Whats New in BPS Pro 9.8

Significant Root and wp-admin htaccess File Changes:

Most significant changes/fixes/improvements to the BPS root and wp-admin htaccess files.
For additional information about these changes click this Forum link: Significant Root and wp-admin htaccess File Changes

• Root htaccess File/Code Fix: Removal of additional instances of “BEGIN WordPress” and “END WordPress” text from the root htaccess file which caused multiple instances of the default wp htaccess code to be created in the root htaccess file when the WP flush_rewrite_rules function was executed by other plugins and themes.

• htaccess Help Text Improvement Overall: The help text throughout both the root and wp-admin htaccess files was very dated and was in need of updating. Better/clearer examples have been created in the help text. Overall the htaccess files are more streamlined and less cluttered looking visually.

• Structure/Order Code Changes: Several blocks of htaccess code has been structured differently as far as the general order/sequence of code goes in the root htaccess file and more importantly what code will remain in the root htaccess file in the event that the WP flush_rewrite_rules function is executed by another plugin or theme. There are several technical reasons for making these structure/order changes, which I will not bore you with. Basically things are structured/ordered much better for any/every possible scenario that may occur.

Note: This is a one-time BPS Update that requires manual steps to be performed. All future versions of BPS will do the normal/typical automatic update of the BPS htaccess files. Overall we felt that creating a Notice about these significant changes vs just doing a normal automatic update was the best route to take for the primary reasons stated above and some additional reasons not stated here.

New Custom Code Text Boxes Added:

• CUSTOM CODE TURN OFF YOUR SERVER SIGNATURE
• CUSTOM CODE DENY ACCESS TO PROTECTED SERVER FILES AND FOLDERS

New Feature: Plugin Firewall AutoPilot Mode:

Plugin Firewall AutoPilot Mode is automatically turned On and set to a Cron Check frequency of 15 minutes when upgrading BPS Pro and when running the Setup Wizard.

Plugin Firewall AutoPilot Mode: 
The BPS Pro Dashboard Status Display will display: PFW: AutoPilot : 00 Min : 00:00 AM when AutoPilot Mode is turned On. The Cron check frequency is displayed and the next Cron check time is displayed. The Plugin Firewall AutoPilot Mode is designed to check your website in real-time for any additional or new whitelist rules that need to be created in your Plugin Firewall. If you install a new plugin and AutoPilot Mode detects that a new Plugin Firewall whitelist rule needs to be created for that plugin then a new whitelist rule will be automatically created in your Plugin Firewall htaccess file. When a new Plugin Firewall whitelist rule is detected and created in your Plugin Firewall htaccess file it is logged in your BPS Pro Security Log.

Example Plugin Firewall AutoPilot Mode Security Log entry:
[Plugin Firewall AutoPilot Mode New Whitelist Rule(s) Created: November 3, 2014 – 11:32 am]
Whitelist Rule: /nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/ajax/static/persist.js
Whitelist Rule: /nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/ajax/static/ajax.js
Whitelist Rule: /cforms/js/cforms.js
Whitelist Rule: /nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/lightbox/static/lightbox_context.js
Whitelist Rule: /nextgen-gallery/products/photocrati_nextgen/modules/ajax/static/ngg_store.js

AutoPilot Mode Cron Check Frequency:
Choose how often the AutoPilot Mode Cron Check should be performed. Every 1 minute, Every 5 Minutes, etc. The Default Cron Frequency Check is set to 15 minutes by the Setup Wizard. You can of course change this to any other Cron frequency checking time that you want to use. Running a Cron check every 15 minutes is probably the best setting to use.

AutoPilot Mode On or Off
Turn the Plugin Firewall AutoPilot Mode Cron Check On or Off. You can turn AutoPilot Mode On or Off as needed or just leave it turned On or Off.

EOL/Obsolete Feature Removal:

The new BPS Pro 9.8 Plugin Firewall AutoPilot Mode feature makes all of these older tools and checks unnecessary and obsolete.

• Plugin Firewall Test Mode tool has been removed from the Plugin Firewall tools.
• Plugin Firewall Notice: A plugin has been installed or deleted Dismiss Notice has been removed.
• Plugin Firewall Override tool has been removed from the Plugin Firewall tools.

BugFixes/Code Corrections/Misc/CSS/Visual/Other:

• P-Security File Manager additional custom php.ini file checks. Will display php.ini, php5.ini and .user.ini file paths above the File Manager if custom php.ini files are found.
• Custom Code accordion is now using tables vs CSS divs for cross Browser visual compatibility and obsolete CSS code has been removed for the CSS divs.
• Overall inpage Custom Code help text information/example improvements.
• Network/Multisite Net Correction code/check removed. No longer needed and is now obsolete.
• Remote Address IP check added in the 403.php Security logging template. Will display current IP address for troubleshooting purposes.