Groups Engine

Changelog

Version history for the Prayer Engine plugin

Version 2.3.3 is a small update that refreshes some labels and language throughout the plugin, including Twitter's ongoing rebrand to X.

Version 2.3.2 is a bug fix release that addresses an issue where pagination of large prayer wall archives would break in its display after the sixth page.

Version 2.3.1 addresses an issue where users on some servers received an error message when they tried to export .CSV reports. It also includes several UI polish updates throughout the admin screens.

Version 2.3.0.1 is a quick bug fix release that corrects an issue where the newly updated spam protection incorrectly flagged some prayer requests as containing HTML (when they actually didn't).

Version 2.3 is a fresh update that includes enhanced spam protection against hyperlinks and a few notable prayer wall spammers. It also includes a new plugin update system to address plugin updates on outdated servers.

Version 2.2.1 is a small update that adds compatibility with the new version of jQuery found in WordPress 5.5.

Version 2.2 adds one of the most commonly requested features from our customers: the ability to limit the length of prayer requests submitted! Whether you want to help long-winded folks keep things short, or add another layer of spam prevention (almost all spam bots want to post a novel), our new character limits should do the trick. You'll find this new field in the settings for each of your prayer walls.

Version 2.1.5.1 is a bug fix release that fixes an issue with 2.1+ users not getting emails when someone had prayed for a request.

Version 2.1.5 is a small feature release that focuses on a few key areas:

• The phone number field can now be removed from the prayer wall forms in a prayer wall's settings.
• You can now ask a user's permission to also share their request on the "requests from all prayer walls" view; you can toggle this in a prayer wall's settings. You can generate a shortcode for this view in the "Get Shortcodes" menu. (This feature was sponsored by 1t517.org).
• You can now generate a shortcode to display a simple list of all signup names from any prayer focus. (This feature was also sponsored by 1t517.org)
• We squashed a form submission bug that caused an error on sites where the WP loop incorrectly ran several times on the shortcode.

Version 2.1 is a bug fix and improvment release that allows the "I Prayed for This" button to work on servers with overzealous security settings, improves the prayer count number accuracy on highly active prayer walls, and adds phone numbers and email addresses to .CSV reports.

Please note: If you have caching enabled on your site, you may want to refresh your pages after this update as it references different JS files than older versions.

Version 2.0.9.3 is another bug fix release that addresses spam protection not working properly on certain server configurations.

Version 2.0.9.2 is a small bug fix release that addresses broken recaptcha spam protection on some sites.

Version 2.0.9.1 adjusts some of the form field validation found in 2.0.9 to ensure full compatibility with older versions of Wordpress.

Version 2.0.9 is a small but important security update that's recommended for all users. We recently discovered a minor XSS vulnerability, and although the potential impact of the hack would be extremely limited in scope, we've addressed the vulnerability in this update and updated our existing security measures. We've also squished a few other minor bugs that would sometimes pop up in the admin interface, and addressed an issue where prayer request forms and focuses wouldn't submit due to incorrect permalinks in a small number of page builders.

Version 2.0.8.1 is a bug fix release that addresses an issue where users using multiple shortcodes on the same page would run into issues after the previous update.

Version 2.0.8 is a security and stability release that adds additional security measures to prevent spam and now properly processes prayer requests that include emoji and other special characters.

Version 2.0.7 is a small enhancement update that adds support for including multiple prayer focus calendars on the same page or post.

Version 2.0.6 is a small enhancement update that adds the following features:

• We've enhanced compatibility with hosts that use non-standard WordPress installs. If you've experienced trouble with JS loading on a non-standard install, this will fix it!
• We've made a few tweaks to the prayer submission process to prevent additional spam attempts.

Version 2.0.5 is a small update that adds some tweaks and bug fixes:

• We've adjusted how Prayer Engine content is loaded with JavaScript to be better compatible with wordpress.com sites. If you've had unexpected behavior with our plugin and your wordpress.com hosted site, this update should fix those issues entirely :-)
• We've confirmed compatibility with WordPress 5.0.
• If you're diving headfirst into Gutenberg, Prayer Engine's shortcodes work great with Gutenberg's built-in Shortcode block!

