ParrotWP® Updates

• Bug Fix: Custom Taxonomy “Invalid Taxonomy” Error — Clicking a newly created custom taxonomy in the admin sidebar no longer shows “Invalid Taxonomy”. Registration now validates slug length (max 32 characters) and checks for conflicts with existing WordPress/plugin taxonomies before saving. The sidebar menu item is only added when the taxonomy is actually registered.
• Improvement: Editable Slug Field — The Create Taxonomy form now has a Slug field that auto-generates from the name with a live character counter. You can shorten it manually when the display name is long.
• Improvement: Stronger Slug Validation — Clear error messages are shown if the slug conflicts with an existing taxonomy or exceeds the 32-character WordPress limit.

• Import Reliability and Security Hardening – Strengthened cron endpoint validation, improved lock lifecycle handling, and unified presenter import execution paths.
• Cron and Scheduling Improvements – Corrected cron lifecycle behavior when switching cron modes and schedule intervals.
• Data Safety Guardrails – Added safe-rollout protections and rollback snapshot support for removed presentation handling.
• Observability Enhancements – Added import run diagnostics and rollout metrics tracking for easier monitoring and troubleshooting.
• Deselected Fields Cleanup Expansion – Extended cleanup to run after completed import flows, including single presentation and presenter reimports.
• Input and Multisite Hardening – Improved request sanitization and network-wide deactivation cleanup behavior.

• Resolved an issue during imports with special characters or invalid HTML
• Enhanced Field Assignments – Improved field assignment functionality with better admin integration
• Admin Interface Improvements – Enhanced admin class with better settings management and AJAX handling
• Performance Optimizations – Improved memory usage and processing efficiency for large presentation sets
• Enhanced debugging and logging for sorting operations
• Improved error handling and user feedback throughout the admin interface

• NEW: Field Assignments Feature – Create custom taxonomies and assign ACF fields to them for enhanced content organization
• Custom Taxonomy Management – Full WordPress admin interface for creating and managing custom ParrotWP® taxonomies with flexible settings
• Field-to-Taxonomy Mapping – Assign any ACF field to populate your custom taxonomies with configurable delimiters
• Advanced Parsing Options – Configure custom delimiters for splitting field values into multiple taxonomy terms
• Field Transformations Integration – Apply existing field transformation rules to taxonomy values for data consistency
• REST API Support – Make custom taxonomies available via WordPress REST API
• Performance Optimized – Efficient processing during import with minimal performance impact
• CLI Commands – New CLI commands allow you to access ParrotWP® from your terminal.
• Enhanced debugging and logging for custom taxonomy processing

• Enhanced Reimport Functionality – Improved the presentation reimport process with better user feedback and confirmation dialogs
• Improved Button States – Added loading indicators and visual feedback for reimport operations
• Better Error Handling – Enhanced error messages and success notifications for reimport actions
• UI/UX Improvements – Better styling and animations for reimport buttons and status messages
• Confirmation Dialogs – Added confirmation prompts before reimporting presentations to prevent accidental data overwrites
• General bug fixes and performance optimizations

• NEW: Add to Calendar Functionality – Allow your website visitors to easily add presentations to their personal calendars (Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple Calendar, etc.)
• NEW: Calendar Settings Page – Configure venue information, event details, organizer information, and timezone settings for calendar entries
• NEW: Calendar Shortcode – Use [parrotwp_add_to_calendar presentation_id="123"] to add “Add to Calendar” buttons anywhere on your site
• NEW: iCal File Generation – Automatically generates .ics calendar files with presentation details, venue information, and event metadata
• Enhanced admin menu organization with Calendar Settings integrated into ParrotWP menu
• Improved presentation data handling for calendar integration
• General bug fixes and performance optimizations

• IMPORTANT: This release contains a breaking change. If you want to import only specific fields, you need to use the new Field Selection options for both your Presentations and Presenters. Choose which fields you want to import to boost your import timing.
• Added a new Field Selection option for both Presentations and Presenters. This allows you to choose which fields you want to import, which can significantly reduce the time it takes to import your data.
• Refactored the import process to use the new Field Selection options.
• Added a new ROW Fields function in the Data Cleanup section to reset the ROW fields.

• ADDED: New email notifications about your Presentations and Presenter import process. Email settings include notifications about success, failure, or both. Settings can be toggled.
• ADDED: New data cleanup tools to help resolve common issues with continuous importing.
• FIXED: A REST-API issue for unauthenticated access using third-party tools.

