Jetpack 10.3 has been deployed to all VIP sites.

What is being added or changed?

Enhancements

• Dashboard: add a new screen to provide more information about the VideoPress feature.
• Dashboard: add a new view that shortly summarizes available Jetpack products and facilitates the purchase process.
• Dashboard: optimize the size of all product images displayed in the dashboard, to improve overall performance.
• Instagram Widget: improve the connection flow when the widget has not been connected to WordPress.com yet.
• Instant Search: always show the save button on the mobile view of the Search Settings dashboard.
• Map Block: Add address attribute to the block.
• Publicize editor settings: refactor, improve layout and wording in preparation for the addition of RePublicize.
• Secure Sign On: add new filter allowing one to customize the explanation displayed next to the SSO button.
• Social Icons Widget: Added Strava icon to Social Icons Widget.
• Stats: add information about the VideoPress feature at the bottom of the page.
• Stats: remove some upgrade notifications.
• VideoPress: add tooltips to video block settings in the block editor.
• VideoPress: improve the display of upload errors in the Media Library and the block editor.
• VideoPress: remove X-18 rating from the block settings.
• WordAds: update handling and setting CCPA related cookies.

Improved compatibility

• Contact Info & Map widget: allow transforming this widget into a block in Block-based widget editor.
• General: ensure that no notices are output when Jetpack is used alongside plugins that modify the output of core comments.
• Jetpack Backup: improve the display of the different plugin menus when using both Jetpack and Jetpack Backup.
• Subscriptions: add an option to transform the Legacy Subscription Widget into a Subscription Block in the new block-based Widget editor.
• Social Icons Widget: deprecate widget and offer the option to transform into a Social Links block.
• VideoPress: improve handling of Video files when using a third-party video player.

Bug fixes

• Calendly block: fix the preview in the block inserter.
• Dashboard: ensure feature cards display the right information when the site uses Jetpack’s Offline mode.
• Dashboard: fix the display of currencies to be based on user WordPress.com preferences.
• Eventbrite Block: improve the event URL detection and avoid errors when using links without an event ID.
• External Media block options: fix a bug where the external media modal collapsed on larger screens and did not leave enough whitespace.
• General: avoid PHP notices that may happen when installing the plugin.
• Instant Search: fix the display of filters when there are no results to display for a query.
• Instant Search: fix the preview of the infinite scroll option in the Search Settings dashboard.
• Instant Search: reduce browser history noise as search is being typed in the form.
• Markdown: add title attributes to footnotes to improve accessibility.
• Publicize: fix visual issue when the panel shows in the pre publish step of the post.
• Publicize: refresh connections only when the post publishes.
• Stats: remove extra request to WordPress.com that occurs when the stats feature is first activated.
• VideoPress: add a “cover” option to the VideoPress iframe and shortcode to handle video resizing to its container.
• Widgets: fix styles of the Milestone widget fields.

For more details about this release (including specific changes), please see the release notes.

Questions?

If you have any questions, related to this release, please open a support ticket and we will be happy to assist.

The beta for Jetpack 10.3 is available now, and the download link is available here.

Jetpack 10.3 will be deployed to VIP Go on Thursday, November 4, 2021. The upgrade is expected to be performed at 16:00 UTC (12:00am EDT). This deployment date and time is subject to change if issues are discovered during testing of the Jetpack release.

What is being added or changed?

Likes

Some changes have been made to the Likes’ settings. To test this out, try the following:

• Test different setups (Likes & Sharing enabled, only Likes enabled, etc.) in Jetpack > Settings > Sharing.
• For each setup, test different settings for the Likes under Settings > Sharing: enabled for all posts, enabled per post.
• For each setup, publish some posts and change the different toggles in the Jetpack plugin sidebar in the block editor.
• Make sure the Likes and sharing buttons are appropriately displayed on the front end.

Publicize

There have been a lot of changes to the Publicize interface in this release to prepare for the addition of the RePublicize feature in the block editor.

Try activating the Publicize feature under Jetpack > Settings > Sharing, then go to Posts > Add New. You should be able to connect new social networks to your site from there, and Publicize should be triggered when you publish new posts. The interface should remain as you know it.

