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Posted by Lorenzo Orlando Caum on Tuesday, September 30th, 2014
A maintenance release for Event Espresso 4 is now available. Event Espresso 4.4.3.p offers 3 fixes and 1 enhancement.
Bugfixes for Event Espresso 4.4.3
- Error when auto-updating
- Database error in front-end category shortcode page while in maintenance mode
- Undefined property (slug) notice that shows on plugin list table
Enhancements for Event Espresso 4.4.3
- Enabled Payment Declined (Event Admin context) by default
Updating to Event Espresso 4.4.3
One-click updates are available via the WordPress Plugins page within the WP dashboard to members who have activated their support license key. The support license key can be found on your Event Espresso account page and it is activated through the General Settings page for Event Espresso within your WordPress admin (WP dashboard).
Be sure to backup your WordPress site. Then login to your WordPress admin and click on Plugins in the WordPress admin menus. Locate Event Espresso within the list of plugins and click on Update Now.
You can also manually update your Event Espresso software. Here is information on how to manually update Event Espresso via SFTP or FTP.
What Happened to Event Espresso 4.4.1 and 4.4.2?
These versions were released within a few days of each other. Here is the changelog for Event Espresso 4.4.1 and the changelog for Event Espresso 4.4.2.
Pro-tip
Need to see more events or registrations per page in your WordPress dashboard?
Try clicking on the Screen Options tab in the top right corner of the events overview screen or registration overview screen and then adjust the pagination number and save changes. Here is an example: Increase the number of events shown in the events overview screen
Thanks for being a member of Event Espresso!
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Posted by Garth on Wednesday, September 24th, 2014
In an effort to further improve the speed and reliability of the EventEspresso.com website services (e.g. validating support license keys and serving plugin updates), we’ll be taking EventEspresso.com offline for about two hours this evening to perform some database optimization maintenance.
Like we always advise Event Espresso users, we will backup the database just as a precaution. The EventEspresso.com website database will remain secure and your account information will continue to be protected during this scheduled maintenance.
If you have any questions or concerns, please comment below or contact us.
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Posted by Garth on Monday, September 15th, 2014
Event Espresso 4 Decaf (lite/free) has been officially released as the most flexible, powerful and easy-to-use WordPress events plugin. After three years of development, and more awesome enhancements already in the works, every event manager and WordPress developer should rely on Event Espresso 4.
Event Espresso 4 Decaf provides core event registration management features for WordPress:
- Host unlimited events (single datetimes per event)
- Create an unlimited number of types of tickets
- Sell unlimited tickets for each event or all events
- Restrict ticket sales to the availability of different ticket types
- Restrict the ticket sales to the availability of the date and time (datetime) of the event, regardless of how many tickets or which ticket combinations are sold.
- Collect payments via PayPal Standard, Invoice, Bank Draft, and Check. Additional payment methods are available in Event Espresso 4 Regular (premium)
- Collect personal and address information for each registrant
- Send automatic Registration Approved, Registration Not Approved, Registration Pending Payment, and Payment Received email confirmations.
- And more!
The Event Espresso 4 Decaf core is a great place to start for the new event organizer.
Two Ways to Download
A BIG Thank You
Seth Shoultes, co-founder, offers his thanks to the Event Espresso users and staff who made this possible:
Users of Event Espresso 3, from all over the world, deserve a GREAT BIG THANK YOU! You have played a major role in steering the features we developed for EE4 over time. It’s our turn to repay you for all of your patience and guidance over the last 5+ years.
I truly hope you enjoy EE4 and all of the work we have put into this version of the plugin since we started development almost three years ago now. I am sure you will find EE4 much more flexible and intuitive than any other event registration and management system on WordPress.
Get the Caffeine – Upgrade to Regular (Premium)
Save more time and money, and get more power with Event Espresso 4 Regular (premium), which has exclusive features such as:
To Upgrade:
We hope you like Event Espresso 4 decaf, please leave us a comment below and tell us what you think.
4 Comments
Posted by Garth on Thursday, September 11th, 2014
This major release for Event Espresso 4 brings a couple new features but many enhancements and fixes. We’ve added the ability to customize the ticket selector (via filter), a button for attendees to resend their payment or registration emails from the thank you page, raised the PHP version requirement to 5.3+ for 4.4+, allow date and time localization (i18n), and more.
