A few more bug / compatibility fixes, prompted by user reports, warrant another Role Scoper release.  The main problem was that, since WordPress 2.8, the settings cache for new users was stored without metagroup membership.  That means if you assign content-specific roles based on a user's WordPress role, newly created users would not be credited with those content-specific roles until their profile was modified or the Role Scoper cache was flushed or deactivated.

Other changes pertain to compatibility with the QTranslate plugin, and visiblity of other users' unattached file uploads in the Media Library.

The full change log:

• BugFix : With WP 2.8, new users were not credited for membership in WP Role metagroup until profile edit / cache flush
• Change : Exclude role metagroups from groups column in users list (to reduce clutter)
• Feature : Option for whether non-administrators can see unattached uploads from other users
• Change : By default, non-administrators see only their own unattached uploads in Media Library
• Compat : Disable caching of pages, categories listing if QTranslate plugin is active
• Change : remap get_pages exclude argument to exclude_tree if called with depth=1
• Change : remap get_terms exclude argument to exclude_tree if called with depth=1
• Change : more descriptive error message when another plugin prevents RS initialization

Due to a misplaced source file, Role Scoper did not automatically re-activate following an auto-update to version 1.0.5 / 1.0.5.1.  This is now corrected.

Several bugs pertaining to categories are also fixed.  This update is strongly recommended for WP-mu installations and configurations with limited Category Managers (non-Editors who are assigned the Category Manager role for one or more categories).  Other sites are fine with 1.0.5.x - just make sure it's activated!

• BugFix : Failed to re-activate after WordPress auto-update
• BugFix : In WP-mu, Category Roles not inherited from parent on new category creation
• BugFix : Limited Category Managers could change Cat Parent to None
• BugFix : Limited Category Managers could create new top-level cats
• BugFix : Category Edit Form offered selection of a category as its own parent (though not stored)
• BugFix : In Bulk Roles / Restrictions form, "Collapse All" script hid some Categories / Pages inappropriately

Role Scoper 1.0.5.1 is a minor bug fix release.  Most of the fixes pertain to Group Roles; in some cases Group Category Roles were dropped when a new user was created or added to a group.

The bigger news today occurred when my struggles with Tortoise SVN (a source code uploading tool) led to corruption of the wordpress.org plugin repository.  The result, for about 15 minutes late morning EST, was the publication of a Role Scoper 1.0.5 update which was missing half of its files.  After getting these files back into the zip, I bumped the version number up to 1.0.5.1.  My apologies to anyone who landed this rare glitch!

The full change log:

• Change : Hidden Editing Elements now hidden securely on server side, not via CSS
• Change : In RS Options, recaption "Hidden Editing Elements" as "Limited Editing Elements"
• Change : Updated sample IDs displayed on Role Scoper Options form for Hidden Editing Elements
• Change : Updated default IDs for Hidden Editing Elements
• Compat : Conflict with QTranslation plugin - translation of page titles, term names, bulk admin post titles
• Compat : Support SCOPER_DISABLE_MENU_TWEAK definition for compat with Flutter plugin
• BugFix : New pages by non-Editors initially saved as Pending even if Publish was clicked
• BugFix : Administrator could not modify default category with WP 2.8
• BugFix : Default Groups could not be edited with WP 2.8
• BugFix : Attachments Utility (in RS Options) was not accessible under WP 2.8
• BugFix : In some configurations, fatal error when unavailable user_can_for_any_object() function called with administrator logged in
• BugFix : When editing group, could not remove last group administrator
• BugFix : Group roles were not displayed in group edit form if no members in group
• Change : eliminated orphaned role deletion (no longer needed and deleted non-orphan group roles in some situations)
• BugFix : Object Roles, Blog Roles cache was not flushed following group membership change
• BugFix : On some server, the internal cache did not update following user profile edit
• BugFix : RS menu links were broken if role scoper activated within custom-named directory

