[XenCustomize] News Publisher: Home Page, Portal & CMS 2.3.13

XenCustomize News Publisher v2.3.13 is released!​

We’re happy to release XenCustomize News Publisher v2.3.13, a major update focused on News Ticker improvements, native RSS export, better admin control, and performance optimization.

This version introduces native RSS export for both the main News Publisher index and news categories, along with new admin options to control feed availability, item limits, ordering, content mode, and thumbnail inclusion. This makes it much easier to syndicate your News Publisher content to RSS readers, aggregators, bots, and external services.

A large part of this update is dedicated to the News Ticker. Admins now have much more control over how the ticker behaves, including headline limit, cache lifetime, autoplay interval, thumbnail display, source categories, heading visibility, and mobile-specific thumbnail handling.

We have also added a new account preference option that allows users to hide the ticker when the admin chooses to allow that flexibility.

Behind the scenes, v2.3.13 also delivers an important performance upgrade to the News Ticker. Its loading flow, query handling, visibility filtering, caching strategy, and indexing have all been improved to reduce unnecessary database overhead and make ticker usage much more efficient, especially on larger sites.

To make all of these growing features easier to manage, the News Publisher options page has also been reorganized into clean tabbed sections, including dedicated areas for News Ticker and RSS Export settings.

This is a strong and meaningful update for News Publisher, bringing both powerful new capabilities and quality improvements across the addon.

New Features & Enhancements:​

• Added native RSS export for the News Publisher index and news categories.
• Added new admin options to control RSS feed availability, item limit, feed order, content mode, and thumbnail inclusion.
• Added a new admin option to control how many latest headlines are shown in the News Ticker.
• Added a new admin option to control the News Ticker cache lifetime.
• Added a new admin option to control how often the News Ticker automatically cycles headlines.
• Added a new admin option to show or hide thumbnails in the News Ticker.
• Added a new admin option to limit the News Ticker to selected source categories.
• Added a new admin option to allow users to hide the News Ticker from their account preferences.
• Added a new account preference so users can choose whether to show the News Ticker when the admin allows it.
• Improved the News Ticker layout on small screens for a cleaner mobile presentation with better headline readability.
• Added a new admin option to control whether the News Ticker heading label is shown on desktop, mobile, both, or hidden entirely.
• Added a new admin option to hide News Ticker thumbnails on narrow mobile screens when desired.
• Reorganized News Publisher admin options into tabbed sections to make related settings easier to find, including dedicated tabs for News Ticker and RSS export options.

Performance Improvements:​

• Optimized the News Ticker loading flow so ticker data is only prepared for valid public HTML requests where the ticker is enabled and viewable.
• Refactored the News Ticker query to use a leaner fetch process, removing unnecessary per-visitor relation joins and reducing database overhead.
• Updated News Ticker visibility checks to use viewable category IDs instead of permission cache joins inside the ticker query.
• Added permission-combination-aware ticker caching and refined it to use XenForo simple cache for broader compatibility across different installations.
• Added automatic ticker cache invalidation when news content changes.
• Added a composite database index to improve News Ticker lookups for visible news ordered by publish date.

Changed Templates:​

The following templates have had changes:

• core_xcu_nwp.less
• xcu_nwp_card_grid.less
• xcu_nwp_expanded_list.less
• xcu_nwp_standout_card_grid.less
• xcu_nwp_news.less
• xcu_nwp_news_list_macros
• xcu_nwp_news_ticker
• xcu_nwp_news_ticker.less
• xcu_nwp_rss_content
• xcu_nwp_option_macros

Important Upgrade Notes:​

• When upgrading, please make sure you overwrite all addon files with the latest version files.
• After upgrading, please check your Outdated Templates page and either revert or merge/integrate these templates to ensure that all new changes are applied.

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XenCustomize News Publisher v2.3.12.1 is released!​

This is a small maintenance update that fixes an undefined variable error when creating news and removes a duplicate title assignment in the Create service. A quick but important patch for smooth publishing.

Bug Fixes​

• Fixed an undefined variable issue in the news creation process that prevented reading time from being calculated when publishing new stories. (Reported by @PhineasD)
• Corrected duplicate title assignment in the Create service.

XenCustomize News Publisher v2.3.12 is released!​

This update introduces Reading Time for news stories, shown on the news view page and every display mode. A new Words Per Minute option lets you control how reading time is calculated.

We also added automatic reading-time rebuilding for older news stories. After upgrading, simply run Rebuild caches → News Publisher: Rebuild news to apply reading time to all existing content.

We also improved permission handling for viewing news comments and updated the related “What’s New” tabs and navigation conditions to match the new logic.

