Maps Marker Pro v4.0-RC2 is available

Maps Marker Pro v4.0-RC2 has just been released – thanks to all beta testers for your feedback & especially to all translators for the translation updates!

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.

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!

Important: if you update from 4.0-beta1, 4.0-beta2 or 4.0-beta3, please manually deactivate and activate 4.0-RC2 once after the update on the plugins page, so that the new capability system gets initiated!

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

New features/changes/fixes since v4.0-RC1:

• add option to sort marker list by creation and update time
• add option to change (preview) basemap to edit marker page
• add compatibility check for LiteSpeed Cache
• add install instructions to readme.txt
• optimize edit map/marker layout
• optimize loading of shortcodes to prevent errors with caching plugins
• optimize styles for RTL languages & load mapsmarkerpro-rtl.css on backend
• improve unsaved changes logic to prevent false positives
• reload new map/marker on first save to prevent various issues
• scroll to top of map when clicking on list of markers item
• remove unneeded compatibility checks
• remove hash plugin
• remove deactivation feedback
• fix elevation chart for multi segment tracks
• fix map height unit label (px and not %)
• fix filter icon not changable
• fix JS error when using filters on backend
• updated translations

Known issues

• migration of large amounts of markers from 3.1.1-RC1 might fail on servers with low PHP memory limits (will be fixed with 4.0-RC3)

Planned for 4.0-RC3

• enhancement of the migration tool (as marker maps have been removed in 4.0 but already used shortcodes for marker maps still work for backward compatibility, some additional shortcode parameters may nevertheless need to be added manually – the migration tool will be enhanced to support these manual tasks).

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

• REST API

The design and interface on backend is also not final yet – the current focus is to test the new features and optimized code.

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-RC2

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-RC2):

After activating v4.0-RC1, you will see an admin notice which will take you to the data migration tool page:

As next step, please start the datamigration by clicking the button “Start Migration”:

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

That´s it – now you can start using Maps Marker Pro v4.0-RC2.

Important: if you update from 4.0-beta1, 4.0-beta2 or 4.0-beta3, please manually deactivate and activate 4.0-RC2 once after the update on the plugins page, so that the new capability system gets initiated!

Please do not delete v3.1.1 at least unless v4.0 final is available, as there still might be changes to the database structure and the need to re-run the migration tool to update your data!

how to install 4.0-RC2 from scratch

For directly downloading and installing the v4.0-RC2 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-RC2 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-RC2 will not be visible with Maps Marker Pro v3.1.1-RC1, as a complete new database schema is used!