Previous versions of the plugin work only with Discord. It is planned to integrate with many platforms and communities in the future. Not all platforms are required by each user. If all these integrations run simultaneously, it will impact the performance of WordPress. Because of this, making the plugin modular is a necessary step, which requires extensive changes in the core architecture of the plugin. Also, many new technologies that can be applied have become available. I can use AI to automatically translate the plugin into many languages or build an admin panel UI with React, which is now part of WordPress.
Because of the general amount of fundamental changes that accumulated and limited resources (I am developing a plugin by myself in my free time after a full-time job), I decided to drop backward compatibility with the previous version. I apologize for the inconvenience, but you cannot transition to this version by simply uploading a zip archive in the Dashboard. But there is good news! This version also brings automatic updates, and in the future, you will no longer have to download a new version from Envato. You can update the plugin in one click from the WP admin panel.
In this guide, you will see a step-by-step transition manual. This manual is for people who want to do it by themselves. If you do not want to do it, write to me, and I will do this transition for you for free. Or you can stay on the version you have if you do not need new features.
Make a full website backup before beginning.
Go to the Installation Guide and follow all the steps.
The new plugin version will be identified as WordPress as the different plugin, and you will see both working alongside each other.
Next, continue with Plugin Activation.
To set up Discord like you had, activate a Discord Component by following this instruction.
There is no need to configure the Discord server again. Authorize a new version as you did before. After activating the component, you will see the Open Setting button. Click it and follow these instructions.
Now, we need to configure the new version in the same way. In the admin panel main menu, you can find that Settings --> Discord items are duplicated. One is from the previous version, and one is for the new. You can differentiate the settings page visually by layout. For example, the latest version displays the support date under the title.
Switch between the old and new settings pages and configure the new version like the old one.
If you use Elementor, go to the editor and replace old widgets with new ones. You will find them next to each other. Old will be colorful, and new will be styled in the UI colors.
If you use Gutenberg, go to the editor and replace old widgets with new ones. You will find them next to each other. Old will be colorful, and new will be styled in the UI colors.
If you use shortcodes, follow this manual to update them.
If you use default WordPress widgets, they get deprecated. Here, you can find a manual on how to replace them.
Now, you need to check if everything works properly. If something is not working, you can write to me, and I will debug it for you.
Information about the Discord profile of each WP user will be transferred automatically. No actions are required on your side.
Deactivate the old version of the plugin in the Plugins --> Installed Plugins admin panel page.
Test if everything works correctly.
Remove the old version in the Plugins --> Installed Plugins admin panel page.
