Finally done. Probably. This update introduces a proper on-site alert system, replacing the previous glorified chapter query masquerading as one. You’ll need to enable it separately in the theme settings. Speaking of settings, several new options have been added to improve font loading and reduce flashes of unstyled text (FOUT). SEO also received some tweaks to help search engines index your site more intelligently — especially what not to index — and to discourage unwanted bots. Plus the usual batch of fixes.

Please consider supporting me on Ko-fi, Patreon, or GitHub Sponsors if you like the theme.

Release Notes

• Notice: If you use the Minimalist child theme, you need to update some things there as well
• Fixed: REST authentication check considers missing posts as valid (which is luckily irrelevant)
• Fixed: Story status and age rating are not translated in the Advanced Index page template
• Fixed: The date and time in the chapter changelog are not localized
• Fixed: The bundled JavaScript option causes script errors
• Fixed: The container of the story comments loading spinner has the wrong height
• Fixed: Meta box checkboxes are not visibly marked checked in the classic editor
• Fixed: The recursive cache file deletion function sometimes throws warnings
• SEO: Update robots meta tag to discourage search engine indexing of search results, filtered pages, etc.
• SEO: Added rating=adult meta tag for adult-rated stories and chapters
• SEO: Optimize virtual robots.txt for the theme (if SEO features are enabled)
• Improved: Added thumbnail node to Story RSS chapter items
• New: Added option to insert preload links into HTTP headers for font files under Fictioneer > Fonts
• New: Added option to insert critical path font CSS into the head under Fictioneer > Fonts
• New: Added new alert feature (manually for posts, automatic for chapters with story, plus capability)
• New: Added user profile setting to either skip or keep read alerts in the list
• New: Added status override meta field and capability (only changes the display, this is not a real status)
• New: Added chapter checkbox to override story Patreon settings (instead of merging them)

After avoiding it for years, the theme can finally be used (properly) with the WP REST API, which means you can now use it to set the required meta fields. This applies less validation than the post editor due to the limitations of how REST requests are handled by WP, but should not accidentally break anything. Use at your own peril.

This also means that the theme save actions are now triggered by REST requests, which I previously blocked to avoid double triggers — in consequence, saving posts takes slightly longer unless you disable it again with the new [Disable REST theme save actions] option.

If you want to recount the words on your site, since that function has been updated as well, you can do so under Fictioneer > Tools in the admin dashboard.

Please consider supporting me on Ko-fi, Patreon, or GitHub Sponsors if you like the theme.

Release Notes

• Fixed: Validations for meta fields do not consider the "private" post status
• Fixed: Validations for SEO meta fields only check for "post" post type capabilities
• Fixed: Non-story post types show the "Chapters inherit Patreon settings" flag
• Fixed: Removing a chapter by changing its assigned story is not logged
• Fixed: The word counts are highly inaccurate (again)
• Fixed: The default header background color is tomato instead of transparent
• Fixed: The chapter icon meta field input does not refresh the preview display
• Fixed: Chapter scripts erroneously try (and fail) to load on ?post_type=fcn_chapter
• Removed: Option allowing REST requests to trigger theme save actions (now default)
• Improved: Accessing /wp-admin if logged-out will now redirect to /wp-login.php
• New: Added option to block REST requests from triggering theme save actions
• New: Added SEO checkbox to discourage search engines for individual posts
• New: Added button to create and assign default template pages (Stories, Chapters, etc.)
• Dev: Refactored fictioneer_sql_filter_valid_blog_story_ids() and changed param order
• Dev: Removed and split up the "_settings_loggers.php" file
• Dev: Added fictioneer_sanitize_image_id() utility function
• Dev: Added fictioneer_rest_setup action and hooked it into rest_api_init
• Dev: Hooked fictioneer_restrict_rest_api into fictioneer_rest_setup
• Dev: Renamed "data-number-switch" HTML attribute in story chapter lists to "data-word-count"
• Dev: Renamed and refactored fictioneer_multi_save_guard() into fictioneer_save_guard()
• Dev: … but left the old signature as alias for legacy code
• Dev: Allow REST requests to trigger theme save actions by default
• Dev: Exposed theme meta fields to the WP REST API

Apparently, the Top Web Fiction link was broken and for quite a while now.