Complete Change Log

New Features & Enhancements:​

• Introduced a reading time feature for news stories, displayed on the news view page and across all display modes (Card Grid, Compact List, Expanded List, and Standout Card Grid).
• Added a new admin option: Reading Time: Words Per Minute (controls the average reading speed used to calculate estimated reading time).
• Updated permission logic for viewing news comments by introducing the new canViewNewsComments() method.
• Updated the “What’s New” template modification so the news comments tab correctly follows the updated permission checks.
• Added the $xf.visitor.canViewNewsComments() display condition to the New comments navigation link entry.
• Added a new rebuildReadingTime() process to the News rebuild job, ensuring all existing news stories receive an updated reading time when running Rebuild caches → News Publisher: Rebuild news.

Changed Templates:​

The following templates have had changes:

• xcu_nwp_news_list_macros
• xcu_nwp_news_view
• xcu_nwp_news_wrapper_macros

Note: After upgrading, please check your Outdated Templates page and either revert or merge/integrate these templates to ensure that all new changes are applied.

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Screenshot of reading time on news view​

See the full documentation thread for all screenshots and details!

XenCustomize News Publisher v2.3.11 is released!​

This update introduces several user-requested improvements and visual refinements aimed at enhancing both usability and design consistency.

You can now control how your Latest News widget orders content — by publish date, last update, or even random for variety. On mobile devices, comment action buttons are now neatly grouped into a dropdown, providing a cleaner, more intuitive layout.

We’ve also improved tag editing visibility by adding a clear edit icon beside Related Topics, making it easier to manage tags directly from the news view page.

Finally, this release debuts our refreshed News Publisher icon and updated default thumbnails, bringing a modern, polished look to the addon.

New Features & Enhancements:​

• Widget: Display Order Option (Sponsored by @hakyangler)
  • Added a new Display order control for the Latest News widget.
  • Admins can now choose how news items are ordered in the widget:
    • Publish date – Show newest published news first.
    • Last update – Show most recently updated news first (default, same as before).
    • Random – Shuffle the news order for more variety.
  • This update provides greater flexibility and control over how news is surfaced in different widget placements.
  • Notes:
    • Existing Latest News widgets will continue to use Last update automatically to ensure compatibility.
    • New widget instances will also default to Last update unless a different order is selected.
• Mobile: Comment Actions Dropdown (Sponsored by @hakyangler)
  • Comment action links (e.g., Delete, Reassign, IP, Warn) are now grouped inside a dropdown menu on mobile devices.
  • Matches XenForo’s native design and delivers a cleaner, more compact layout for mobile users.
• Improved Tag Editing Visibility (Sponsored by @hakyangler)
  • Added a visible edit icon beside the "Related Topics" heading when tag editing is allowed.
  • Makes it clearer that tags can be added or edited directly from the news view page.

Branding & Visual Updates ​

• Refreshed Product Icon & Default Thumbnails
  • Replaced the official News Publisher product icon with a brand-new modern design.
  • Updated all default news thumbnail images shipped with the addon to reflect the new branding style.
    • data/assets/xcu_news_publisher/Default-News-Thumbnail-Square.webp
    • data/assets/xcu_news_publisher/Default-News-Thumbnail-Landscape.webp

Bug Fixes:​

• Improved Default Thumbnail Handling
  • Fixed an issue where news items without a thumbnail and fallback cover image would sometimes display no default thumbnail.
  • Templates now always show a default thumbnail image when a thumbnail and fallback cover image is missing.
  • Ensures consistent visuals across search results, widgets, carousels, and other listings.

Changed Templates:​

The following templates have had changes:

• widget_def_options_xcu_nwp_latest_news
• search_result_nwp_news
• trending_content_item_nwp_news
• xcu_nwp_comment_macros
• xcu_nwp_news_list_macros
• xcu_nwp_news_wrapper_macros

Note: After upgrading, please check your Outdated Templates page and either revert or merge/integrate these templates to ensure that all new changes are applied.

Enjoying this update? Take a moment to show your support!
Rate it on XenForo.com or XenCustomize.com — your feedback means a lot!

XenCustomize News Publisher 2.3.10 is Here! ​

We're thrilled to announce the latest update for XenCustomize News Publisher, packed with features designed to give you more control and enhance your content's reach!

This version introduces configurable Schema.org markup for news items, requested by @AndryOsminin @questlot, allowing you to precisely align your content with Article, NewsArticle, or BlogPosting types for improved SEO.

We've also implemented a request (by @hakyangler) to restrict authors from reacting to their own news stories, fostering fairer engagement. For those who want to allow users to react to their own news stories, our XenCustomize React to Own Content addon now include this functionality.