Friday afternoon, I released Role Scoper 1.0.4 to address the following issues:

• BugFix : XML-RPC support (ScribeFire, WLW) was broken for non-administrators
• BugFix : exclude_tree argument was ineffective in get_terms / wp_list_categories call
• BugFix : Category Restrictions were not inherited upon new category creation
• BugFix : User groups were unusable on DB servers that do not support default value on text columns
• BugFix : Page Parent filtering was broken for Quick Edit
• BugFix : Option "role assignment requires blog-wide editor role" was only requiring blog-wide contributor role
• BugFix : Option "role assignment requires blog-wide editor role" did not suppress Roles, Restrictions sidebar menu
• BugFix : In Edit Post form, non-editors could see / select other users as "author"
• BugFix : invalid Category / Object role edit links displayed in user profile for non-editors in some configurations
• BugFix : Role Scoper Options inaccessable to administrator with WP 2.8.1
• Change : Deny implicit comment moderation rights to Authors if they lack moderate_comments cap
• Change : Moved option "Role administration requires a blog-wide Editor role" to main Options tab

Sadly, in addressing the WP 2.8.1 "explicit permissions" issue for RS Options, I broke all the other Roles and Restrictions menu links for administrators.  This is fixed in Role Scoper 1.0.4.1 My apologies for the inconvenience to those who downloaded 1.0.4.

Role Scoper 1.0.3.4 solves the mystery of plugin deactivation following use of the WordPress "update automatically" feature.  More precisely, it causes Role Scoper to be successfully reactivated following that update.

For the technically curious… the failure was due to WordPress' detection of a supplemental Role Scoper file (version_notice_rs.php) as a main plugin file.  This was due to the presence of '|Plugin Name:' in version_notice_rs.php, where it is used in a regular expression match to extract the plugin name for other plugins which may have Role Scoper extensions available.  The WordPress function get_plugins()  took that as proof of a "plugin file", and logged it ahead of role-scoper.php alphabetically.  The WordPress function wp_update_plugin() assumes that the first logged "plugin file" is the one to re-activate.  I solved this by moving version_notice_rs.php into a deeper subdirectory, as function get_plugins() only looks one level deep.

Note, the first time an auto-update is run, you may see the following nuisance error message:

The plugin role-scoper/admin/version_notice_rs.php has been deactivated due to an error: Plugin file does not exist.

Please ignore that message, which is simply a purging of the imaginary plugin out of WordPress' memory.

Those who have already activated Role Scoper 1.0.2 or higher do not need to run this update.  The only other change is a correction to the Roles and Restrictions menu locations with WordPress 2.8.

It appears that the built-in WordPress plugin updater does not re-activate Role Scoper after an update, nor has it ever - even though the message says "plugin reactivated successfully".  Please manually re-activate Role Scoper as needed after such an update.

I'm currently trying to track down the cause of this failure.  Versions 1.0.2.1 through 1.0.3.2 are simply an effort to appease the auto-updater; sorry for any confusion.

I'm surprised that this has only now been reported.  Have others run the auto-updater with successful  auto-reactivation?

Role Scoper 1.0.2 addresses the various bug reports which have trickled in over the last 6 weeks.  These bugs are all minor in severity and/or affect only a minority of installations.  For details see the change log below.

The only significant new feature is an option to enter usernames or ids (for role assignment) via comma-separated text entry instead of by checkbox selection. This will be a performance and convenience enhancement for installations with over 100 users.