Please consider supporting me on Ko-fi, Patreon, or GitHub Sponsors if you like the theme.

Release Notes

• Fixed: The Top Web Fiction link is not displayed

Obviously, there turned out to be a problem with the new tools wrapper. Alas, reverted and changed the target class. If you have plugins that insist on adding extra wrappers and thus break functionality, this is now your responsibility.

Please consider supporting me on Ko-fi, Patreon, or GitHub Sponsors if you like the theme.

Release Notes

• Fixed: PHP Warnings (8) in the story blog query helper
• Fixed: Chapter contents do no longer render a HTML wrapper as text
• Improved: Story cards now list scheduled chapters if they are set to be visible
• Dev: Added fictioneer_filter_story_card_chapter_query_args filter
• Dev: The paragraph tools now look for the tools-wrapper class

Nothing much here, actually. Just fixing a warning in the Fast Request plugin (you need to disable and reenable it under Fictioneer > Plugins if you use it) and some quality of life improvements for developers. Also, the chapter wrapper element has been moved into a filter to hopefully avoid functionality breaking if a plugin messes with the post content.

Please consider supporting me on Ko-fi, Patreon, or GitHub Sponsors if you like the theme.

Release Notes

• Fixed: Warning in the Fast Request mu-plugin (needs to be disabled and re-enabled manually)
• Changed: Filter-in critical content wrapper required for the paragraph tools script to account for breaking plugins
• Dev: Render action hooks and selected output filters as HTML comment in the document (debug mode only)

There we are, the inevitable bugfix release. I take pride in the fact that it took a while and needed WP 6.8 to really break something. Alas, mostly minor things.

Please consider supporting me on Ko-fi, Patreon, or GitHub Sponsors if you like the theme.

Release Notes

• Fixed: The chapter formatting option to disable the paragraph tools does not work anymore
• Fixed: Removing the paragraph tools throws JS errors
• Fixed: FFCNR is not compatible with the new password encryption
• Fixed: The theme textdomain is loaded too early in the admin panel
• Fixed: There is no fifth point but I wanted to stretch it

About time to hit 5.29. In addition to the usual bug fixes and new filters, this update introduces the chapter list filters feature, allowing you to show a cover reel above the chapters on the story page. You can use it to show off alternative or older covers and filter for groups, post IDs, or both.

Please consider supporting me on Ko-fi, Patreon, or GitHub Sponsors if you like the theme.

Release Notes

• Note: Make sure to purge your site cache and the theme cache
• Fixed: The order and list/grid buttons do not vanish when leaving the story chapters tab
• Fixed: Dragging modals does not work properly when you move too fast
• Fixed: Accessible scheduled chapters return 404 with LiteSpeed Cache enabled
• Fixed: Parent block styles override the showcase figcaption styles
• Fixed: The password expiration date note in the post table view is not localized
• Changed: Updated chapter warning note about sensitive content/alternatives for clarity
• Changed: Removed default cross-fade view-transition…
• New: … added customizer option to enable cross-fade view transition
• New: Added feature to define story chapter list filters, displayed as reel above the list
• New: … and added filters (true/false) param to [fictioneer_story_section] shortcode
• New: Added [No Filters] user capability to restrict the use of filters to certain roles
• New: Added user site setting to hide chapter list filters
• New: Added no-clear utility CSS class to suppress clearing of floats on some block elements
• Dev: Added the expiration date as parameter to the fictioneer_expired_post_password action
• Dev: Added fictioneer_filter_filter_reel_splide filter
• Dev: Splide sliders no longer offset the inner padding (caused placement issues)
• Dev: Added fictioneer_filter_rss_main_posts filter
• Dev: Reduced and merged some translations for types, labels, buttons, etc.
• Dev: Added additional data attributes to showcase items

It's been a while since I messed up.

Release Notes

• Fixed: The Patreon gate notice is no longer rendered for non-patrons

Refactored the Storypath API for significant better performance and fixed an annoying bug that would save single/double straight quotes in meta boxes with a backslash. This will not be fixed retroactively, though, just no longer happen when you save. Sorry about that. Additionally, you can now make scheduled chapters accessible via option, albeit that is only useful in combination with other plugins. Might not work well with cache plugins, but that's a you problem.

