LayerSlider - Kreatura Slider Plugin for WordPress 7.14.4

Fixed an issue with embedded media on secure (HTTPS) sites that we caught right after releasing the previous update.

A COMPLETE MEDIA HANDLING OVERHAUL
Anything media related in LayerSlider has been rewritten from scratch.

• We're now using newer APIs that should be more reliable and should eliminate strange edge cases.
• Custom embed options specified in the URL is now 100% tracked and recognized by LayerSlider.
• A new media option loop was added for media layers.
• Introduced the muted setting for media layers. A special option called Offer to unmute is there, so you can provide a non-intrusive experience to your visitors by offering a special button to easily restore sound on an otherwise muted video.
• Improved compatibility with media autoplay policies. Some web browsers might prevent video/audio layers to be autoplayed based on a number of different factors. Muted autoplay is always allowed. This new update now falls back gracefully and plays the media muted whenever the restrictions would apply. In cases when media should have been autoplayed with sound, we're offering an easy way for page visitors to restore sound with a click of a button.
• The slideshow will no longer wait indefinitely for a paused media to finish. After pausing media playback the slider will wait a few extra seconds, but it will eventually continue the slideshow if all animations on the slide has completed and the slider wants to switch slides.
• Other significant improvements for media handling, especially for mobile and tablet devices.
• New smart links (LayerSlider Action) to manage media playback: play, pause & unmute.
• New API commands: playMedia, pauseMedia & unmuteMedia
• New API events: mediaDidStart, mediaDidStop
  
  
• PS: The new unmute button offered to easily restore sound may not always be visible for embedded players (i.e. YouTube and Vimeo). Browser support varies and we expect them to support delegating autoplay permission to embedded players in the near future. HTML5 self-hosted videos are working as expected in all browsers.

NEW FEATURES

• You can now override slider settings via the shortcode or the PHP function. It can be useful if you want to make small changes to the same slider in certain situations without having duplicates. For example, you might want to change the slider skin on some pages to fit better to a different page style. Check the Overriding settings section for more information.

IMPROVEMENTS

• This update improves the reliability of our online services. Serving plugin updates, downloading templates and other online features should now work even in very unusual server environments.

OTHER

• The Adobe Image Editor was removed due to its end-of-life. A replacement solution will be added very soon in another update.

BUG FIXES

• Fixed qTranslate compatibility that affected sliders inserted by certain page builders in some cases.
• Fixed an issue that affected Popup sliders when used with the Origami slide transition.
• Fixed the reverseSlide API method not properly replaying the slide when the second parameter was present.

Kreatura is committed to user data protection. To keep pace with the new data protection laws taking effect on May 25, 2018 in the European Union, we are updating our privacy policies. Please, do visit our General Data Protection Regulation page for more information.

This update introduces a modal window asking your consent for using certain features in LayerSlider. A new Privacy tab has also been added to the LayerSlider -> Options page where you can enable/disable these features & services.

This release focuses on plugin-wide improvements and bug fixes including lots of less visible changes to enhance compatibility and stability.

IMPROVEMENTS

• Greatly improved Play By Scroll feature, which now works as expected if a slider covers the entire page or located at unusual places.
• Improvements to HTTPS secure sites to overcome some edge cases that might affected certain sites very rarely.
• Improvements to script loading and handling, which provides extended compatibility with CDNs and JS minify/combine features commonly used in themes and cache plugins.

BUG FIXES

• Fixed pre 5.3 PHP parsing errors.
• Fixed date localization in dynamic posts.
• The Popup click trigger now prevents navigating away from page if it's set on a linked element.

OTHER CHANGES

• Theme authors now have the ability to enforce certain settings located under LayerSlider -> Options -> Advanced in order to maximize theme compatibility.
• Removed the "Put JS includes to body" advanced setting. The "Include scripts in the footer" option should be used as an alternative.
• Lots of under the hood improvements and bug fixes.

KNOWN ISSUES

• Chrome 66's Autoplay Policy Change: Google introduced new browser restrictions, which will prevent automatic video/audio playback in certain situations. Autoplay is now allowed only when either the media won't play sound, after the user clicks or taps on the site, or (on desktop) if the user has previously shown an interest in media on the site.
  
  Another follow-up update will arrive soon, which will provide further options to mitigate these restrictions. Since it's governed by the browser, there is no way to restore the previous behavior. However, we can supply alternate options like autoplaying muted videos where visitors can restore sound with a separate button.