BNS Support

Displays useful technical support information in a widget area (sidebar); or, via a shortcode on a post or page. The displayed details are easy to share by copying and pasting. Information available includes such things as the web site URL; the WordPress version; the current theme; a list of active plugins ... and much more. This is help for those that help. NB: The information is only viewable by logged-in users, and by default, only the site administrator(s).

This section describes how to install the plugin and get it working.

1. Upload bns-support.php to the ../wp-content/plugins/ directory.
2. Activate through the 'Plugins' menu.
3. Place the BNS Support widget appropriately in the Appearance | Widgets section of the dashboard.

-- or -

1. Go to 'Plugins' menu under your Dashboard
2. Click on the 'Add New' link
3. Search for bns-support
4. Install.
5. Activate through the 'Plugins' menu.
6. Place the BNS Support widget appropriately in the Appearance | Widgets section of the dashboard.

Reading this article for further assistance: http://wpfirstaid.com/2009/12/plugin-installation/

• Copyright 2009-2019 Edward Caissie (email : edward.caissie@gmail.com)

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2, as published by the Free Software Foundation. You may NOT assume that you can use any other version of the GPL. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA The license for this software can also likely be found here: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

2.3

• Released May 2019
• Removed credits section
• Replaced strip_tags with wp_strip_all_tags
• MySQL Version Details method refactored to use a query on a copy of the $wpdb global
• Improved WordPress Coding Standards adherence
• Cleaned up some i18n strings
• Fixed error in update_message method
• Moved hook calls into BNS_Support_Widget::init
• Removed reference to custom stylesheets within plugin folders as not update safe
• Renamed BNS_Support_Widget::get_plugin_data method to BNS_Support::collect_plugin_data
• Updated copyright year in all files

2.2

• Released October 2015
• Added method is_there_email() to check for the PHP mail function

2.1

• Released August 2015
• Updated to use PHP5 constructor objects

2.0

• Released June 2015
• Cleaned up inline documentation and updated copyright years
• Change to "singleton" style class structure
• Added update_message method

1.9

• Released December 2014
• Added constant defining BNS_SUPPORT_HOME as BuyNowShop.com for use in reference URL paths
• Added bns_support_php_details filter hook to return statement in "PHP Details" method
• Added bns_support_gd_library_version in the return statement of "GD Library Version" method
• Left some wiggle room at the end of the output with the bns_support_extended filter hook
• Implemented the BNS_SUPPORT_HOME constant
• Renamed BNS_Support_extra_theme_headers to extra_theme_headers
• Updated inline documentation
• Use apply_filters on both return statements in "Mod Rewrite Check" method

1.8.1

• Released May 2014
• Added check for defined constants BNS_CUSTOM_PATH and BNS_CUSTOM_URL

1.8

• Released May 2014
• Added CSS class wrapper for shortcode output
• Added bns_support_exit_message filter
• Added Plugin Row Meta details
• Defined constants BNS_CUSTOM_PATH and BNS_CUSTOM_URL
• Modified "short" description for better aesthetics in Appearance > Widgets panel
• Modified "long" description to be more informative about the functionality
• Removed width array element from $control_ops as not necessary
• Updated required WordPress version to 3.6

1.7

• Released January 2014
• Renamed function WP List All Active Plugins to BNS List Active Plugins
• Added filter bns_support_plugin_list
• Added filter bns_support_plugin_data
• Added PHP Memory Limit value
• Added GD Library Support display
• Moved all of the Mod Rewrite code into its own method to better encapsulate
• Moved collect_plugin_data out of bns_list_active_plugins and call as method instead
• Cleaned up output and improved i18n implementation in active plugin list
• Fix unordered list of active plugins
• Updated inline documentation

1.6.3

• Released January 2014
• Extract PHP Details into its own method
• Added PHP Safe Mode status
• Added PHP Allow URL fopen status
• Updated readme.txt with tech_support shortcode reference

1.6.2

• Released December 2013
• Corrected database connection

1.6.1

• Released December 2013
• Added shortcode name parameter for core filter auto-creation
• Added the option to put custom stylesheet in /wp-content/ folder
• Added WP_DEBUG status display
• Added new method MySQL Version Details and corrected the reported data
• Minor rearrangement of layout for better readability

1.6

• Released September 2013
• Added shortcode functionality
• Changed show_plugins default to true (more common usage than false)

1.5.1

• Released May 2013
• Added conditional check for 'apache_get_modules'

1.5

• Released May 2013
• Added 'mod_rewrite' display check
• Change the widget output to a better grouping of details
• Refactored 'MultiSite Enabled', 'PHP Version', and 'MySQL Version' to be better filtered

1.4

• Release February 2013
• Added code block termination comments and other minor code formatting
• Added theme version checks against custom header data (see core trac ticket #16868)
• Moved all code into class structure
• Renamed some functions for more consistency
• Reorganized methods order in class
• Sorted out AuthorURI conditional test

1.3

• Release November 2012
• Add filter hooks and CSS classes to output strings
• Remove load_plugin_textdomain as redundant

1.2

• Required version set to 3.4
• Remove deprecated calls to get_theme_data
• Changed user role testing to capability testing
• Documentation and code format updates
• Programmatically add version number to enqueue calls

1.1.1

• Added conditional checks for WordPress 3.4 deprecation of get_theme_data
• confirmed compatible with WordPress 3.4

1.1

• released November 2011
• confirmed compatible with WordPress version 3.3
• added PHPDoc style documentation
• added BNS Support TextDomain i18n support
• added Enqueue Plugin Scripts and Styles
• added i18n support
• replaced Lester Chan's code with the (nearly identical) 'Plugin Lister' code by Paul G Getty
• added corrections to 'Plugin Lister' code
• removed 'Plugin Lister' options and excess/unneeded code
• removed 'Plugin Lister' description
• completely merged, stripped out excess, and re-wrote (as needed) 'Plugin Lister' code
• re-wrote Parent/Child-Theme Version code

1.0

• released June 2011
• confirmed compatible with WordPress version 3.2-beta2-18085
• re-sized options panel
• updated options panel screenshot
• enqueued stylesheet
• added display of MySQL version
• updated screenshots
• TO-DO: Re-write to show all roles of current user (carried forward from v0.9)
• TO-DO: Correct notices being generated via Lester Chan's code ... or replace?!

0.9

• released December 11, 2010
• Changed display from user "level" to user "role"

0.8

• correcting version number from 0.7.1

0.7.1

• released: 29 Aug 2010
• compatibility checked with WordPress 3.0.1
• clean up code to meet WP Standards
• added display of current PHP version
• edited display text

0.6

• compatible with WordPress version 3.0
• added Multisite check; displays 'True' or 'False'
• updated license declaration

0.5.3

• corrected location of ending tag for the 'CSS Wrapper'
• added 'margin-bottom:0;' property to credit style element

0.5.2

• compatible with WordPress version 2.9.2
• updated license declaration

0.5.1

• clarified the plugin's release under a GPL license
• change credits display option to 'false' by default
• minor option text changes
• changed screenshot of option panel

0.5

• added option to hide credits

0.4

• added option for displaying active plugins

0.3

• adapted Lester Chan's WP-Pluginsused code to list active plugins
• left justified displayed items via plugin CSS file

0.2.1

• minor adjustments to display

0.2

• compatibility check for 2.9.1 completed

0.1.1

• added direct URL to plugin page
• decreased width of screenshot-3

0.1

• Initial Release