New Features
Notable Enhancements
Notable Fixes
- ESPRESSO_EVENTS shortcodes params getting overwritten
- Usage of do_shortcode() with EE shortcodes in templates
- Maintenance Mode for visitors appearing as a blank page
- Ticket editor ticket limit (max_input_vars)
- Invoice showing registration details for extra registration groups in reverse order
- Month property not working in event shortcodes
Updating to Event Espresso 4.4.0.p
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Posted by Lorenzo Orlando Caum on Thursday, September 4th, 2014
A maintenance release for Event Espresso 4 is now available. Event Espresso 4.3.2.p offers 4 fixes.
Bugfixes for Event Espresso 4.3.2
- Fixed SPCO return to pay in cases where the event is sold out / reached maximum capacity of approved registrations
- Fixed updates to core clearing out tables added by add-ons
- Fixed the mysterious sales tax display in the ticket price breakdown
- Fixed migration error when migrating from EE3
Updating to Event Espresso 4.3.2
One-click updates are available via the WordPress Plugins page within the WP dashboard to members who have activated their support license key. The support license key can be found on your Event Espresso account page and it is activated through the General Settings page for Event Espresso within your WordPress admin (WP dashboard).
Be sure to backup your WordPress site. Then login to your WordPress admin and click on Plugins in the WordPress admin menus. Locate Event Espresso within the list of plugins and click on Update Now.
You can also manually update your Event Espresso software. Here is information on how to manually update Event Espresso via SFTP or FTP.
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Posted by Seth Shoultes on Tuesday, August 26th, 2014
Here at Event Espresso, our mission has always been to empower business and organization leaders with the event registration, ticketing and management tools that maximize the success of their events. While our products are constantly improving as a result of that mission, we must also continue to evaluate systems our products are built with to ensure they contribute to this mission as well. One of these dependencies is the usage of the PHP programming language.
Since the release of Event Espresso 4, back in January 2014, we have made it clear on the Requirements page that EE4 requires at least PHP 5.3. As of EE version 4.4, we will no longer support PHP 5.2. If you try activating EE 4.4 on a site running on PHP 5.2 it will simply deactivate and display a minimum PHP version is required message. This is done on purpose to prevent serious issues on your site. If you wish to continue using EE 4.4, you will have to upgrade your server to PHP 5.3 or later. If you are unable to upgrade to PHP 5.3+ right away (maybe your host is slow to respond) you can continue to use EE 4.3.1.
Please note that the PHP 5.3 series will enter an end of life cycle and receive only critical fixes as of August 14, 2014. All users of PHP are encouraged to upgrade to PHP 5.4. PHP 5.3.29 is recommended for those wishing to remain on the 5.3 series.
Why are we raising the PHP requirements for EE4?
Dropping support for PHP 5.2 was a decision we did not make lightly. In fact, we tried to delay it as long as possible. Here are the three primary reasons prompting this decision:
- Security
PHP 5.2 is a dead release. It became end-of-life on January 6th, 2011 when the final version, PHP 5.2.17, was released. As the PHP website reads on that page:
If you are using these releases, you are strongly urged to upgrade to a current version, as using older versions may expose you to security vulnerabilities and bugs that have been fixed in more recent versions of PHP.
This is exactly the case with PHP 5.2, a version of PHP which is end of life for over 3 years. As a matter of fact, just a mere days after it became end of life a major security flaw was detected. It was fixed in PHP 5.3 but not in PHP 5.2. If you are using PHP 5.2, and your hosting provider has not patched this version, you are exposed to known security threats which are being used to attack web sites. The nature of these attacks means that your server’s firewall and/or a security component (like Admin Tools Professional) cannot protect your site. If you are using an un-patched version of PHP 5.2 your site will be hacked. The question is not if, but when. So, using PHP 5.2 may hurt your site’s security.
- More Efficient Code
PHP 5.2 lacks several features necessary for modern software development, like late static binding. To cut a long story short, if we kept on supporting PHP 5.2 we could no longer maintain our software in a way that is consistent with our commitment to providing up-to-date and easy to use software. We’d be stuck in the Stone Age until we reached a point that we could no longer provide new features and updates. So, using PHP 5.2 doesn’t allow efficient software development.
- Quicker Feature Development
One of the major factors in the longer release times of our EE4 products has not only been extra development time working around PHP 5.2 deficiencies, but also having to test on PHP 5.2. Eliminating support for PHP 5.2 helps us speed up release times. Therefore allowing us to develop and test new features at a much faster rate.