For those who love to customize, (suggested by @Matt C.) we've added a class identifier for compact display mode, making styling news items even easier. Plus, we've improved API data results for developers, offering more comprehensive information for integrations.

This release also includes important bug fixes for missing alert templates, ensuring a smoother alert experience.

Upgrade today to take advantage of these powerful new enhancements and keep your news section running flawlessly!

New Features & Enhancements:​

• Added an admin setting to choose the Schema.org structured data type for news items — improves SEO alignment with content type. Options include:
  • Article
  • NewsArticle
  • BlogPosting
• Restrict authors from reacting to their own news stories.
• Added class identifier for compact display mode, allowing for easier CSS customization of news items in this display mode.
• Improved API result data for News items, exposing additional properties.

Bug Fixes:​

• Fixed a missing alert template issue causing the error: "[E_USER_WARNING] Template public:alert_user_nwp_news_move is unknown".
• Fixed a missing alert template issue causing the error: "[E_USER_WARNING] Template public:alert_user_nwp_news_approve is unknown".

If you like this update, please take a moment to rate the add-on!
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XenCustomize News Publisher 2.3.9 is Here! ​

We’re excited to bring you a feature-packed update with some fresh improvements to elevate your news publishing experience.

You can now display a stylish “About the Author” section with the author’s avatar, name, title, and bio. This section uses the “About you” field from the user’s profile and only appears if it’s filled out. You also have full control over the placement - choose to show it below the news story, in the sidebar, or not at all. Thanks to @PhineasD for commissioning and sponsoring the development of this feature!

Tags now appear in a dedicated block below the content. We’ve given them a cleaner look to make related topics stand out better and offer a more modern feel.

We’ve resolved a missing alert template issue that was causing errors related to mentions.

This update is all about polish, personalization, and presentation. Thanks for your continued support - we hope you love the new update!

Note: The "Contains ads" button, label, and message block shown in the screenshots are part of a separate add-on and are not included with the core News Publisher add-on.

New Features & Enhancements:​

• About the Author:
  • Added a new admin setting: "Show 'About the Author' block" with multiple display options:
    • Below the news story
    • In the sidebar (above the information block)
    • Do not show
  • Displays an elegant author block, featuring the author’s avatar, name, title, and bio.
  • Pulls bio content from the "About you" field in the user profile — shown only if filled.
  • Fully responsive and visually refined for both mobile and desktop views.
• Related Topics (Tags):
  • Tags have been moved to a new, dedicated block below the news story.
  • Revamped their visual design for better visibility and a cleaner, more modern appearance.

Bug Fixes:​

• Fixed a missing alert template issue causing the error: "[E_USER_WARNING] Template public:alert_nwp_news_mention is unknown".

If you like this update, please take a moment to rate the add-on!
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XenCustomize News Publisher 2.3.8 is Here! ​

We’re excited to bring you another feature update this month, packed with powerful new features, styling improvements, and bug fixes to enhance your news publishing experience!

One of the major updates in this release is the ability to change news dates and times. Admins and editorial teams can now modify both the publish date & time and the last edit date & time, ensuring greater flexibility and accuracy when managing news stories. To maintain consistency, the system prevents setting a last update date before the publish date, and future-dated entries are restricted. Additionally, full timezone support has been added, ensuring accurate timestamp conversions across different regions.

We have also introduced two new display styles for the "Latest News" widget! You can now showcase your latest news using a Carousel Slider, a dynamic scrolling display that enhances user engagement. Additionally, we’ve added a Carousel Slider (Card Grid) option, which retains the structured layout of the Card Grid while incorporating the interactive slider effect. These new styles are not designed for sidebar positions but work beautifully in larger widget areas.

Another requested feature in this update is the Avatar Display Toggle. A new style property now allows admins to enable or disable avatars across all display modes, including Card Grid, Compact List, Expanded List, and Standout Card Grid. This provides greater customization and control without needing to edit templates.

To improve the Card Grid display mode, we have also fixed an issue where news titles could wrap unexpectedly, ensuring a more consistent layout. Additionally, Open Graph and Twitter card images now use getCoverImage() instead of getThumbnailUrl(), improving the accuracy of image selection when sharing news on social media.

Finally, this release includes several important bug fixes, addressing issues with category permissions, missing email templates, and missing phrases. These fixes ensure smoother functionality and a more polished experience for both admins and users.

Special thanks to @80sDude and @SeriousRat for commissioning the new features.

Upgrade today and enjoy the latest improvements. As always, we appreciate your feedback, and if you find this update useful, don’t forget to leave a review!

