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.
Alrighty, let’s take a look at the highlights of the upcoming 2.7 release!
Free trials
Restrict Content Pro has supported very, very basic free trials for several years, but they’ve always been lackluster. With 2.7 we’re pleased to offer a true free trial system that allows site administrators to configure trial periods for subscription levels and then collect payment information up front during registration. Once the trial period is passed, subscribers will be automatically transitioned into a paid subscription. Customers that do not wish to be charged after the trial period is completed can cancel prior to their trial completion date and they will not be charged.
Authorize.net integration
Authorize.net has been a major player in the credit card processing game for a long time, and they’ve earned their reputation as a reliable merchant processor. We’re thrilled to be able to offer an Authorize.net integration for Restrict Content Pro with 2.7.
If you or your clients use Authorize.net, connecting Restrict Content Pro is as simple as entering your merchant API credentials and configuring a few settings. See our documentation for more information.
Failed payment emails
Unfortunately, failed renewal payments are a very real problem for membership websites. They frequently happen when a customer’s credit card expires or they have been issued a new card for one reason or another. Restrict Content Pro now helps you recover these failed payments by including an option to automatically email a customer when their renewal payment fails.
From Restrict → Settings → Emails, email alerts for renewal payment failures can be configured:
Improved Easy Digital Downloads integration
Our sister project Easy Digital Downloads is frequently used along side Restrict Content Pro. In 2.7 we have improved the integration between the two plugins to make some aspects of it more seamless.
These improvements include:
- Purchase links in Easy Digital Downloads are now automatically disabled if the product is restricted and the current viewer does not have access to it
- Checkout processing is automatically disabled for products the current customer does not have access to
- The [[downloads]] shortcode now automatically hides products that should not be viewable by the current user
Automatically remove user role when subscription ends
We have supported assigning specific user roles to accounts based on the subscription purchased for several years, but we’ve never automatically handled the removal of that user role when the customer’s access is cancelled or expires. In Restrict Content Pro 2.7, user roles granted by the purchase of a subscription will now be automatically removed when the subscription lapses or is cancelled.
Custom taxonomy term restriction settings
In 2.7 we’re introducing support for term-level restrictions on all custom taxonomies. This includes taxonomies registered by plugins like WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, and all others. This means site content can now be restricted automatically based on the term of a taxonomy it is filed into.
HTML emails
Email notifications for account activations, expiration notices, failed payments, and all other emails are now much prettier! We’ve updated our emails to use nice HTML emails that include support for logos and header texts. The emails are also fully customizable through HTML/PHP template files.
Plugin developers can also register their own email templates through our RCP_Emails class. See our tutorial on registering email templates and our tutorial on adding custom email tags.
Other improvements and bug fixes
Along with the highlights above, Restrict Content Pro 2.7 also includes additional improvements. These include:
- HTML Classes added via post_class to restricted content, allowing restricted content to be more easily styled with CSS
- [subscription_details] shortcode is now responsive
- Admin notices for license key activation can now be dismissed
- Payment method selection on registration now uses radio buttons
- An option to hide the WordPress toolbar for subscribers has been added to Misc settings
- Direct links to payment details screens in the merchant processors has been added to member edit screens
- Email settings now use rich text editors
- RCP now takes advantage of user-specific locales for plugin translation
- Viewers without access to restricted content are now always redirected away from it when Hide Restricted Posts is checked in the Misc settings
- Name of the cookie used when resetting a password can now be changed through a filter
We have also fixed a number of bugs in Restrict Content Pro:
- First/last name and billing address not sent to PayPal Pro
- Incorrect language detected by System Info report
- Incorrect payment / discount ID sometimes returned when creating new records
- Incorrect description under 2Checkout Test Seller ID field
- Invalid integer error when using Alipay in Stripe Checkout
- Existing users cannot subscribe with Stripe Checkout
- Invalid HTML markup in profile editor
- Fatal error when attempting to create a discount code when Stripe API credentials are not set up
- Database tables inaccessible in WordPress multisite when network activated
- Registration form validation skipped when using Stripe Checkout
- Account details not emailed to customers when using Stripe Checkout shortcode
Final 2.7 release date
At this time we hope to release the final version of 2.7 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.