Why now?
Basically, we chose now as the time for dropping support because in the past year most major hosts have begun moving their customers over to newer PHP versions and are dropping support for PHP5.2. We delayed dropping support ourselves because we wanted to ensure that most of our existing customers are able to transition to newer versions of PHP fairly easily. Also, in the past year WordPress has made a number of fixes in its releases to address minor compatibility issues with PHP 5.4 and 5.5 that ensure it is fully compatible with the most recent versions of PHP.
Will my WordPress website stop working?
Upgrading your WordPress site to a new PHP version will not break the site unless you have a plugin/theme that uses a deprecated PHP function/method. Themes are less likely to have that, but plugins might. You will have to notify the plugin author of the affected plugin.
Customers can always download and install EE 4.3.2, from the pre-release channel within your account, which is compatible with PHP 5.2 until they can find a better web host.
Keep in mind WP will support sites up to PHP 5.4 (and even PHP 5.5 as of WP 3.9). So compatibility with WP is not a problem.
The only issue our customers might see in some circumstances is if they have WP_DEBUG on, plugins coded in a PHP 5.2 environment (or even PHP 5.3) might have things that throw warnings in PHP 5.4+ , but again that does not break sites if WP_DEBUG is off (which in a production environment SHOULD be off).
What if my host is still on PHP 5.2?
All the major hosts (Dreamhost, Bluehost, Hostgator, etc…) have PHP 5.3 by default.
And if there is a minor host where PHP 5.2 is the best you can have, then what’s the point with signing with a smaller and lesser known company if they cannot provide better services than big ones?
There are hosts which still offer PHP 5.2 by default but do support PHP 5.3 or 5.4 as an option. On these hosts you can ask them for the proper way to upgrade to PHP 5.3. Usually it’s a configuration option in your site’s control panel or in your .htaccess.
Even worse, there are still hosts which do not offer you any way to use PHP 5.3 or later. These hosts must be avoided at all cost. It means that the hosting company doesn’t care about investing the minimal amount of time required to properly setup their machines and ensure your security. Do you really want to trust them with your site? Would you tolerate a catering company serving stale food at your event? It’s the same question. If you’re stuck on such a host we strongly recommending moving to a decent hosting company. We have compiled a short list of quality hosts you might want to consider. Here you go, in no particular order:
TL; DR
As of EE 4.4, we are no longer supporting PHP version 5.2. If you cannot update to PHP version 5.2, then you cannot use EE 4.4. If your hosting company is still on PHP 5.2, you will need to have them update your server to PHP version 5.3 or greater. If they refuse, you should seriously consider switching to a different hosting provider.
Customers can always download and install EE 4.3.2, from the pre-release channel within your account, which is compatible with PHP 5.2 until they can find a better web host.
Why drop support for PHP 5.2?
- Security
- Ability to write more efficient code
- Quicker development of new features
Will my WordPress website still work?
Yes, your site will still work, as long as your WordPress theme and plugins are compatible with PHP 5.3+.
Host won’t update?
Move to a trusted hosting provider.
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Posted by Garth on Monday, August 25th, 2014
The MailChimp Integration add-on for EE4 is now available. This integration makes it quick and easy to add subscribers (your attendees/registrants) to any LIST or GROUP from any of your events.
The integration between EE4 and MailChimp is unique, in that you can select which fields you want to transfer from Event Espresso to MailChimp. For example, if you provide events for children, instead of asking for and transferring (merging) the child’s email address, you can ask for the parent’s email address in a custom question field and transfer (merge) that custom question field answer to the MailChimp list or group.
We’re proud of this MailChimp add-on for EE4 and hope you like it too.
Customers who have access to the MailChimp Integration for Event Espresso 3 also have access to the MailChimp Integration for Event Espresso 4. If you have questions about this please
contact the sales team.
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Posted by Lorenzo Orlando Caum on Friday, August 22nd, 2014
A maintenance release for Event Espresso 4 is now available. Event Espresso 4.3.1.p offers 14 fixes and 3 enhancements.
