I’ve just completed a massive update to Seamless Donations, resulting in what is about to become Seamless Donations 5.1.
While there are few user-facing changes to Seamless Donations, the internal architecture of Seamless Donations has been extensively modified in order to meet a security requirement from the WordPress plugin repository.
Also, as per my roadmap posting in early August, I’ve removed a ton of legacy code, streamlining the plugin and reducing its overall footprint.
Here’s a quick summary of changes from the readme file:
- Added Total Donated column to Funds list
- Added Options Explorer to Debug Mode
- Added warning to pre-4.0 users to read blog post on upgrading
- Added a more secure form initiation process that should be compatible with more hosting providers
- Added more secure PayPal IPN processing that should also be compatible with more hosting providers
- Added key validations and better prompting for Stripe keys.
- Substantially optimized code base, reducing overall size of plugin considerably
- Removed “Process form data via initiating page or post” option in settings since this option is deprecated
- Removed old Seamless Donations legacy code written before adoption of the plugin
- Removed unnecessary private version of jQuery that had been tagging along with the plugin for a while
- Disabled SSL check on Logs tab when in debug mode to avoid the check itself from interfering with debugging
- Fixed bug in Funds detail where donor names were always listed as Anonymous
- Fixed bug where Indian Rupee and Israeli New Sheqel were mixed up, due to an abbreviation snafu
- Fixed validation and donor form bugs (thanks to user Jaka Kranjc for the code)
As you can see, it’s a lot. That’s why I need your help to beta test this beast. It works for me in my testing, but that doesn’t mean it will work for everyone.
What I’m really looking for
The URL for your PayPal IPN is changing. You can find the new URL on the Settings tab. Please go to your PayPal account and change the IPN there.
Unfortunately, changing the IPN in PayPal does not change the IPN URL associated with recurring donations already scheduled in PayPal. As a result, I have implemented a redirect that should record any recurring payments and (hopefully) will not cause any interruptions. I’ve tested this on Apache and Nginx, and I’m hoping it will work for most users.
Please let me know how it works for you.
Beta details
I’m releasing Seamless Donations 5.1 beta 1 as version 5.0.24. That way, when the official release is pushed to the repository, you’ll be able to automatically update. If I have to do subsequent betas, they’ll be 5.0.25, 5.0.26, and so on, until the final golden distribution, which will be 5.1.
To download the beta, please go to the betas page. There, you’ll find a link for the new version.
As you’re testing, please let me know your results. To do so, please open up a support ticket and let me know there. That way, I can keep better track of feedback and incorporate it into the final release.
Thanks folks. Have a safe and sane Thanksgiving!