Note: Please manually clear your theme and other caches after the update if you encounter problems. This should happen automatically but sometimes doesn't.

Please consider supporting me on Ko-fi, Patreon, or GitHub Sponsors if you like the theme.

Release Notes

• Note: The default style of collapsed chapter lists has been changed (see new customizer option)
• Fixed: The Storypath API uses the wrong author ID if the last chapter is by a guest author
• Fixed: The chapter micro menu shows up on password-locked posts
• Fixed: Checkmark arrays are sometimes turned into objects and cause errors
• Fixed: Comments hidden by reports still showed up on story pages
• Fixed: Meta box contents are saved with backslashed single/double straight quotes
• Fixed: The notice about a pending email address change points to the wrong email address
• Changed: The /stories API endpoint does no longer list chapters in the story nodes
• Changed: The /stories API endpoint now lists all IDs of associated chapters in story nodes
• Improved: Optimized the Storypath API for speed and less RAM consumption
• New: Added option to make scheduled posts publicly accessible
• New: Added option to allow comments on scheduled posts (if accessible)
• New: Added customizer option to change the collapsed style for chapter lists
• Dev: Removed obsolete FICTIONEER_QUERY_RESULT_CACHE_THRESHOLD constant
• Dev: Removed obsolete FICTIONEER_QUERY_RESULT_CACHE_LIMIT constant
• Dev: Removed obsolete FICTIONEER_QUERY_RESULT_CACHE_BREAK constant
• Dev: Refactored fictioneer_api_get_story_node() with new params and faster custom SQL
• Dev: Increased FICTIONEER_API_STORYGRAPH_STORIES_PER_PAGE default from 10 to 25
• Dev: Moved no-cache directives into fictioneer_disable_caching()
• Dev: Added fictioneer_filter_disable_caching filter to short-circuit execution
• Dev: Added test and sanitization routine for magic quotes

Important performance optimizations for large sites plus some quality of life improvements. The datalist dropdown for chapter groups had to be replaced with a more conventional select/input configuration due to some devices having trouble with the standard HTML5 feature. It's 2025, but whatever.

Edit: There was a small bug, some strings not being rendered. This has been fixed. if you downloaded this release earlier, just download and install it again. The bug is inconsequential, though.

Please consider supporting me on Ko-fi, Patreon, or GitHub Sponsors if you like the theme.

Release Notes

• Fixed: The CSS for the icon color in the sharing modal is broken
• Fixed: The card placeholder skeleton style is broken
• Fixed: The Follows icon number label is not always working
• Fixed: Quotes in custom page CSS are escaped with slashes on save
• Fixed: The story password note does not sanitize the "[!global]" instruction
• Fixed: The highlight editor formatting always adds a yellow background
• Fixed: Shortened numbers did not localize decimal points and separators
• Changed: Chapter nav links will now scroll to the start of the chapter (same as keyboard nav)
• Changed: The chapter group meta box now uses an input/select combo for better browser support
• Improved: Optimized performance of bulk editing and saving posts
• Improved: Optimized performance of author statistics
• New: Added basic cross-fade view transition between pages
• New: Added author index page assignment option and breadcrumb (updated author.php)
• New: Added toolbar [Add Chapter] link to chapter edit screen if the story is set
• New: Added option to cache the last post modified date as Transient
• New: Added story option to let chapters inherit Patreon settings
• Dev: Added fictioneer_filter_sharing_modal_links (refactored _modal-sharing.php)
• Dev: Added fictioneer_bulk_update_post_meta() function
• Dev: Added fictioneer_filter_caching_active filter
• Dev: Added FICTIONEER_ENABLE_CHAPTER_INDEX_META_CACHE (true) …
• Dev: … and the chapter index modal no longer considers active cache plugins
• Dev: Added FICTIONEER_ENABLE_AUTHOR_STATS_META_CACHE (true) …
• Dev: … and the author statistics no longer considers active cache plugins
• Dev: fictioneer_enable_chapter_list_transients() no longer considers active cache plugins
• Dev: Card comment counters no longer consider active cache plugins
• Dev: fictioneer_sanitize_css() now also performs wp_unslash()
• Dev: Added fictioneer_filter_chapter_nav_buttons filter
• Dev: … and refactored fictioneer_chapter_nav_buttons()
• Dev: Made number abbreviation letters translatable