Enhanced Media Library 3.0 is comingJuly 11, 2024 // What changes to expect?

Officially! EML 3.0 Early Beta is available for testing

Hi! I am Nadia, an author of the Enhanced Media Library plugin and I am excited to announce that a major upgrade to the Enhanced Media Library is coming and an early beta is now available for testing.

Please note, this is an initial early beta release with limited functionality. The reason behind this is that I share with you a part that is complete, working, and tested as early as possible to get feedback, fix bugs, and speed up the development process. I am going to release an update every 10-14 days, adding modules and features a bit at a time until there is a stable 3.0 release candidate, in the hope that you guys help me find issues early, so that possible bugs won’t affect production and client websites on v3.0’s release.

Try 3.0 Beta!

What’s new?

Basically, everything.

Completely refactored code

Not a single line from the older versions. A more professional, performant, flexible, adjustable, easily extensible, less buggy, and more fixable Enhanced Media Library. The new codebase will help develop the plugin faster, add exciting new features, and implement some long-requested functionality.

New user friendly admin with modular structure

Easy to use, convenient, and non-confusing admin pages. Every option is within reach when needed. Activate plugin modules you actually need.
How are EML 3.0 settings pages better?

User experience reconsidered for every single feature of the plugin

As for the early beta, you can see an example of such improvement in the admin’s UI and the File Types module.
What’s new in EML 3.0 File Types module?

Shared network options

Since EML 3.0, you can share EML options between all network websites and manage them in the Network Admin. Advanced shared media library for multisite is also under development.
How do network-shared options work?

More modules and features are coming

The early Beta includes a File Types module that allows managing extensions, MIME types, uploading and filtering by file types. Other modules are not available for testing yet. The functionality will be added gradually along with fixing bugs of the Beta.
How to help with EML’s development?

Enhanced Media Library 3.0 PRO is switching to the subscription model

The change will take place after v3.0 official release. ALL lifetime licenses bought before this move will continue indefinitely as promised. Take the chance to purchase your lifetime license until it’s too late ;-)
Learn more about licensing & pricing changes

What’s the ETA?

No idea! First, fixing new bugs could be unpredictable in time. Second, I am from Ukraine, and in the past 2 weeks, I had more hours of blackout than I had electricity. The situation changes constantly. That said, since EML Beta is going to evolve gradually, you will have access to numerous improvements and features very soon and way before the official release.

Addressing concerns

  • Why update File Types exactly? Is it going to be too long to get new Categories and Media Library?

    The reasons are simple: the File Types module is relatively small, I need to test the new admin based on something, File Types weren’t updated for many years and many people asked for extensions grouped by types, user experience for the File Types was utterly bad. So here we are. No, getting an update for the main Media Library features will not take too long. Other modules were refactored some time ago, so after some inspection, you’ll meet the new Categories, Tags, and Media Library as a whole.

  • Will 3.0 Beta break down your website? Is it safe to use 3.0 Beta on a production website if you like it?

    Yes to both parts. 3.0 Beta potentially can break down the WP installation, this is why it is Beta and not issued as a normal release. That said, my development process for the beta is the same as usual. I test it carefully and do my best to make sure it works properly and isn’t causing errors. So, if you tested it and it worked well for you, its features were enough for your website, then you can install it on production.

  • Am I going to die in Ukraine? Should you use a plugin whose author lives in danger?

    No. I am not going to die. I am going to fight for my country and prevail. Although I, indeed, live in danger as well as any Ukrainian in Ukraine, statistically the degree of this danger is no higher than the one for an average American whose direct neighbor could easily open fire at a grocery store every minute. Also, If you have doubts if EML could survive as a product written by a Ukrainian, think of those products you lost over the past 10 years because giant corporations behind them simply decided to kill them. Let’s hope for the better! To finally reassure you, I have to say that I left a will to transfer the plugin to other developers in the event of my death.

Warnings!

Testing or using EML3.0 early beta, please, be aware of the following:

  • No upgrade mechanism so far

    3.0 Beta knows nothing about the old version yet and can’t transfer your data from the old admin to the new one. v3.0 stores all options as a single database record with another prefix than in the previous versions. Of course, the final 3.0 release will move all old options to the new version smoothly. Just be aware: at the moment, this functionality hasn’t been implemented yet because the unified database record is under active development.

  • Beta will not work simultaneously with the previous versions

    Don’t activate 3.0 Beta simultaneously with your current verison. If you accidentally activated Beta along with the current version of EML and see admin menu broken, just deactivate the Beta.

  • Bugs and fatal errors are possible. It’s B E T A
  • There is a high probability of various incompatibilities with other plugins and themes.

    Please report incompatibilities. I’ll fix them if possible.

I am looking forward to your feedback and bug reports!

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