Version 2.0.1 is a small tweak release that allows prayer walls and prayer focuses to be embedded on the same page without errors or visual quirks.

Version 2.0 is a major update to Prayer Engine that adds a number of phenomenal new features and improvements. Here's the rundown:

• NEW FEATURE: Prayer Focuses! Prayer Engine now supports powerful prayer calendars for any number of Prayer Focuses. This is a great tool for initiatives like a "24 Hours of Prayer" campaign or other events throughout the year where you want to open prayer signups for certain time periods. Prayer Focuses can offer signups for up to 24 hours, up to seven days, and are extremely customizable. Check out the default "24 Hours of Prayer" Prayer Focus on your site by adding the [prayerfocus] shortcode to any page, and manage Focus settings and signups on the new "Prayer Focuses" and "View Focus Signups" pages in the Prayer Engine menu.
• NEW: Upgraded Reports! Check out the new "Report Library" page for a completely revamped interface that offers several new options for generating Prayer Engine reports. In addition to the printable Prayer Request reports you know and love, you can now download Prayer Request reports in a .CSV spreadsheet file. With the addition of Prayer Focus Signups to the Prayer Engine system, you can also generate specific reports to see who's praying during what times for your Prayer Focuses. These are available as both a printable report, and as a downloadable .CSV spreadsheet. This functionality is especially useful when you have a prayer need during the week and want to email a group of folks who have already committed to pray during a specific block of time.
• NEW: Major Speed Upgrades! We've made some changes behind-the-scenes to Prayer Engine that dramatically reduce the code loaded to your site and make calls to the Prayer Engine database tables up to 10x faster (not an exaggeration).
• Tweak: Twitter formatted Prayer Requests now support up to 280 characters.
• Tweak: The "Get Shortcodes" page now includes more options, and a section for generating shortcodes for the new Prayer Focus feature.
• Tweak: Updated User Guide explaining the new Prayer Focus features in more detail.
• Tweak: WordPress "Contributors" can now view and administer more Prayer Engine functions.
• Tweak: Prayer Engine branding can now be hidden entirely in "Settings > Prayer Engine".
• Tweak: Text in email footers about the account not being monitored has been removed.
• Tweak: Additional spam protections even if Recaptcha isn't enabled.
• Tweak: Removed uncessary use of the Markdown library throughout the plugin.
• Tweak: Removed the [peraw] wpautop() adjustment which broke more sites than it helped.
• Bug Fix: Prayer Engine is now fully compatible with PHP 7.
• Bug Fix: We've addressed a small error message that came up for some users when they saved their WP User profiles without electing to receive Prayer Engine emails.

We hope you enjoy all of the new features! More goodness is coming throughout the year.

Version 1.8.1 is a small update that addresses an issue where the "Share Your Prayer Request" button would sometimes cease to function or disappear after page load.

Version 1.8 is a feature release that focuses on several key improvements:

• You can now link to individual prayer requests! Just click on a submitter's name on the prayer wall to view and share a specific request (more coming in this area soon).
• RSS feeds now link to the individual prayer requests when an item is clicked (if a Page URL is supplied in the prayer wall's settings).
• RSS feeds now link to your site in the channel details.
• The query warning message bug at the bottom of a prayer wall (when wp_debug is on) has been squished.
• The bug where slashes sometimes showed in prayer received emails should be squished.

Version 1.7.5 addresses some (mostly harmless) issues that popped up when saving settings in WP 4.7+. It also adjusts the way datestamps are saved to be more accurate to the timezone set in WordPress.

Version 1.7.4 addresses an issue where themes (like Divi) that use proprietary page builders would sometimes leave exposed code on the page with Prayer Engine.

Version 1.7.3 is another bug fix release that addresses an issue where Prayer Engine will no longer appear for users using very old versions of PHP (anything less than 5.3). Please note that PHP 5.3+ is required to use the Recaptcha system to prevent spam.

Version 1.7.2 is a bug fix release that addresses an error some users experienced with the new captcha system.