VideoPress

We’re continuously improving the experience with VideoPress. In this Beta release, you can try the following:

1. On your site, go to Jetpack > Dashboard or Jetpack > Site Stats, and search for the “VideoPress” card. Follow the steps from there, and take note of anything in the flow that seems out of place or not working.
2. One on an active Jetpack Connection with a plan that includes VideoPress, go back to Jetpack > Settings > Performance in wp-admin, and ensure that the VideoPress card is nicely displayed, with no more prompts to upgrade.
3. Go to Posts > Add New and try to upload a video.
4. Play with the different block settings.

Widget Deprecations

There have been changes to multiple widgets in this release, to allow folks using those widgets to switch to using blocks instead.

To test this, try the following:

1. Go to Jetpack > Settings, and enable the Extra widgets as well as the subscriptions feature.
2. Install the Classic Widgets plugin.
3. Go to Appearance > Widgets.
4. Set up the following widgets: Contact Info & Map widget, Subscriptions, Social Icons.
5. Deactivate the Classic Widgets plugin.
6. Go back to Appearance > Widgets and attempt to transform the legacy widgets you set up earlier. You should be offered the option to transform them into blocks.

A full list of changes is available in the release notes and the commit log.

What do I need to do?

We recommend:

1. Installing the beta release on your non-production sites using these instructions.
2. Running through the testing flows outlined in the Jetpack Testing Guide.

As you’re testing a few things to keep in mind:

• Check your browser’s JavaScript console and see if there are any errors reported by Jetpack there.
• Use “Debug Bar” or “Query Monitor” to help make PHP notices and warnings more noticeable and report anything you see.

Questions?

If you have testing feedback or questions related to this release (or Jetpack in general), please open a support ticket and we will be happy to assist.

Jetpack 10.2 has been deployed to all VIP sites.

What is being added or changed?

ENHANCEMENTS

• Contact Form: add filter to allow customizing email headers.
• Contact Form: add two filters to improve anti-spam functionality.
• Related Posts: enable lazy loading for images.
• Search: improve filter label formatting for longer text entries.
• Search: title customization improvements.
• SEO Tools: add “Archive Title” option for custom archive page titles.
• SmartFrame Embeds: add support for SmartFrame embed using URLs, embed code, and shortcodes.
• VideoPress: add new VideoPress product and enables VideoPress to be used for free for 1 video upload.
• Widgets: add visibility settings to widgets using the block editor, under the advanced section of the sidebar.

IMPROVED COMPATIBILITY

• External Media: update verbiage around Google Photos to improve compatibility with their UX guidelines.
• Instagram Widget: remove from Legacy Widget block.
• Publicize: replace native text-area with custom/core-based component.
• Search: as IE11 support was removed in Jetpack 10.1, remove an IE11 polyfill.
• VideoPress: file url field now displays the HLS playlist if one was generated. The fragmented mp4 file is not meant to be played on its own. MP4 file will only be displayed as the video url if it was created prior to the HLS update.

BUG FIXES

• Contact Form: make sure the set height of the Spacer block nested inside a Contact Form block is respected.
• Custom Content Type: improve the performance of the Testimonial CPT.
• Dashboard: improve the performance of the query used to display Anti-spam stats.
• Embeds: add allow-popups permission to Google Calendar embed so that links internal to the iFrame will open.
• Publicize: ensure the custom excerpt is used when sharing to Facebook.
• Publicize: improve refreshing connections list.
• Related Posts: avoid errors if main div is not in the DOM.
• Search: ensure Safari input clear button is hidden.
• Search: ensure translations are available for lazy-loaded payloads.
• Search: fix dashboard buttons too big on Safari.
• Sharing: fix the icon position in icon-only button style.
• Shortcodes: remove Hulu from available embeds.
• Slideshow: fix fade transition background.
• Theme Tools: remove unnecessary extra Social Menu added in the Twenty Twenty theme.
• VideoPress: fix a bug related to deleting VideoPress videos.
• Widgets: fix a conflict between various Jetpack blocks and some WordPress core legacy widgets.

For more details about this release (including specific changes), please see the release notes.

Questions?

If you have any questions, related to this release, please open a support ticket and we will be happy to assist.

The beta for Jetpack 10.2 is available now, and the download link is at the top of the beta release notice.

