• Commenting
• Gravity Forms Integration for wpDataTables plugin
• Reusable Content plugin
• Enable Media Replace plugin
• Airtable embed
• non-wisc.edu domains
• Fuzzy URL matching
• Caching
• WiscWeb custom plugins
• Media Library file types
• Gravity Forms entries
• See Also

Commenting

Will be removed

WiscWeb will no longer allow comments to be enabled on posts. WordPress comments are regularly targeted by nefarious actors/bots and therefore, introduce certain security risks. Usage of this feature is low and therefore the need for this does not outweigh the risks presented.

Gravity Forms Integration for wpDataTables plugin

Will be removed

The Gravity Forms Integration plugin allows users to submit content via a public web form and then display that same content on a live webpage. We’ve determined that this option can introduce some risks for our sites and will be removed from our offering in the future for these reasons:

• If the form is public, it could get spammed.

• Spam could include ad content that links to explicit websites.

• Spam links can also be nefarious phishing attempts.

• The current option allows for publishing a post automatically.

• Spam content could get published, which could make it look like official UW content.

Note: We will continue to support the Gravity Forms and wpDataTables plugins independently.

Reusable Content plugin

Will be removed

The Reusable Content plugin allows users to create content in one place and share it on multiple other pages. Synced patterns in Gutenberg will allow for the same capability. Therefore, we will not be rebuilding this in Gutenberg or offering a migration path for this content. If you have reusable content, it will need to be manually rebuilt as synced patterns. Or, consider moving this content to a regular page element now so that it will migrate over in the transition.

Enable Media Replace plugin

Will be removed

The Enable Media Replace plugin allows users to replace media files that were uploaded to the Media Library and update the links on webpages that show them. Our new infrastructure, with the release of UW Theme 2.0, will back up and serve media files from various distributed servers in order to increase performance. The Media Replace plugin is not compatible with this new setup. Instead, we recommend uploading documents that need to be updated/replaced to UW Box and linking directly to them from your WiscWeb site.

Airtable embed

Will be removed

Airtable was reviewed for accessibility and it was determined that the tooling had too many high-level barriers. Therefore, WiscWeb and the UW Theme 2.0 will not accommodate Airtable embeds. If groups wish to continue using the tool, they will need to link out to their Airtable content rather than embed it in their WiscWeb sites.

non-wisc.edu domains

No longer supported

When you migrate a non-wisc.edu domain to UW Theme 2.0, you must choose a new wisc.edu domain for housing this content. If you’d like, you can still use the other domain for advertising your site in marketing materials, etc. However, you’ll have to redirect/forward it to a wisc.edu address in your domain registrar account. 

Rationale: WiscWeb is a UW branded service. As such, our sites will all publish to wisc.edu domains.

Fuzzy URL matching

No longer supported

WordPress will natively attempts to guess the URL you are trying to access if the one you type is not accurate. We've opted to discontinue this behavior in the future state as it can have certain performance impacts. Users may notice that pages they used to be able to get to from one URL are no longer redirected as expected. Workarounds are documented in our Fuzzy URL matching article.

Caching

Will be changing

We will be implementing more content caching in the new infrastructure to improve service performance. This will change how you preview content after publishing. If you are authenticated and previewing website edits, you’ll see those edits right away. However, if you try to preview your edits in an incognito window, a mobile device, or a separate browser, your edits may not show up automatically. You will have to wait up to 5 minutes for those edits to appear.

WiscWeb custom plugins

Will be changing

WiscWeb has built a number of custom plugins based on the needs of the university. Refer to the "UW Custom plugins" section of our plugins document to view the full list. These custom plugins will need to be rebuilt/re-configured for use in Gutenberg, and it's unlikely that most of them will be ready in time for the release of UW Theme 2.0. With the rebuilds, please expect that use of these plugins will change slightly. UW Publications and UW Events are included in the list of custom plugins.

Media Library file types

Will be changing

The following file types will not be available for upload in the future environment: 

• dxf
• stl
• vsd
• dotx
• midi
• mid
• flac
• wma
• wav
• webm

Supported file types include: jpg jpeg png gif tif webp csv pdf doc ppt odt pptx docx rtf pps ppsx xls xlsx key mp3 m4a ics

Gravity Forms entries

Will be changing

In the future infrastructure, Gravity Forms entries will only be saved for 1.5 years from when they are received. After that point, they will be deleted. This change has been made to help improve the security of the content. More information about this change is located in the Gravity Forms entries news article.