Version 1.7.1 is an enhancement and bug fix release. It includes:

• A new embed generator that will allow you to embed walls with the form already open, just the form alone, or just the wall alone.
• More small style tweaks and fixes, especially on the admin side.
• A bug fix to remove random slashes showing up in the prayer admin panel.

Version 1.7 is mostly a behind-the-scenes update that upgrades to the simple checkbox recaptcha, includes a new plugin updater, fixes a small stylesheet bug, and includes some cosmetic changes for the backend.

Version 1.6.1 is a small update that includes the following bug fixes...

• Prayer Engine should now play nice with .church email addresses.
• Check box labels on the Prayer Engine form will now correctly inherit the style of the other form labels.

Version 1.6 is a sizable update that makes the following adjustments...

• A brand new, more modern look, that's fully responsive and fully optimized for retina displays!
• Stylesheets are no longer dynamically generated, helping the plugin (and your site) load a LOT faster.
• The "Check for Updates" page has been tweaked, ensuring plugin updates delivered to you more promptly.
• A toggle has been added to Prayer Wall settings allowing you to disable the "I Prayed for This" button.
• Multisite support enhanced.
• New logo and brand added throughout the plugin.
• The Prayer Engine menu in the WordPress admin portal is now fully optimized for the recent redesign.
• Full compatibility with WordPress 4.0.

Version 1.5 is a feature release, adding the ability for users to mark their prayer requests as answered! We've also cleaned up a lot of code behind the scenes.

Version 1.4.1 is a compatibility release, adding stylesheet tweaks to fully support more responsive themes.

Version 1.4 is a feature release, including the ability for Prayer Engine admins to quickly approve a request for sharing without logging in! Admin emails now include an "Instant Post" link to help make moderation less of a chore. Hope it makes your day a little easier!

Version 1.3.6 is a bug fix/feature release that makes it much easier to get the latest version of the plugin. Look for the new "Check for Updates" item in the Prayer Engine menu!

Version 1.3.5 reengineers the anti-spam captcha to more closely match your chosen color palette and play nicely with the new responsive theme!

Version 1.3 is a feature update that adds a responsive stylesheet to make Prayer Engine compatible with mobile devices... Woohoo!

Version 1.2.1 is a compatability release that adds full support for WordPress 3.5.

Version 1.2.0.3 is a bug fix release that addresses an issue where instructions were incorrectly displayed twice after a prayer request is submitted.

Version 1.2.0.2 is a bug fix release that addresses harmless error messages that sometimes appeared after a prayer request was deleted.

Version 1.2.0.1 is a minor bug fix release for those who experienced prayer wall errors after the 1.2 upgrade.

Version 1.2 is a major release, including several highly requested new features...

• Create and embed MULTIPLE Prayer Walls!
• Include private requests in prayer reports.
• Support for WordPress Multisite!
• ...and several other enhancements and bug fixes.

Version 1.1.1 is a bug fix release that compensates for other poorly coded plugins that could potentially break certain portions of Prayer Engine code.

Version 1.1 adds two highly requested features to the plugin: an optional CAPTCHA for spam protection (yay!), and the ability to limit how many requests are shown on your wall by a certain period of time. Visit "Settings > Prayer Engine" to configure. Be sure to back up any Prayer Engine stylesheet/code changes before installing this update; it will overwrite them!

Version 1.0.6 addresses issues for users with a Home URL that is different from the WordPress Site URL. Be sure to back up any Prayer Engine stylesheet/code changes before installing this update; it will overwrite them!

Version 1.0.5 adds compatibility with more themes. Be sure to back up any Prayer Engine stylesheet/code changes before installing this update; it will overwrite them!

Version 1.0.4 fixes the "file already declared (usually markdown)" PHP bug that pops up when The Prayer Engine is run alongside of conflicting plugins. Be sure to back up any Prayer Engine stylesheet/code changes before installing this update; it will overwrite them!

Version 1.0.3 removes the solid color bar behind the prayer wall title and submit button for better theme compatibility.

Version 1.0.2 is a bug fix release and recommended download. It includes several style tweaks for better theme compatibility, along with a feature to override overzealous theme formatting.