Jetpack 10.2 will be deployed to VIP Go on Thursday, October 7, 2021. The upgrade is expected to be performed at 15:00 UTC (11:00am EDT). This deployment date and time is subject to change if issues are discovered during testing of the Jetpack release.

What is being added or changed?

Widget Visibility

Widget visibility controls have been added for blocks when using the block-based widget editor. To test:

• In Jetpack writing settings /wp-admin/admin.php?page=jetpack#/writing, make sure the Enable widget visibility controls to display widgets only on particular posts or pages setting under “Widgets” is enabled.
• Then access the block-based widget editor, /wp-admin/widgets.php.
• Add any block widget, a Paragraph block will work for example.
• With that block selected, navigate to the block settings panel and open the Advanced options.
• Under Visibility, try adding new visibility rules.
• Visit the frontend of the site to verify your rules are working.

VideoPress

VideoPress is being added as a standalone Jetpack product. This is best tested on a Jetpack connected site without a paid Jetpack plan:

• The VideoPress module can now be activated from the Modules page (even for sites without a paid plan): /wp-admin/admin.php?page=jetpack_modules
• Once VideoPress is activated, on the Jetpack dashboard /wp-admin/admin.php?page=jetpack#/dashboard you will see a VideoPress card that will mention the status such as 1 free video available. Upgrade now to unlock more videos and 1TB of storage. You can toggle the VideoPress module on/off from this card.
• If VideoPress is enabled on a site without a paid Jetpack plan, you are able to upload one free video to VideoPress.
• For uploading videos to VideoPress there are two methods:
  1. From WordPress.com, go to My Site(s) → Media. Drag the video file from your computer into the media library, or click Add New and select the video file from your computer.
  2. From the WP Admin dashboard, go to Media → Library and drag the video file from your computer into the media library. Note: Clicking Media → Add New and selecting the video file in WP Admin will not upload the video to Jetpack. In order to upload video, make sure the grid view (Grid View) in media library is selected, and then you can drag the file into the WP Admin media library, or you can click Add New. Clicking Add New in the list view (List View) in media library will not upload the video to Jetpack.

Contact Form Custom Email Headers

There is a new filter available for customizing the email headers for Jetpack contact forms. For testing, try:

• Add a new Jetpack contact form to a test page.
• Add the following snippet to your site using a functionality plugin:

add_filter(
	'jetpack_contact_form_email_headers',
	function ( $headers, $comment_author, $reply_to_addr, $to ) {
		$headers .= 'Bcc: ' . $reply_to_addr . "\r\n";
		return $headers;
	},
	10,
	4
);

• Make a test submission to the form you created.
• An email should be sent to the email address specified in the added snippet.
• Warning: DO NOT add headers or header data from the form submission without proper escaping and validation, or you’re liable to allow abusers to use your site to send spam. Especially DO NOT take email addresses from the form data to add as CC or BCC headers without strictly validating each address against a list of allowed addresses.

SEO Tools Archive Title

For custom Archive page titles a new Archive Title option replaces the Date option. To test:

• At /wp-admin/admin.php?page=jetpack#/traffic make sure Customize your SEO settings is enabled.
• Click on Expand to customize the page title structures of your site.
• For Archives use the buttons to insert each token presented (Site Title, Tagline, and Archive Title).
• The live preview should show “Example Archive Title/Date” for the inserted Archive Title
• Save the SEO settings.
• Check a custom post type archive page. For example you can enable Jetpack’s custom Portfolio type, then view that archive at example.com/portfolio/. In the <title> you should see “Projects” replacing the Archive Title" inserted via button.
• Check a date archive (e.g. example.com/2019/09). You should see the appropriate date replacing the Archive Title inserted via button.

A full list of changes is available in the release notes and the commit log.

What do I need to do?

We recommend:

1. Installing the beta release on your non-production sites using these instructions.
2. Running through the testing flows outlined in the Jetpack Testing Guide.

As you’re testing a few things to keep in mind:

• Check your browser’s JavaScript console and see if there are any errors reported by Jetpack there.
• Use “Debug Bar” or “Query Monitor” to help make PHP notices and warnings more noticeable and report anything you see.

Questions?

If you have testing feedback or questions related to this release (or Jetpack in general), please open a support ticket and we will be happy to assist.