WAGroups 2.2 is out. It moves the directory to BaseKit 1.5, the foundation all Pepplo Web Technologies products are built on, and brings a set of security and quality-of-life improvements that every directory owner benefits from. Updating is the usual upload-and-open: your links, members and settings are kept.
Encrypted sign-in
When someone signs in, the browser now asks the server for a fresh one-time key and encrypts the password with it before the form is sent. The plain password never travels in the request, even inside your HTTPS connection. Very old browsers fall back to the normal sign-in automatically, so nobody is locked out. The option is on by default and lives under Security and access › Hardening.
Password rules
Next to the minimum length you can now require upper and lower case letters, a number and a symbol. The rules apply everywhere a password is chosen: registration, password reset, the member's own password page and accounts created by an admin.
Force HTTPS and one canonical address
Two new hardening settings send every visitor to the same secure address: Force HTTPS and Canonical domain (always add or always remove www.). Redirects are permanent, which is what search engines want to see, and they never apply to localhost or IP addresses, so testing stays easy.
A firewall that also reads forms
The request firewall already blocked attack patterns in addresses. It now also checks submitted forms for code such as <script> or PHP tags, while leaving rich-text fields, ad codes and your custom analytics scripts alone. For a directory that accepts submissions from the public, this is a welcome extra layer.
Announcements on the homepage
Announcements could already be shown in the member panel. Now each one can also appear on the public homepage, either as a slim banner at the top or as a popup. Use it for maintenance windows, a new category, or a festival offer on featured listings.
AI Assistant extension
The new AI Assistant extension gives members an AI chat inside their account. You choose the provider and models, set prices per token, create credit packages and top up members by hand. It is optional, like every extension, and the bundle now counts 21 of them.
Smaller things
- Long drop-down lists, such as countries and categories, now have a search box.
- Ad codes and custom head scripts are explicitly allowed through the new firewall check.
- Demo data and documentation now use our own demo address,
wagroups.demo.pepploweb.com.
How to update
Take a backup under Admin › Database backups, download 2.2 from your client area, upload it over your installation and open the admin panel. The release notes in Downloads list everything in detail. If you would rather have us do it, open a ticket — the team at Pepplo Web Technologies is happy to help.
0 comments