SBPM version 2.99 release notes

Well… 2020 was fun, wasn’t it?

But, one saving grace was that it allowed me a little more time to spend on tweaking, improving and reworking SBPM and version 2.99 has been released.

Here is a brief run-down of the latest features and bug-fixes in this version:

• Additions
  • Added support for the SEO Framework and MathRank SEO plugins.
  • Added the ability to use random featured images, which are selected by a keyword – with count of images found.
  • Added a description of the post-type when debug is enabled.
  • Added 10 content areas.
  • Added view and edit links to the debug output.
  • Added option to allow multiple upload of content to the 10 content areas.
  • Added “SBPM Reset” button to clear all SBPM configuration settings.
• Fixes
  • Fixed SBPM post titles and categories not showing correctly when running a preview.
  • Fixed where additional spaces were added when using pre and post keyword text.
  • Fixed variables not working properly when creating tags.
  • Fixed issues with custom variables and WordPress custom fields that contain = signs.
  • Fixed more issues when creating WordPress custom fields.

What comes next with SBPM?

I guess this all leads on to what might come in SBPM version 3!

It will soon be 10 years since SBPM was created and I am glad to say that people are still using it and I am welcoming new customers regularly.

I don’t want to change the core of what SBPM does too much, but I have some ideas of how to improve it.

I will be adding an option to cycle through the keywords, making posts from all combinations of pre, keywords and post content.

So, for example, if you have the following in the SBPM configuration:

Using this content, SBPM will only create 3 posts, choosing one of the Pre and Post words at random. You might end up with a list of posts like this:

New Gibson Guitar For Sale
Top Fender Guitar To Buy
New Yamaha Guitar On Sale

Note that “New” was randomly chosen twice.

However, if the Pre and Post content is changed to this:

In SBPM version 3, the following posts would be sequentially created, using every combination possible.

New Gibson Guitar On Sale
New Gibson Guitar To Buy
New Gibson Guitar For Sale
New Fender Guitar On Sale
New Fender Guitar To Buy
New Fender Guitar For Sale
New Yamaha Guitar On Sale
New Yamaha Guitar To Buy
New Yamaha Guitar For Sale
Fresh Gibson Guitar On Sale
Fresh Gibson Guitar To Buy
Fresh Gibson Guitar For Sale
Fresh Fender Guitar On Sale
Fresh Fender Guitar To Buy
Fresh Fender Guitar For Sale
Fresh Yamaha Guitar On Sale
Fresh Yamaha Guitar To Buy
Fresh Yamaha Guitar For Sale
Top Gibson Guitar On Sale
Top Gibson Guitar To Buy
Top Gibson Guitar For Sale
Top Fender Guitar On Sale
Top Fender Guitar To Buy
Top Fender Guitar For Sale
Top Yamaha Guitar On Sale
Top Yamaha Guitar To Buy
Top Yamaha Guitar For Sale

Using this sort of sequential process would mean that you could more easily create more posts. Of course, if you add the use of spintax into that too, things could become interesting!

Also, with 10 content areas, which are currently chosen at random, moving through those (that have content) in sequence is also an option to ensure that all content is used equally.

PHP and WordPress versions

WordPress is moving towards PHP version 8, so I will need to ensure SBPM works with this too.

I don’t foresee many changes, but I will need to add in some backwards and forwards compatibility. Some of the older parts of the code are a little sloppy, so could do with a revisit and revision.

It would also be nice to do something with Gutenberg blocks, somehow adding support for those in the content areas. However, it is also easy to just create a page template using Gutenberg and then copy the source code to SBPM and add your spintax and variables there.

WordPress is an ever evolving beast, so hopefully, more features means more possibilities for SBPM.

Stay safe. Tao.