Bugfixes
- Fix event datetime comparison to now for upcoming events widget
- Add limit to session transient delete query
- Fix flat fee discount/surcharge not showing in the price breakdown
- Fix undefined function deactivate_plugins()
- Fix [ESPRESSO_EVENTS] show_expired=false parameter
- Fix calendar shortcode parsing on page with [ESPRESSO_EVENTS] shortcode on it
- Fix 1 click updates not working for addons
- Fix error when changing timezone to half hour increments
- Fix event_espresso text domain typos
- Fix [EVENT_AUTHOR_FORMATTED_EMAIL] shortcode
- Incorrect array configuration for Plugin Update Engine in EE_Register_Addon
- Fix receipt HTML issues
- Fix issue where EE_DMS_New_Addon_0_0_2.dms.php does not have constructor
- Fix issue where core misinforms addons when it’s a new install
Enhancements
- Change minimum PHP version notification to say next major version will drop support for PHP 5.2
- Add in validation of active messengers and message types
- Update Category help tour
Pro-tip
Did you know that Event Espresso 4 has documentation within the WordPress dashboard?
Just click on the Help tab which appears in the top right corner of the screen while viewing a page for Event Espresso. It is a convenient way to learn about a feature right from the WordPress admin.
1 Comment
Posted by Seth Shoultes on Thursday, August 7th, 2014
This week we released an important update to the EE4 Events Calendar, in conjunction with the EE 4.3 update. This version of the calendar (EE4 CAL 3.1) is compatible with Event Espresso 4.3.
Update the Calendar First
If you plan on updating to EE 4.3 and didn’t update to the 3.0.1 hotfix first, it is highly recommended that you update the calendar first. Otherwise you will have to manually update the calendar, which is still easy enough to do by manually updating the calendar to the latest version. Just be sure to remove currently installed calendar first, then download the latest version from within your EE account, then upload and install the latest version via the WordPress plugin admin.
EE4 CAL 3.1 Changelog
- Made the calendar compatible with EE 4.3
- Added a settings link in the WP Installed Plugins list
- Fixed EEH_Qtip_loader being called incorrectly with the calendar widget
- Minor updates to the calendar settings admin
- Fixed an issue with the widget titles
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Posted by Seth Shoultes on Thursday, August 7th, 2014
This release brings many improvements to existing core features and a few new features, such as duplicate events, iCal integration, batch email/newsletter system, registration form and payment system optimizations.
An Important Calendar Update is Available!
If you use the 1-click update feature, please be sure to update the EE4 Calendar to 3.1 BEFORE updating the EE4 core plugin.
New Features
- Duplicate Event
- Ticket Required Option
- Added iCal Integration
- Drag-n-drop Answer Values
- Order Questions by Question Group
- Question Editor Style Changes (thanks to Matt Van Andel)
- Re-order Datetimes in Ticket Editor and Single Page Checkout
- New Hooks and Filters for Developers Added to the Registration Process
Fixes
- Gateways
- Messages System
- Migration Issues
- Miscellaneous Spelling Errors
Support for “Ticket Bundles” & “Graduated Pricing”
Starting with Event Espresso 4.3 you can offer discount pricing and/or graduated pricing based on ticket quantities.
- Ticket Bundles
Can be used to set a per ticket price, based on a pre-defined quantity of tickets. This article shows how to create a ticket bundle where you can set a lower price per ticket when purchased in a bundle.
- Graduated Ticket Pricing
Can be used to set a per ticket price, based on a quantity range of tickets, similar to a tiered pricing structure. This article shows how to set graduated ticket pricing where you can set a lower price per ticket for larger quantity ticket purchases.
Messages System Changes/Fixes
We’ve improved the Custom Template System, added a “Newsletter” Message Type for sending batch emails, and made a couple of minor updates.
- Message Type – Newsletter message type
- Messages Admin – Updated to implement a new Custom Template creation/edit process
- Event Editor – Modify Messages metabox in event editor to use new custom template system
- Messages System – Default ‘From’ Email shortcode changed to [CO_FORMATTED_EMAIL]
Advanced Custom Fields Integration
Fully customize WordPress edit screens with powerful custom fields, using the Advanced Custom Fields plugin for WordPress. We’ve added several new hooks and filters throughout the Single Page Checkout system to give developers the ability to integrate with this awesome plugin.
Payment Gateway Fixes
This time around we’ve spent some time making sure the payment processing features work better, faster, and are easier to understand for your customers. We’ve also added better support for tracking partial payments.
- Send address fields to Mijireh
- Show failed payments in payment response
- Thank You page now uses the WordPress Heartbeat API to automatically display payment status updates
- Fix for Single Page Checkout so it displays the correct amount owed based on when a payment has already been entered into the system
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