In this version, we introduce full log of all actions handled via Admin Panel. Both editing/deleting individual links and batch processing links creates a log, which stores how the link was looking before and after editing, both its URL and text. This is to secure admins in case they change something by mistake. They can always find the link and see its original form.
We have also implemented better support for non-URL characters in URLs. The previous version was handling the URLs properly as well, but it could cause confusion for admins seeing the correct characters in their browser, but the URL-encoded version in our Admin Pages.
For all admins working on boards using Unicode and other non-URL compatible characters in URLs we would like to stress the importance of understanding, how URLs containing special characters work. URLs themselves are not allowed to have Unicode/special characters. All Unicode characters are converted to their compatible version (URL encoding). You can confirm this by editing any post, which has a Unicode-containing link and see the source code. And you will see the link does not contain Unicode characters and is fully encoded. Basically, our product just takes the URLs from the post and processes them just as they are in the text. If a user follows the URL, browsers show the text in Unicode characters, but this does not mean, that the URL actually has this characters inside. We have decided, however, to avoid confusion for admins, to show decoded characters on the list and Batch Update page. When you are editing a link, however, we will show the real URL, and any URL you paste as a replacement should be properly encoded. You should not try to type Unicode characters in the field directly, but rather copy the link from a browser, which will automatically do the conversion for you.
Here is the list of processes, where we do URL encoding conversion:
- In Manage Links page, you will see the Unicode characters inside URLs.
- When editing a link, you will see the Unicode characters in Full Code sector but will see the encoded version in the field to edit the URL.
- On Batch update page, Search Link URL content will be automatically URL-encoded before the search. So the text you type there can be in Unicode or contain special characters, they will be converted to URL format on the fly.
- Process URL field content will be transformed into URL-encoded version only if you use "Replace found part" mode. So, if using "Replace found part" mode, you should use Unicode characters in both search and replacement field. However, if you are using "Replace Fully" mode, the URL you will use in the field should be fully valid, meaning all Unicode characters should be already converted to URL-compatible version.
- Regular expression matching is done after the search term is URL-encoded.
- Subpattern replacement is done before the replacement term is converted to URL-encoded version.
- In replacement preview, you will see the Unicode characters, but in actual replacement will use valid URL-encoded strings.
All admins dealing with Unicode URLs are strongly advised to
backup the database before using the tool. We recommend testing batch replacement with one-two URLs only, checking the actual post content, and making sure the replacement was processed as expected.
We are glad to help with advice on how to do the replacement if you are not sure. Just contact us in our Support System and we will look at it asap.
Please note, that we are not responsible for any loss or corruption of data as a result of your usage of our add-on so please contact us before running batch update tools for an advice.
With this version we also introduce our updated licensing engine, that does not include any automated callbacks. Your license is validated against our server only when you edit product's settings in Admin Panel, or when you upgrade the product to the next version. No callbacks run in cron jobs or when the add-on is being uninstalled.
The new version is available for all licensed customers at
https://customers.addonslab.com/marketplace.php/my-services/
Thank you!