– Minor UI fixes
– NEW! We have added the ability to save your import settings as a default. This means that on your import page, you can adjust the settings and save them, and then future imports will use those settings instead of the default settings previously determined for you in ParrotWP®.
– NEW! Added a Field Transformations feature to allow you to manipulate your Cadmium data within ParrotWP®. This feature is currently in BETA, so use it at your discretion. This feature will allow you, for example, to take a sessionbuildcode labeled CS in Cadmium, and then upon import, you can have it transformed from CS to Customer Service. This is a highly requested feature, and we look forward to receiving any feedback.
– Fixed a few minor bugs.

20+ new features and functions built into ParrotWP® 3.0

– Refactored the entire codebase to address data syncing issues across various hosting environments.
– Removed specific PHP and server requirements to enhance compatibility with a wide range of hosts.
– Redesigned the plugin interface with a fresh UI and new pages for an improved user experience.
– NEW! Implemented proper data sanitization during imports to eliminate invalid characters and symbols.
– NEW! A comprehensive Settings page was added for easier plugin customization.
– NEW! Introduced flexible import methods:
– WP_CRON: Schedule imports with configurable frequency settings.
– External: Generate a secure key for integration with external services like cron-job.org.
– Manual: Disable WP_CRON for ParrotWP® events and run imports manually.
– NEW! Regardless of the selected method, a tracker was added to record the last import time.
– NEW! Introduced a setting to map imported fields (e.g., SessionBuildCodes or PresentationDate) to WordPress Tags.
– NEW! The Settings page now provides options to individually delete Presentations, Presenters, Tags, and Categories.
– NEW! We have added an Import History page that logs the import process, is organized by date, and includes detailed information for Presentations and Presenters. This feature activates after disabling and reactivating ParrotWP® to create the necessary database table.
– NEW! Added real-time logs on the import page to display connection status with Cadmium, including timeouts or other issues, providing clarity on potential errors.
– NEW! Added a ROW column to the ParrotWP® listing page, improving content organization on the front end.
– NEW! Renamed the “Reload” button to “Reimport” for better clarity on its functionality.
– NEW! License keys now support both staging and production environments for increased flexibility.
– NEW! Added support for Secure Custom Fields for users who prefer not to use Advanced Custom Fields (ACF). Secure Custom Fields do not include support for repeater fields used in Presentations and Presenters.
– Updated the minimum PHP requirement to 7.4.
– Improved compatibility with PHP 8.2.
– Updated for compatibility with WordPress 6.7+.
– Reduced the plugin’s file size by 10%.

– NEW: Licensing, activation, and plugin update process
– NEW: New customer dashboard on ParrotWP.com with the ability to see what sites are currently using your license code
– FIXES: Code clean up and bug fixes

– TWEAK: Modified Presentation / Presenter data match-up logic when sync fails or CRON doesn’t fully activate.

– FIXES: Fixes a small javascript issue affecting imports and ROW ordering.

– FIXES: Fixes an issue with duplicated presenters.

– FIXES: Adds all presenter roles to the presenter’s information if they are in two or more roles.

– IMPORTANT – Please note that this is a comprehensive version update. It necessitates the inclusion of extra resources to ensure the smooth operation of version 2.1.
– NEW – We’ve introduced a new feature: the Presenters data subset. This allows your Presenters to be stored alongside your Presentations, simplifying the creation of Presenter Listing pages.
– NEW – Cadmium’s TrackName field data is now stored as WordPress categories for both Presentations and Presenters. This lets you easily generate category archive pages using your trackname custom field data.
– NEW – We have made adjustments to improve data synchronization and optimized the code for better performance.

– NEW – Presenter importing as a separate post type
– NEW – IMPORTANT – Upload the new Presenters.json file into ACF to activate Presenter-only fields.
– NEW – Sync just Presenters or Presentations

– NEW: Fixed an issue with slugs/permalinks not being properly updated in unique situations where sessions shared the same title.

– NEW: A new feature for managing CRON events has been added to the “Settings” menu. This “Update Mode” function allows you to choose between updating all entries or updating only the entries that have been modified since the last refresh.

– NEW: Access the newly added ‘Import’ menu item under ParrotWP for new import options.
– NEW: Enhancements made to better synchronize with empty custom field data.
– NEW: Introducing a feature to limit the number of entries per import, reducing server resource usage.
– NEW: Customize slugs for all ParrotWP entries by entering your preferred naming convention. Remember to refresh permalinks under Settings for changes to apply.

– Initial Release