The full change log:

• BugFix : Template function is_restricted_rs / is_exclusive_rs was non-functional on home page (since rc9.9311)
• BugFix : With Attachments Filter enabled, attachments larger than 10MB fail to download on some installations
• BugFix : Fatal Error when viewing a single post entry after RS Options modified to disable front-end filtering
• BugFix : Auto-delete orphaned role assignments left in DB by previous versions following category / group deletion
• BugFix : After an empty group was deleted, its role assignments were left in the database
• BugFix : Event Calendar events without an associated post were not displayed without calendar refresh
• BugFix : Post Restrictions and Post Roles did not display on PHP 4 servers
• BugFix : In Post/Page Edit Form, Author selection was inappropriately available to non-editors
• BugFix : Orphaned role assignments already stored to database will be autodeleted on RS version update
• BugFix : If the object type of a requested attachment parent cannot be determined, assume post
• BugFix : Teaser message displayed in header with some themes
• BugFix : http authentication prompt for RSS feeds with logged administrators on some installations
• BugFix : Hidden Editing Elements settings were not effective for unpublished posts/pages
• BugFix : If a memberless group was deleted, any assigned roles were left (orphaned) in the database
• Plugin : Conflict with WP-Wall plugin caused non-listing or double-listing of wall comments
• Feature : Option to accept CSV entry for user role assignment
• Feature : Bottom-right submit button on bulk admin forms if SCOPER_EXTRA_SUBMIT_BUTTON is defined

It's about time for me to decide whether to continue the career re-invention in web development or back-burner it and refocus instead on growing and selling food in healthy ways.  Since I'm not in a position to pour a lot more time into credentialing or proving myself, this is a request for those familiar with Role Scoper to give me some advice on how the skills I demonstrate here might (or might not) help someone earn an honest living.  I'm looking for 15-40 hours per week, with a duration of 1 month to permanent.

At this point I'm not publicly linking my resume, but will gladly provide it on request. Here's the overview:

Rehabilitated engineering burnout seeks to re-establish a livable career by unleashing newfound WordPress mastery on projects of your choice. Although soft-spoken and courteous, I’m strongly self-motivated and insist on doing quality work I and my employer are pleased to answer for. A deep belief in freedom with responsibility is a defining motivation and influence on all my work.

…and the short but dense portfolio:

Role Scoper - WordPress plugin provides CMS-like control of reading and editing permissions. Content-specific restrictions and roles. User Groups, Attachment Filtering, plugin API. Required extensive relational DB design and query building.

Plow Creek Farm website - a heavily hacked customization of WordPress 1.5 and the Almost Spring theme. This site, ported from static html, demonstrates my sense of graphic layout, functionality, writing and editing.

Tiskilwa Library website - a simple custom site for a small public library. FTP upload scripts and for inclusion of FrontPage-edited content by non-technical administrator.

Role Scoper 1.0.1 is now available to address the following issues:

• BugFix : In some situations, non-attachments were included in Media Library listing
• BugFix : Low level users could not edit uploads from Media Library based on a Post/Page/Category role assignment
• BugFix : Cannot set static front page with Role Scoper activated
• BugFix : Users with editing role via Page / Category assignment could not bulk-delete posts/pages
• BugFix : Post/Page Edit divs configured as Hidden Editing Elements were not hidden for draft posts/pages
• BugFix : After a group was deleted, its role assignments were left in the database
• BugFix : PHP warnings viewing users list with WP < 2.8
• Change : WP 2.7 users with hacked WP template.php user_row code must define("scoper_users_custom_column", "true");
• BugFix : Failed to return results for manual WP_Query calls which include category exclusion argument
• BugFix : Role Scoper error messages were formatted with unreadable colors with WP 2.7
• BugFix : Conflict with ozhAdminMenus plugin, Page menus missing in some configurations
• BugFix : Conflict with WP-Wall plugin caused fatal error
• Feature : Options to hide User Groups, Scoped Roles from user profile

After 10 months of beta development and debugging, Role Scoper 1.0.0 is now a stable release in the WordPress Plugins Directory.  Many thanks to the hundreds of current users, especially the dozens of you who have contributed to this project with informative bug reports, thoughtful feature requests and pertinent usage questions in the support forum.

The last round of development versions (culminating in this release) included dozens of bug fixes and extensive performance enhacements to reduce memory usage.  To identify changes and fixes since your current version, see the change log in the role-scoper plugin directory, or here.