Plugin / The SEO Framework

Changelog

4.0.4

WordPress 5.3 has a bug where the timezone set in PHP is taken into account when creating permalinks. Since this bug can cause canonical URLs with dates to point to a nonexistent page, we’re sending out this patch where TSF sets the timezone to flat UTC for its front-end generation.

The proper fix in WordPress 5.3.1 is due in about three weeks from now, after which we’ll consider reverting these changes.

4.0.3

Google Search has a new bug in their parser, which causes pages to be deindexed unintentionally when a specific combination of robots-settings are used. To work around this bug, we changed how the recently introduced copyright directive settings work.

For more information, see our KB entry on why the Maximum Image Preview Size setting may now be ignored.

We also fixed three bugs and added minor improvements.

4.0.2

France recently amended its copyright laws. In short, in France, it’s now forbidden for content aggregators to display excerpts and previews of your content when no consent is given.

To accommodate those laws, Google will soon look for new directives, and we added new site-wide options to output those. These new options are disabled (unspecified) by default when you update The SEO Framework, but they are enabled (some access) by default when you install The SEO Framework on a new site. Please see this issue for our take on this.

In this update, we also fixed a few bugs and added various improvements.

4.0.1

Thank you for trusting us by upgrading to TSF 4.0.0 earlier! We’ve received many warm and welcoming responses, and we’re very grateful.

Even though we churned 40% of the code, we only confirmed two bugs in that update. This minor update addresses those bugs.

Our users reported some admin scripting issues when updating from v3.2.4 to v4.0. These issues are out of our reach, and we provided several solutions in this post.

4.0.0 – Multiplex

It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. – J.K. Rowling

Release date

• September 9th, 2019

Foreword

We wrote a foreword on 4.0. It’s a story on our efforts making this update, and why we’re exhilarated bringing you this update… finally.

Release highlights

• We completely refactored the plugin without losing features. This is the fastest full-featured SEO plugin for WordPress… by far.
• You can now use quick & bulk editing options. They blend perfectly into the interface of WordPress.
• Now, there are more term options, including redirects and canonical URLs.
• Want to enable indexing for just one page? Now you can, with qubit robots options.
• The SEO Bar is completely rewritten. It now lists the issues found so you can easily see what requires attention.
• The sitemap is also new. It lists your pages more intelligently, making it easier for search engines to find your latest updates.
• There’s a new and improved API for all the JavaScript, SEO Bar, sitemaps, tooltips, term-and post meta, and more!
• The character and pixel guidelines can now change depending on your site language.
• Full keyboard navigation support is now possible for tooltips. The tooltips now also adjust their size intelligently, so they won’t ever fall out of your browser window.
• …and more than 1000 other noteworthy changes, found in the detailed log.

Environment upgrade notes

• PHP 5.4 and PHP 5.5 support has been dropped. Here’s why:
  • PHP 5.5 hasn’t received updates for over 3 years and using it brings a significant security risk to your website.
  • Using PHP 5.6 lowers our time spent on maintenance, and it increases our productivity; so, we can focus on faster, better, and more useful solutions.
  • WordPress no longer supports PHP versions lower than 5.6 since WordPress 5.2. They, too, finally realize we need to move on.
  • Learn more about Upgrading PHP.
• WordPress 4.6 through 4.8 support has been dropped. Here’s why:
  • More than 75% of all WordPress sites are using version 4.9 or later.
  • The API changes between WordPress versions are massive. We can’t support older versions reliably.
  • Although we wanted to move to WordPress 5.0 or later, many users have opted out because of conflicting interests–to put it lightly. Keep your site updated, and use the Classic Editor plugin if you really can’t stand the block editor.

If, for any reason, you still wish to use PHP 5.4/5.5 and/or WordPress 4.6/4.7/4.8, The SEO Framework 3.2.4 still supports them.

Share your love!

We hope you’ll love this update as much as we do. Please consider sharing it with the world, by giving us an awesome review! We read every one of them. Thanks!

Detailed log

Let’s go the extra mile; or 1,609.347 meters.

Full changelog

• The full changelog can be found here.