Maps Marker Pro v4.0-RC3 is available

Maps Marker Pro v4.0-RC3 has just been released – thanks to all beta testers for your feedback & to all translators for the translation updates!

This is the last planned release candidate – if no more blocker issues are reported, 4.0 final will be released next.

Version 4.0 of Maps Marker Pro features a complete object-oriented rewrite of the codebase. While this process took quite a few months to complete, the long-term benefits are absolutely worth it. Not only does the new code dramatically decrease load times and enhance security, but it also makes it much easier for us to fix bugs or implement new features.

Please be aware of some profound changes:

• changes to map concept: with v4.0 only maps and markers will be available anymore (the term layer maps is no longer used; marker maps cannot be created anymore – existing marker maps will be migrated).
• support for gpx elevation charts and waypoints has been added
• Leaflet.GestureHandling support has been added (Brings the basic functionality of Maps Gesture Handling into Leaflet and prevents users from getting trapped on the map when scrolling a long page).
• all settings for “Map defaults” in the Settings area have been removed – you can use the link “Save current values as defaults for new maps” instead when created a new map
• options to display the list of markers right or left to a layer map has been added
• MapQuest basemap support has been removed (due to MapQuest basemaps now requiring their own API, making them incompatible to be implemented into a standard Leaflet installation; existing MapQuest maps will be switched to OpenStreetMap automatically)
• (retired) Wikitude augmented reality API has been replaced with layar.com API
• (retired) Visualead QR code generator has been replaced with local JS library QR code generator

Changes since v4.0-RC2:

• Migration tool updates and fixes
  • migration check & helper for (depreciated) marker maps still used in content (which need to be updated once – see tutorial on how to update below for more details)
  • process migration in batches to avoid memory problems
  • look for overlays/wms during migration check
  • only show migration tab if an old version is installed
• add indices to relationship table to increase uncached query performance
• add shortcode attribute hightlight for highlighting markers on maps
• add map/marker saved message after first save
• replace invalid shortcodes logic/admin notices with confirmation prompt if a map is deleted that is still used in a content
• update Leaflet.markercluster to 1.4.1
• optimize CSS for images in popup/list
• optimize popup and list style for figure elements
• separate settings to show address, coordinates and directions on markers
• pre-fill user info for personalized trial key
• search for shortcodes (“Used in content”) in all post types instead of posts and pages only
• don’t search for shortcodes (“Used in content”) in trashed posts anymore
• fix marker reference error in map.js
• fix shortcode overrides
• updated translations

The following feature has not been ported yet and will be added with v4.1:

• REST API

Important: if you update from 4.0-beta1, 4.0-beta2 or 4.0-beta3, please manually deactivate and activate 4.0-RC3 once after the update on the plugins page, so that the new capability system gets initiated!

Let us you think about this new release & send your feedback by using our helpdesk (prefered) or directly via email to feedback@mapsmarker.com.

how to update to 4.0-RC3

To avoid loss of data, please do not use beta versions for production sites and do not delete version 3.1.1 until 4.0 has been released, as more fundamental changes might be necessary!

In addition we recommend to backup your site (especially the database) regularly so in case of an issue with this beta release you can always perform a full rollback if needed!

As technically speaking Maps Marker Pro 4.0 is a new plugin, the update process is a bit different than usually:

In order to be able to update to this beta release, you first have to set beta-testing in Settings / Misc to enabled:

As next step after saving your settings, navigate to Plugins and click on the link “Manually check for updates” next to “Maps Marker Pro”:

As next step click on the link “Update now” to update to v3.1.1-RC1.

After update to v3.1.1-RC1 is finished, you are ready to start the installation of “Maps Marker Pro” 4.0 as new plugin. So please click “please click here for more information” to proceed to the next step:

This will take you to the “Update to Maps Marker Pro 4” page. Start the installation as new plugin by clicking on the button “Sounds good! I want to update to Maps Marker Pro 4 now!”:

After the plugin has been installed, please first deactivate “Maps Marker Pro” (v3.1.1-RC1) before activating “Maps Marker Pro” (v4.0-RC3):

After activating v4.0-RC3, you will see an admin notice which will take you to the data migration tool page:

Starting with Maps Marker Pro 4.0, marker maps have been deprecated, but can still be used for backwards compatibility. However, additional shortcode attributes are needed in order to make them look the same. Due to the high risk of doing this programmatically, we require you to replace these shortcodes manually. Start the migration check to get a list of used marker maps and their updated shortcodes. Only shortcodes in posts and pages can be detected, so please also check if you are using any shortcodes in widgets or other places. Start this check by clicking on the button “Check migration”:

If you are using marker shortcodes in your posts or pages, you will be shown a list of a table of results:

As next step, click on “Start migration” (to migrate your map data from the old to the new database schema).

After (automatic) migration is finished, you will see the message “Data migration completed successfully”:

Afterwards use the edit link for each marker shortcode appearance and replace the marker shortcode in related content with the shortcode from the row “New shortcode”. Example: the post “Events” from the screenshot above uses the shortcode [mapsmarker marker="1"] – this has to be replaced with 

Please do not delete Maps Marker Pro 3.1.1 until you have verified that all data has been migrated correctly. We also recommend to make a backup of the wp_current_leafletmapsmarker_layers and wp_current_leafletmapsmarker_markers database tables, to be able to run the migration again at a later point, should it become necessary.

That´s it – now you can start using Maps Marker Pro v4.0-RC3.

how to install 4.0-RC3 from scratch

For directly downloading and installing the v4.0-RC3 package as zip file, please click here.

For an archive of all available releases, please click here.

Please make sure to also set beta-testing in Settings / Misc to enabled to get notified about future beta releases!

how to rollback to v3.1.1-RC1

If you want to use v3.1.1-RC1 again, please first deactivate Maps Marker Pro v4.0-RC3 and then activate Maps Marker Pro v3.1.1-RC1 again.

Please be aware that any maps which have been created with Maps Marker Prov 4.0-RC3 will not be visible with Maps Marker Pro v3.1.1-RC1, as a complete new database schema is used!