Announcing the immediate availability of Breadcrumb NavXT Paths 1.6.0. This version adds a new filter, a new function, and the ability to enable/disable the referrer influenced term selection feature from the settings page.
Users with valid and activated license keys should receive an update notification within the WordPress dashboard and be able to use the update mechanism to update (just like with any plugin in the WordPress.org repository).
-John Havlik
Running off of an encrypted root filesystem has been one of those things that never seemed to float to the top of the todo list. However, back in December (2018, this article lived in the drafts bin for quite some time), it finally made it to the top of the todo list. At the time, one was preparing the Dell XPS 15 9550 to replace the Ideapad s405 for travel. Encrypting everything seemed prudent for a travel laptop.
As of the writing of this article, LUKS is the standard way of encrypting a filesystem in Linux. Generally, a boot loader is used to kick off an initramfs which loads the basics (need LVM, dm-crypt, and LUKS) and prompts for the passphrase for decrypting the root filesystem. If you’re fine with running a boot loader, most guides will get you going with LUKS quite quickly.
However, running a full boot loader on UEFI systems feels archaic. There is just something about using the kernel’s built-in EFISTUB that feels more elegant. And, this is where things divert from the bog-standard path. Typically, when using the EFISTUB, one does not bother with an initramfs (compile the kernel for you known hardware set and you’re good to go). However, an initramfs is integral to having an encrypted root partition.
The first problem started with trying to get a working initramfs. Since one had not used an initramfs with EFISTUB previously, there were a few hurdles to overcome. Initially, one tried to use an external initramfs. However, the 9550 does not allow/pass UEFI parameters nicely, and using the built-in kernel command line to specify an external initrfamfs in the EFI boot partition did not work. So, the initramfs needs to be built into the kernel for the XPS15 9550. This lead to a second problem.
Initially, the initramfs that genkernel builds was tried. Unfortunately, it appears this is (as of late 2018) broken/not-suitable for situations where the initramfs needs to be bundled into the kernel. Luckily, betterinitramfs can be bundled into the kernel.
Naturally, there is one gotcha to keep in mind regarding betterinitramfs. As distributed, betterinitramfs does not populate /dev/disk/by-uuid et al. as it does not provide udev (or eudev). The end result is real root needs to be specified using /dev/BLOCKDEVICENAME rather than using PARTUUID.
While the setup of using EFISTUB with an LUKS encrypted root partition is a little esoteric, it is possible to get working. There are a bunch of UEFI related pitfalls waiting to snare you—different platforms will have a different mix of issues. Then again, all UEFI systems should be able to use the initramfs embedded in the kernel when using the EFISTUB boot loader. Regardless, this path is not advised for those learning about/using LUKS for the first time.
-John Havlik
Helpfully, and in some cases, annoyingly, WordPress, by default, prepends the text ‘Private: ‘ to the titles of private posts. While this may be helpful for the user, sometimes it is unnecessary. In the case for bbPress, it may get tiresome to see ‘Private: ‘ everywhere, and for logged in users with permissions to see said forums and topics, it is redundant. Luckily, WordPress provides the handy private_title_format filter which can be used to control the format of titles for private posts.
The below code, when placed in a site specific plugin, will remove the ‘Private: ‘ text from private forums and topics:
add_filter('private_title_format', 'my_private_title_format', 10, 2);
function my_private_title_format($format, $post)
{
if($post instanceof WP_Post and ($post->post_type === 'forum' || $post->post_type === 'topic'))
{
$format = '%s';
}
return $format;
}
Note that this can be adapted to apply to any post type, or post types that are not forum and topic. Simply, change the post type checks in the if statement to target the desired post type(s).
-John Havlik
In Breadcrumb NavXT 6.4.0 the default behavior of Breadcrumb NavXT was changed to automatically exclude private posts from the breadcrumb trail. As part of this change, a new filter bcn_show_post_private was introduced to allow control over what private posts are included in the breadcrumb trail.
The following code, when placed in a site specific plugin, will enable display of all private posts in the breadcrumb trail.
add_filter('bcn_show_post_private', 'my_bcn_show_post_private', 10, 2);
function my_bcn_show_post_private($show, $ID)
{
return true;
}
Rather than display all private posts in the breadcrumb trail, prehaps it is appropriate to show private posts of a specific post type. For example, the below will include private posts of the type forum (e.g. from bbPress) in the breadcrumb trail, while private posts from other post types will remain excluded.
add_filter('bcn_show_post_private', 'my_bcn_show_post_private', 10, 2);
function my_bcn_show_post_private($show, $ID)
{
$post = get_post($ID);
if($post instanceof WP_Post and $post->post_type === 'forum')
{
$show = true;
}
return $show;
}
This is not the only way private posts can be selectively included. Some other possibilities include checking if the user is logged in, checking if the user has specific permissions, or specifically include posts based on the post ID.
-John Havlik
Holy taxonomy jumping Batman! This first feature release of 2020 changes the way taxonomies are handled when passing from function to function. Now, it is possible to change the taxonomy, in addition to the term, used for a post’s hierarchy using the bcn_pick_post_term filter. Additionally, the bcn_breadcrumb_linked filter was added to allow manipulation of the breadcrumb’s linked state. On the administration interface front, a new capability was introduced, bcn_manage_options. Lastly, a bug was fixed in the settings exporter that caused it to generate non-importable settings files when certain HTML entities were present in a setting.
In Breadcrumb NavXT 6.4.0, the way URLs and the linked state for individual breadcrumbs changed. This was to facilitate the ability to place the %link% tag in unlinked breadcrumb templates. As part of this bcn_breadcrumb::set_linked() was introduced. To allow users to control the behavior of this function, the bcn_breadcrumb_linked filter was added in 6.5.0.
Up until Breadcrumb NavXT 6.5.0, the manage_options capability was used to gate access to the Breadcrumb NavXT settings page. While this did insure the proper level of authority for modifying settings, it did not allow flexibility to add the ability to mange just the Breadcrumb NavXT settings to a role. Thus, in 6.5.0, the bcn_manage_options capability was added. By default this capability is added to the administrator role.
-John Havlik