Publii 0.34 Adds Theme Updates and Batch Post Operations

The latest maintenance release for Publii, version 0.34, is released and ready for download. As with all maintenance-oriented releases, the focus here has been on bugfixes and more minor or backend improvements, but there's a few new features that are worth mentioning. Before we get to that though, remember that you can get the update via the Publii Download Page whenever you're ready; just grab and run the latest install package and it will take care of the update process for you.

All updated? Cool. Let's take a look at what changes are included in this update:

Batch Post Operations

In this release you'll be able to modify the status of multiple posts at once, instead of making changes individually. This'll be useful if you want to feature a group of posts, or hide/unhide them. These options are available automatically at the top of the post list whenever you mark posts in the post list.

Post as Frontpage

With the updated themes included in this release, a new group of settings have been added that allows you to use a specific post as your homepage. Posts set-up in this manner look and function the same as a regular post page, and include the same options. For example, you can choose whether to display the author name, or publication date on the post, and these changes will be reflected on the frontpage version of the post too. If the theme has multiple post templates, then you may also specify which of the included templates you wish to use for your frontpage post. Note that in the frontpage version of the post both the 'Related Posts' section and the controls for jumping to the previous or next post are removed.

The options for setting-up a post as a homepage are included in the 'Theme Settings' section of Publii; you'll need to update your theme to take advantage of this new feature.

Note: We strongly recommend that you make a complete backup of your site prior to updating your theme; this will protect you in the event of any bugs or other issues arising due to the update.

Theme Update: Simple 2.0

Simple is a great option for users looking for a fast, no-nonsense blog theme, and this latest update makes it even better than ever before. The theme now boasts:

• A minor redesign, with rewritten code to make it more efficient.
• An option for displaying a featured image on post listing pages.
• No more jQuery; now Simple uses Vanilla scripts.
• Overhauled menu system! New scripts, two mobile menu styles (Sidebar and overlay), and a reactive submenu that shifts position when it gets too close to the edge of the browser window.
• Expanded hero section controls.
• Responsive iframes (for things like videos, maps etc...)
• New font selection options.
• New 'Back to Top' option.
• A new gallery style and optimized image lazyload for the smoothest, fastest experience possible.

Other Improvements

That's not all; there's a nice mix of more minor improvements to help improve the Publii experience, including:

• Rebuilt sitemap generation - now includes images, last modification date and pretty output thanks to XSL styling.
• Rebuilt Netlify API integration.
• Added support for relative URLs
• Added support for 'dat://', 'ipfs://' and '//' protocols in the domain settings.
• Added option to randomise related post list.
• Added option to set the default post template under 'Post Options'.
• Added @renderer.theme global variable containing additional theme info.
• Regenerate thumbnails popup now only appears if there are any thumbnails that actually need to be regenerated.
• Added support for '-1' as an option in GetPosts* functions.
• Added query string as an option for get* functions.
• 'Save & Preview' button is now disabled when it isn't possible to generate a preview due to settings.
• Added use of post excerpt instead of default website settings as the meta description when the post meta description is left empty.
• General UX/UI improvements.
• Unified document.body click events handling in the application UI.
• Updated syntax for Vue.Draggable.
• Updated Electron to 3.1.8.
• Changed Disqus URL to an absolute URL.

Bugfixes

The fight against bugs may be neverending and unwinnable, but that doesn't mean we should fight it. In this release, we've fixed up the following:

• Fixed issues with renaming websites and restoring backups in Windows 10.
• Fixed issue with deployment method selection when choosing 'Manual deployment'.
• Fixed issues with missing slashes on some URLs in website metadata.
• Hidden posts are now available via the @website.contentStructure global variable.
• Fixued issue with WP import when the tags are used as taxonomy and there are no tags in WXR.
• Fixed issue with blinking while dragging a file while installing a theme.
• Fixed issues with images when the OS username contains an ampersand character (&).
• Fixed issues with window position on start in Windows 10.
• Fixed random JS errors in the Global Settings.
• Fixed dependency issues.
• Fixed issue with a nofollow link, now it is possible to remove it (v. 0.34.1)
• Fixed issue with missing successful message after the backup process was completed (v. 0.34.1)
• Fixed images URLs in sitemap and missing trailing slashes when pretty URLs are enabled (v. 0.34.1)

That's all for this release, but stay tuned; we've got more updates in the pipeline! If you want to stay on top of the latest developments, you can follow us on our Twitter page, or for up-to-the-minute info on what's being added, check out our GitHub project page.

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