New Features & Enhancements​

• Change News Dates & Times
  • Added the ability to modify the news publish date & time.
  • Added the ability to update the last edit date & time for accurate record-keeping.
  • Ensured that the last update date cannot be set before the publish date.
  • Implemented restrictions on future-dated entries for consistency.
  • Timezone support added to ensure accurate timestamp conversions based on the user’s timezone.
• Latest News Widget: New Display Styles
  • Carousel Slider: A dynamic slider-based display for showcasing recent news. (Not designed for sidebar positions.)
  • Carousel Slider (Card Grid): A slider using the Card Grid display mode for a more visually engaging layout.
• Avatar Display Toggle
  • Added a style property setting to toggle avatars on or off in all display modes.
  • Available separately for: Card Grid, Compact List, Expanded List, and Standout Card Grid.
  • Provides per-style control without needing template edits.
• Styling Improvements for Card Grid Display Mode
  • Prevented news title from wrapping unexpectedly, ensuring layouts remain intact.

Changes​

• News view page now prioritizes the description field over message for metadata snippets.
• Open Graph and Twitter card images now use getCoverImage() instead of getThumbnailUrl(), providing a more reliable fallback for news thumbnails.

Bug Fixes​

• Fixed category permission classes not matching the correct formatter pattern.
• Fixed missing template causing the error: "Template email:xcu_nwp_watched_news_update is unknown".
• Fixed a missing phrase on News category permission page.
• Fixed a couple of missing phrases xcu_nwp_news_x_watched_news_updated and xcu_nwp_watched_news_update_email_html.

XenCustomize News Publisher 2.3.7 is Here!
We’re excited to bring you version 2.3.7, packed with powerful new features, improvements, and important bug fixes! The highlight of this release is the Scheduled News Publication feature commissioned by @80sDude, allowing users to choose whether to publish news instantly or schedule it for a future date and time — complete with timezone selection! Moderators also get a new "View scheduled news" permission, and a dedicated "Your Scheduled News" page makes managing upcoming news stories easier. A cron job ensures that scheduled news is automatically published every 5 minutes (triggered by site activity).

Beyond scheduling, we've enhanced search autocomplete results by ensuring that the best available news thumbnail is always displayed. Additionally, news thumbnails in compact mode, search results, and tag pages now maintain their correct aspect ratio for a cleaner look.

Navigation also gets a refresh! The "Your News Stories" link has been renamed to "Your News" and is now a dropdown menu. Inside, you'll find "Your Published News" (previously "Your News Stories") and a brand-new "Your Scheduled News" link for quick access.

Of course, no update is complete without bug fixes! We’ve addressed missing phrases, resolved template errors, and fixed a moderator action alert issue where alerts were increasing the count but not appearing in the list. Everything should now work smoothly!

Special thanks to @80sDude for commissioning the Scheduled News Publication Feature.

Get ready to schedule your news stories, enjoy a more polished experience, and take advantage of these exciting improvements! Full changelog below:

New Features & Enhancements:​

• Scheduled News Publication
  • Added new Publication options on the news creation page, allowing users to choose between:
    • Publish Now – Make news live immediately upon submission.
    • Schedule Publication – Set a future date, time, and time zone for automatic publishing (must be in the future).
  • Added a "Scheduled" label next to news titles for clear identification.
  • Added a block status message to indicate scheduled news.
  • Added a "Reschedule Publication" (pencil icon) button for quick rescheduling.
  • Added a "Publish Now" button to immediately publish a scheduled news item.
  • Added a "Your Scheduled News" navigation link for easy access to all scheduled news.
  • Added a new moderator permission: "View scheduled news" to allow access to other users' scheduled news.
  • Added a new "Publish Scheduled News" cron entry, running every 5 minutes to automatically publish scheduled news. (Note: The cron runs only when site activity triggers it, as XenForo cron jobs do not run independently.)
• Improved Search Autocomplete
  • Search autocomplete results now utilize the getCoverImage() method to ensure the best available image is displayed consistently. If no image is found, a default thumbnail is used.
• Improved News Thumbnails
  • Enhanced thumbnail display in compact mode, search results, and tag pages to maintain the correct aspect ratio using custom styling instead of XenForo's avatar classes.

Changes:​

• Public Navigation Enhancements
  • Renamed "Your News Stories" to "Your News" and changed it to a dropdown menu.
  • Renamed the previous "Your News Stories" to "Your Published News", now a sub-navigation link under "Your News".
  • Added "Your Scheduled News" as a new sub-navigation link under "Your News".

