Things are well underway for 2021, including a new round of plugin updates. All of our free and Pro WordPress plugins are updated for March 2021. Before diving in to the updates, I want to say Thank you to all of our customers, users, and everyone leaving great reviews, sharing on social media, reporting bugs, and such. Your support and feedback help to keep our WordPress plugins going strong.

Looking for our collection of free WordPress plugins? Check ’em out at WordPress.org »

Overview

This round of updates is mostly testing on latest versions of WordPress and PHP to make sure everything is 100% compatible and running smoothly. For some plugins there’s also some new features and functionality, all tested for maximum performance and compatibility with WordPress version 5.7 (and beyond). All of our plugins (free and pro) are developed and tested on PHP versions 7.4 and 8.0.

How to Upgrade

If your pro license is active, the plugins can be upgraded via one-click updates in the WordPress Admin Area. Or if you own the plugin but do not have it activated, you can log in to the Members Area to download and upgrade to the latest version. Any questions or feedback can be posted in the help forum or sent via our contact form.

Pro Plugin Updates

Here is a rundown of changes made to each of our pro plugins. For a summary of changes made to any of our free WordPress plugins, check out the changelog in the plugin readme.txt/docs.

BBQ Pro

BBQ Pro is updated to version 3.0. Most of the work on BBQ for this update involved testing on latest versions of WordPress and PHP.

  • Improves performance of IP-address functionality
  • Improves readme.txt/documentation
  • Updates/refines readme.txt

BBQ Pro documentation and tutorials also are updated with any important information pertaining to this update. See the plugin’s readme.txt file for complete Changelog and infos.

Banhammer Pro

Banhammer Pro is updated to version 2.3. Changes include:

  • Improves performance of IP-address functionality
  • Fixes bug with Hostname lookups in Armory
  • Changes GeoIP lookup service
  • Updates/refines readme.txt

Banhammer Pro documentation and tutorials also are updated with any important information pertaining to this update. See the plugin’s readme.txt file for complete Changelog.

Blackhole Pro

Blackhole Pro is updated to version 2.8. Changes include:

Important! You need to update your robots.txt file. The robots standards have changed, so you need to update your robots.txt file with the new Blackhole rules. Visit the plugin settings page to get the latest rules, and then add them to your robots.txt file. More information in the Installation docs and Help tab (located on the plugin settings page).

  • Adds option to block specific user agents
  • Adds custom trigger shortcode [title]
  • Adds $title parameter to hook blackhole_trigger
  • Adds $title parameter to hook blackhole_trigger_default
  • Adds $title parameter to hook blackhole_trigger_image
  • Improves detection of WordPress Login Page URL
  • Improves output of Blackhole trigger link
  • Improves performance of IP functionality
  • Improves readme.txt/documentation
  • Improves Help tab contextual infos
  • Updates default translation template

Blackhole Pro documentation and tutorials also are updated with any important information pertaining to this update. See the plugin’s readme.txt file for complete Changelog.

GA Google Analytics Pro

GA Pro is updated to version 2.0. No changes to plugin code, only documentation was updated and testing on latest WordPress and PHP.

  • Improves readme.txt/documentation

GA Pro documentation and tutorials also are updated with any important information pertaining to this update. See the plugin’s readme.txt file for complete Changelog.

SES Pro

SES Pro is updated to version 3.0. No changes to plugin code, only documentation was updated and testing on latest WordPress and PHP.

  • Refines readme/documentation

SES Pro documentation and tutorials also are updated with any important information pertaining to this update. See the plugin’s readme.txt file for complete Changelog.

USP Pro

USP Pro is updated to version 3.9. Changes include:

  • Adds [url_link] user shortcode
  • Adds filter hook usp_shortcode_url_link
  • Adds support to change reCaptcha language
  • Adds filter hook usp_recaptcha_querystring
  • Updates Selectize.js frontend control script
  • Updates Parsley.js frontend validation script
  • Updates Vex.js library for modal dialog popups
  • Updates deprecated functions for newer jQuery
  • Updates inline graphics in plugin settings
  • Improves/updates readme.txt/docs

USP Pro documentation and tutorials also are updated with any important information pertaining to this update. See the plugin’s readme.txt file for complete Changelog.

USP Pro – Helper Plugin

The USP Pro Helper Plugin is updated to version 2.8. Changes include:

  • Fixes “Uncaught ArgumentCountError” on PHP 8
  • Updates deprecated functions for newer jQuery
  • Improves information on plugin settings page
  • Generates new translation template
  • Improves/updates readme.txt/docs
Check out our growing collection of Pro addons and extensions »

In addition to the improvements mentioned above, some further changes were made as part of my usual plugin update routine. Other changes include updating documentation as needed, regenerating default translation templates, and further testing on the latest version of WordPress (currently 5.7). As always, huge thank you to those who contribute with feature suggestions and bug reports!