Init Reading Position – Remember, Return, Continue

Init Reading Position enhances the reading experience by remembering how far a visitor has read on a post.\ When they return, it automatically scrolls back to where they left off. Perfect for:

• Long-form articles
• Tutorials or guides
• Web novels or manga
• Any content where readers often stop and come back later

This plugin is part of the Init Plugin Suite — a collection of minimalist, fast, and developer-focused tools for WordPress. GitHub repository: https://github.com/brokensmile2103/init-reading-position Features

• Saves scroll position using localStorage (guests) or a dedicated database table (logged-in users)
• Smart device-based sync: remembers position separately for PC, Mobile, and Tablet
• Automatically scrolls back on page load
• Lightweight, no jQuery, no bloat
• Easy to extend via filters
• Optional settings page to control which post types are enabled

1.5 – April 23, 2026

• Improved: Device detection is now handled entirely by JavaScript — PHP no longer performs UA sniffing on the server side, eliminating mismatches between detected device on page load vs. save
• Improved: Saved scroll position lookup now tries all three device slots (pc, mobile, tablet) in order, so the correct position is always restored regardless of which device the user was last on
• Improved: Scope element bounds (absTop, absBottom) are now cached after DOMContentLoaded and refreshed on window resize — getBoundingClientRect() is no longer called on every scroll event
• Improved: REST API rate limiting switched from transient-based to wp_cache-based — eliminates transient writes to wp_options on high-traffic sites; works best with an object cache (Redis/Memcached), degrades gracefully without one
• Fixed: autoClearOnEnd with no CSS selector configured would never trigger the end-of-content clear; now correctly falls back to page-bottom detection in that case
• No breaking changes — REST API, localStorage keys, and all existing settings remain fully compatible

1.4 – April 21, 2026

• Refactored: Migration now runs via a self-scheduling WP-Cron event instead of admin_init
• Added: Automatic re-scheduling every 30 seconds until migration completes
• Improved: Removed dependency on admin requests for background processing
• Improved: Added locking to prevent overlapping migration runs
• No breaking changes

1.3 – April 21, 2026

• Added: Switched from user_meta storage to a dedicated custom database table for reading positions
• Added: Automatic migration from existing user_meta data to the new database structure (runs safely in the background)
• Added: Optimized database schema with unique keys (user_id, post_id, device) for efficient upsert operations
• Improved: Faster read/write performance and better scalability for large sites
• Improved: Reduced API request frequency by adding a throttle layer on top of existing debounce
• Improved: Device detection now uses normalized lowercase values (pc, mobile, tablet) for full backend consistency
• Improved: Added fail-safe handling for REST requests to prevent JavaScript errors on network issues
• Performance: Significantly reduced server load for logged-in users and improved overall responsiveness
• Backward-compatible: Existing user_meta data is migrated seamlessly, with fallback support during transition
• No breaking changes — REST API, localStorage keys, and frontend behavior remain fully compatible

1.2 – November 12, 2025

• Added: Support for multiple CSS selectors separated by commas (e.g. .entry-content, .post-content, #main)
• Added: Option "Auto-clear saved position at content end" (enabled by default)
• Improved: Scroll tracking now activates if the reader is inside any of the configured selector areas
• Improved: Percent calculation prioritizes the selector in scope, falls back to whole page when outside all selectors
• Behavior: When auto-clear is enabled, progress is cleared at the end of the content area; when disabled, it falls back to clearing at page end
• Zero breaking changes — existing settings, localStorage keys, and user_meta structure remain compatible

1.1 – November 5, 2025

• Added: CSS Selector option — plugin now only tracks progress inside the selected content area (e.g. .entry-content)
• Added: i18n ready strings for new settings field (English + Vietnamese translations included)
• Improved: Scroll position tracking logic — no longer saves progress when user scrolls outside the selected content area (e.g. comments section)
• Improved: Cleanup behavior — scroll progress is deleted only when reaching end of the page, never based on selector range
• No breaking changes — keeps old localStorage keys and user meta structure
• Updated: Admin settings page UI/UX (placeholder instead of default selector)

1.0 – May 20, 2025

• Initial release
• Saves scroll position using localStorage (guests) and user meta (logged-in users)
• Auto-scrolls back to last position on load
• Per-device storage (PC, Mobile, Tablet)
• Settings page to choose post types
• Filter init_plugin_suite_reading_position_delay to adjust debounce time