TL;DR Version:
WP Ultimo 1.1.0 is out, and it is our biggest release since we launched our original version. It now has a centralized Subscription Management screen, supports multiple gateways at the same time, coupon codes, custom site template thumbnails and more.
We were really surprised with the response we got when we released the first version of WP Ultimo. People were in need of a simple and easy to manage alternative for creating premium networks and even the most rudimentary version of our plugin was received with a lot of excitement. We continued to develop WP Ultimo based on the awesome feedback we received. As a result, we arrive now at version 1.1.0, our biggest release since WP Ultimo was launched.
We continued to develop WP Ultimo based on the awesome feedback we received. As a result, we arrive now at version 1.1.0 (we are finally dropping the beta from our name!), our biggest release since WP Ultimo was launched.
So let’s dive in what’s new!
Subscriptions – One place to rule them all
One of the key difficulties we noticed from the feedback we got was how hard it was to manage subscriptions without a central management location inside the WordPress admin panel. Options for management were scattered all over the place and the only way to see the details of a given subscription was to go to one the sites of that user and check his “Account” page.
Version 1.1.o solves that issue with a new admin screen focused solely on Subscription Management. We tried to mimic the experience of managing WooCommerce Orders since that flow is already known by a large number of users.
Admins can now easily modify the “active until”, plan, price and billing frequency of a subscription all on the same screen, having access at the same time to important information like the status of that subscription, how many months and days it has left, if there is a coupon code applied, etc.
Refunds
Refunding a payment is now as easy as clicking on a link and entering the amount. It takes 3 clicks. Full and partial refunds are supported on both our default gateways (PayPal and Stripe). A simple guide on how to issue a refund can be found on our documentation website – Issuing a Refund.
Coupon Codes
Coupon codes are now working a 100% and are fully supported by the two default payment gateways as well.
Gateway Improvements
WP Ultimo is now capable of multiple gateways at the same time! That means that during the checkout process your users will be able to choose their desired payment processor from all options available. We also did a lot of refactoring of crucial parts of the gateway integrations. Both gateways now have better error handling and provide more meaningful feedback in cases of failure.
Styling Tab
Prior to version 1.1.0, the only way to change the logo was to re-enter our setup wizard. We now have a dedicated Styling Tab on our Settings page with options to change the logo, a square logo (to be used on the Stripe checkout form and other contexts), as well as the primary and accent colors used on the pricing tables during the checkout process.
Template Sites’ Thumbnails
WP Ultimo uses a cronjob to generate thumbnail images for each of the select template sites. These thumbnails are displayed in the template selection screen during the signup process. Prior to version 1.1.0, however, there was no way to manually trigger the thumbnail generator. That is no longer the case since now we have a trigger button on the Network Settings tab of WP Ultimo Settings page (right bellow the template selection option) that starts the thumbnail generator process.
Administrators now can set their own custom thumbnail images to template sites as well.
Other Important notes
Domain Mapping: We did a major change on our sunrise.php file. If you are using our domain mapping feature, you will need to replace the sunrise.php file on your wp-content directory with the new version.
Knowledge Base and Documentation: We know have a documentation/knowledge base site for WP Ultimo. Articles will be added gradually. Feel free to suggest topics you want covered there or to submit your own entries! We have a pretty cool example of how to add custom steps and fields to the signup flow there already.
What’s Next?
Version 1.1.0 is a huge release, but there’s still a lot to be done. Our focus on the next release is to continue to enhance the system overall and fix some specific points:
- Make the pricing tables more customizable (with the possibility of implementing a basic templating system like WooCommerce);
- Provide a better integration between the signup flow and the payment integration.
- Allow users to add new sites to their accounts directly from the admin panel (and allow admins to limit the number os sites on each plan);
- Begin the development of add-ons like a MailChimp integration and Authorize.net gateway option.
