Ocean WP 4.0 coming out

[BikeGremlin]

The News​

Ocean WP announces the release of the 4.0 theme version on October 16th 2024:
https://oceanwp.org/blog/oceanwp-4-release-announcement/

Note - Caution​

They call for caution when updating since the changes are big and thorough (I would always recommend waiting for the first patch - and testing any updates in a staging environment, along with making backups before pushing updates to your live production website).

The Goodies!​

Plainly put, users should expect:

• Be able to easily find what you need (in other words: more logically structured customization menus).
• Have more options (less manually written custom CSS and similar).
• Improved documentation for all the options and features.

This is huge. Ocean WP is already powerful, fast, and with great technical support. If there is one reason why Ocean WP is my second favourite Wordpress theme, and not the first, it is the docummentation. So, if Ocean WP delivers even half of what's promised, it will be a huge improvement.

We're talking about a practically complete overwrite in order to improve the existing system - instead of trying to patch the existing stuff, which comes with a lot of limitations and complications.

Yes, I do expect some bugs and hiccups as with all the new software with major changes/updates - but I also expect those to be ironed out and to see a greatly improved Ocean WP in the following years to come.

I don't generally get too excited about some new software coming up (apart from maybe some post-apocalyptic RPG ), but this is one that I'm looking forward to.

Relja Novović

 

[BikeGremlin]

As expected, the first patches have come out (4.0.1). I would still recommend to wait for at least a couple of weeks or the second patch (4.0.2) - just to confirm that the first patch doesn't break something else (this is a general rule of thumb, not strictly Ocean WP related). The news:

OceanWP 4.0.1 and Ocean Extra 2.4.1 Updates Released​

OceanWP 4.0.1 and Ocean Extra 2.4.1 version have rolled out. The patches address "all the issues everyone has reported in the 96h following the latest major release."

The patch deals with the following issues:

• Google Fonts: enable / disable option, not inheriting old Customizer settings on some websites.
• Local Google Fonts causing increased page generation delay on some websites.
• Google Fonts enabled causing numerous HTTP API calls on some websites.
• Page Title heading and subheading color reset on some websites.
• AJAX Add to Cart adding parent product (instead of variation) to cart.
• Footer Menu (for Footer Copyright) typography option missing.
• Add to Cart button color on WooCommerce archive Hover style (this was reported a little bit before the update release, so on 3.6.1)
• Add to Cart button on archive pages border color.
• General Options panel not displayed in the Customizer if using latest version of Ocean Extra and old theme version (3.6.1 and lower)
• Logo Metabox Settings not overriding Customizer Logo (page level control)

 

[BikeGremlin]

As expected, and as it is normal - we have another patch, 4.0.2 version (in under 15 days after the initial major version release). This is the full OceanWP changelog:
https://docs.oceanwp.org/article/653-oceanwp-theme-changelog

This is normal (and it is good that the reported problems are being patched).

Should you update now?​

It's a major redesign, and the updates (both for the theme, and for the Ocean Extra plugin) are not security-critical ones, I would wait for a couple of more weeks (to confirm this to be stable or to see another patch).

Having said that, the patch looks stable enough now, so if your site is not "mission-critical" and you wish to help with the testing, you might consider updating (straight to the 4.0.2 version - and then updating all the plugins).