Bug Fixes:​

• Fixed various missing phrases. (Reported by @PhineasD and others)
• Fixed missing template causing the error: "Template public:alert_nwp_news_update is unknown". (Reported via ticket)
• Fixed missing template causing the error: "Template public:alert_user_news_converted_thread is unknown". (Reported via ticket)
• Fixed an issue where moderator action alerts for news were increasing the alert count but not appearing in the user's alert list. (Reported via ticket)
• Fixed an issue where creating news without key points would save an empty key point entry. (Reported via ticket)

If you like this update, please take a moment to rate the add-on!
Rate on XenForo.com or Rate on XenCustomize.com.

News Publisher v2.3.6 is now available! ​

We’re excited to bring you an all-new update with some amazing new features and improvements! With v2.3.6, you can now convert article and discussion threads into news stories with ease, thanks to the new "Thread to News Story Conversion" feature. This feature is fully customizable, allowing you to choose the destination category, tags, and more. It’s perfect for streamlining the process of turning regular discussions into official news posts!

Additionally, the news post editor has received a boost with a full-screen layout, making editing and content creation even easier. We’ve also added a convenient admin option to control the visibility of the search box on the homepage, so you can manage your site's layout exactly how you want.

We’ve made a few tweaks behind the scenes, such as updating the default display order of the "News" tab and adjusting the default number of news posts shown on the index page for fresh installs.

Special thanks to @Lelouch0612 for commissioning the Thread to News Story Conversion Feature.

Read on below for the full version change log and details on all the exciting updates!

New Features & Enhancements​

1. Convert Thread to News Story - Commissioned by @Lelouch0612

• Introduced a requested feature that allows you to convert article and discussion type threads into news stories!
  • Streamlined process accessible via Thread Tools.
  • Customizable options during conversion, including destination category, prefix, tags, and news state.
  • Automatically links the original thread as the Discussion Tab for the news story.
  • Transfers key thread data (attachments, reactions, publish date, views) to the news story while ensuring engagement continuity.
  • Fully permission-controlled with the new user group permission "News Publisher: Convert thread to news".
  • Requires categories configured with the "Automatically create thread in forum" option enabled.
  • Complete documentation is available on our support site to help you get started!

2. Enhanced News Post Editor - Suggested by @PhineasD.

• Enhanced the news post editor with a full-screen layout for better space utilization and an improved editing experience.

3. New Admin Option: Show Search Box on the Homepage - Suggested by @secnam.

• Easily toggle the search box's visibility on the homepage through a simple admin option "Show search box on the homepage".

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Changes​

Updated the default display order of the "News" navigation tab for higher visibility in the navigation menu.​

Default number of news displayed for the default category on the index page changed from 6 to 3. This change applies only to fresh installs.​

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Bug Fixes​

Fixed: Removed the misleading "optional" label from the news editor when publishing news, ensuring clarity in required fields. Reported by @PhineasD.​

Fixed: Missing phrase xcu_nwp_news_count in the "Sort by" option for Search Users functionality.​

Fixed: Incorrect phrase nwp_comment displayed on search results.​

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News Publisher 2.3.5 is now available! This update introduces significant improvements to News Thumbnail handling and expands functionality with the new getCoverImage() method for consistent fallback options.

Additionally, the Expanded List Display Mode has been enhanced, thanks to the funding of @hakyangler, making it more responsive and visually refined.

As always, we’d love your feedback! If you find the update useful, please take a moment to rate News Publisher on XenForo or at XenCustomize.

New Features & Enhancements​

• Improved Expanded List Display Mode
  • Thanks to @hakyangler's funding, the Expanded List Display Mode has been enhanced for better responsiveness and usability.
  • Improved layout consistency and updated styling for a polished, user-friendly experience.
  • Template Updated:
    • xcu_nwp_expanded_list.less
    • xcu_nwp_news_list_macros
• Improved News Thumbnail fallback options
  • Introduced a new method getCoverImage() for consistent thumbnail handling across all display modes and templates.
  • Fallback priority enhanced to include:
    • Uploaded thumbnails
    • Internal attached images
    • Embedded (external) images
    • Default thumbnail set in style properties.
  • Consistent Template Updates:
    • All relevant templates now utilize the getCoverImage() method for a unified thumbnail fallback approach.
  • Templates Updated:
    • embed_resolver_nwp_news
    • search_result_nwp_news
    • trending_content_item_nwp_news
    • xcu_nwp_news_bookmark_custom_icon
    • xcu_nwp_news_list_macros
• Added a missing template search_result_nwp_comment.

Important Upgrade Notes​

• If you’ve modified any of the updated templates, you must revert them after upgrading for the changes to take effect.

Enjoy the new features and improvements in News Publisher 2.3.5! For more details and examples, visit the related threads and suggestions on XenCustomize.com.