Hotfix roundup: October 12–23, 2026

Here’s what we’ve fixed since Hotfix roundup: October 5–9, 2026.

Newspack

• On sites running Mailchimp for WooCommerce, readers who signed up for newsletters through Newspack were set to “Non-subscribed” in Mailchimp when they registered, saved their account details, or placed an order. Readers now stay subscribed. Contacts already set to “Non-subscribed” aren’t restored automatically. (newspack@6.55.5)
• In modal checkout, donors whose cards require a 3D Secure check couldn’t complete a donation or purchase, because the Processing payment screen covered the bank’s verification window until it expired. The verification window now shows on top, so donors can finish paying. (newspack-blocks@4.36.2)
• On sites that don’t verify new reader accounts, a reader who cancelled the “We’ll create a new account” step to fix a typo in their email, then continued, got an account under the mistyped address. The account is now created for the corrected address. (newspack@6.55.6)
• On sites that verify new reader accounts, a reader who registered at a Checkout Button saw the checkout open over the “Verify your email” step. After they paid, the checkout reopened with an error each time they closed it, although the purchase had gone through. The checkout now opens once. (newspack-blocks@4.36.1, newspack@6.55.1)
• On sites that restrict content with WooCommerce Memberships turned off, readers with paid access were missing the member-logged-in page class that Memberships adds, so ad tools set to skip members showed them ads. Newspack now adds the class for readers with paid access. (newspack@6.53.13)
• Posts tagged “Labels” or “Label” picked up the tag label styling, which made their body text small and uppercase, could hide links, and broke the layout of the tag’s archive page. These posts now display normally, and tag labels look the same as before. (newspack-theme@2.28.1, newspack-block-theme@1.32.1, newspack-blocks@4.36.3, newspack@6.55.4)
• On sites running Mailchimp for WooCommerce, a reader’s first order with only a postcode and country in the billing address stopped later Newspack updates, such as payment dates, from reaching their Mailchimp contact. Updates now go through. Contacts already affected aren’t repaired by this release. (newspack@6.55.7)
• Custom bylines now keep only the formatting allowed in post content, so the editor preview matches the published post and RSS and Atom feeds stay valid whatever characters a byline contains. Emphasis, line breaks, and author links keep working. (newspack@6.55.2)

Newsletters

• On sites running Jetpack, activating Newsletters sometimes failed with an error that stopped every page on the site, public and admin, from loading. Activation now completes normally. (newspack-newsletters@3.43.1)

Newspack Network

• On networks that restrict content with WooCommerce Memberships turned off, readers whose billing email differed from their login email didn’t get access on the network’s other sites, because the access went to a new account under the billing address. Access now goes to the reader’s own account. (newspack-network@2.22.13)
• On networks that restrict content with WooCommerce Memberships turned off, members of someone else’s group subscription and buyers of one-time products, such as an annual pass, couldn’t read restricted content on the network’s other sites. Both now get access across the network, and one-time products can carry a Network ID. (newspack-network@2.22.12)
• On a Network Hub, only administrators can now open Network > Nodes or add, edit, or remove a node; editors no longer see the screen. A node’s key is shown only until the node is linked. (newspack-network@2.22.14)

Campaigns

• Prompt buttons that pointed to a link on the same page, such as a #donate link that opens an on-page donation form, reloaded the story on every click, and the editor rejected those links. Clicks now stay on the page, and buttons in prompt cards have a Button link field that accepts them. (newspack-popups@3.20.1)

Story Budget

• On computers whose clock runs ahead of the server’s, refreshing Story Budget didn’t show changes colleagues made to stories until a new tab was opened. Refresh now shows everyone’s changes, whatever the computer’s clock says. (newspack-story-budget@1.3.8)

Theme

• In the classic theme, links no longer keep a dotted outline after they’re clicked or tapped. Keyboard users still see the focus outline. (newspack-theme@2.27.2)