Yes, you read that correctly, there is a beta release. Yes, this is a tagged release. Yes, the last time there was a beta was four years ago. Breadcrumb NavXT 4.0 is feature complete, after an extended development cycle. Several items that were goals for 4.0 have been pushed back to 4.1 and 4.2. These include contextually aware taxonomy selection and a multisite “global admin” interface.

Regardless, several objectives were achieved. Custom post type support has been improved. Several issues regarding custom post type archives and root pages for custom post types have been fixed. The way current items are handled has changed as well. Proper links for current items, if set to be linked, are now generated. The settings page has received a minor update, taking advantage of new features found in WordPress 3.3. Finally, the biggest change in 4.0 is the change in the settings structure. Prefixes, suffixes, and anchor templates were replaced with a linked and unlinked breadcrumb template.

Note, Breadcrumb NavXT 4.0 has been developed against WordPress 3.3. This beta and the final release will require WordPress 3.3. Please keep this in mind while testing.

Grab Breadcrumb NavXT 4.0.0-Beta1 and report any bugs in the comments section of this post.

-John Havlik

[end of transmission, stay tuned]

Grab it while it is still warm! Breadcrumb NavXT 4.0 Alpha is now available, in SVN Trunk. It has been several years since Breadcrumb NavXT has had an Alpha/Beta release. With the underlying changes in the settings structure, it seemed appropriate to have an informal Alpha release in addition to a formal Beta release.

Note that this is Alpha quality software, not all features that will be in 4.0 have been implemented yet. Several features slated for 4.0 have not been implemented yet. Some features in the settings page are not working currently do to changes in WordPress 3.3 (waiting for 3.3 to stabilize). The plan is to use the new Help menu constructs to proved better documentation within the plugin. Additionally, the Import/Export/Reset tab needs a new home, most likely under the new Help menu.

This would be a good time to note that Breadcrumb NavXT 4.0 will require WordPress 3.3. Finally, SVN Trunk will be usable (non-broken) from today until after 4.0 is released. If you find any bugs/PHP errors/PHP warnings, please report them in the comments section of this post.

Grab the Alpha/SVN trunk version of Breadcrumb NavXT.

-John Havlik

[end of transmission, stay tuned]

Currently, a quite dramatic change in settings, and as a result, behavior, is scheduled for Breadcrumb NavXT 4.0. The aim is to both reduce the number of options, while increasing the flexibility of Breadcrumb NavXT. This means replacing the prefix, suffix and anchor settings with two templates for most breadcrumb types. One template is the default template for the breadcrumb, the other is the template used when the breadcrumb is not linked. Note that some breadcrumbs will never use a linked template. There will be a settings upgrade/migration script from the 3.x settings to the 4.0 settings.

Unlike previous releases, 4.0 will have a full Alpha and Beta test release phase before the final version is available. The first Alpha will be available once the settings are fully changed over and a few required bug fixes are done. The first Beta will be available once all planned features are implemented. As for a release date, don’t plan on anything beyond an Alpha before October. This has been seriously delayed due to a project I was pulled into due to personnel issues. Hopefully, that project will be wrapping up soon.

-John Havlik

[end of transmission, stay tuned]