This release adds a faster way to share posts across a Newspack Network, speeds up reader-facing pages, and carries a round of fixes across the suite.
Distribute posts without opening the editor
Sending a post to other sites in the network has always meant opening it in the editor first. This adds a Distribute button to the toolbar at the top of the page, so a post can be sent while reading it on the site itself. It reaches the same sites and follows the same permissions as before, it just saves the trip through the editor.
- A Distribute button appears in the toolbar at the top of the page when viewing a post that can be sent to other network sites.
- Clicking it opens a window listing the other sites in the network, with a Select all option when there is more than one site to choose from.
- Sites the post has already been sent to are ticked and locked, because sending only ever adds sites and never removes them.
- Nothing is sent until a confirmation step, and a message reports the result, worded to match how the network is set to save arriving posts: as drafts, as pending review, or published.
- The button only shows on regular posts and pages. It stays hidden on the homepage, the posts page, and on posts that arrived from another site in the network.
Hotfixes
Shipped during the past cycle as patch releases:
- [FIX] Newspack Blocks: Author Profile hides default avatars when the toggle is on, in the editor and on the site (#570)
- [FIX] Stop emailing generated Guest Contributor placeholder addresses — the bounces could get a site’s outbound email blocked (#572)
- [FIX] Reserve internal user meta keys on registration (#793)
- [FIX] Limit preset prompt previews to prompt managers (#794)
- [FIX] On a multibrand site, a brand’s front page set to a dedicated page now shows its full content again, not just an excerpt. This affected sites with Jetpack active and Content Options set to “Post excerpt.” (#658)
- [FIX] Restore the error message when a non-reader account uses the reader login flow (#625)
Other changes
- [FEAT] Export bulk group subscriptions data as a CSV (#499)
- [FIX] Skip article-block image crops on WordPress.com uploads (#576)
- [FIX] Keep shared premium newsletter lists when a reader switches between Membership Plans that grant the same lists (#615)
- [PERF] Reader-facing scripts now defer, so they no longer block the first paint of the page (#722)
- [FIX] Re-enable the “Major revisions” feature (#4587)
- [FEAT] Improve custom instructions handling for the Newspack Editorial Assistant