A few days ago we have released a major update for MH Magazine WordPress Theme to v1.8.0. Today it is time for the next update, which will improve the functionality and usability of our custom widgets. We have polished the options panels of several widgets, to make it easier for you to use them and we have also added new options for more flexibility.

Version 1.8.1 of MH Magazine WordPress Theme is focussed on widgets and has included the following changes (for a full overview, please read the changelog):

  • Custom options for more flexibility when using widgets
  • Improved usability of custom widgets
  • You won’t have to enter a category ID anymore to query posts
  • Improved handling of excerpts

New options for “MH Custom Posts” widget

MH Custom_Posts v1.8.1
New “MH Custom Posts” widget

Especially our popular “MH Custom Posts” widget has improved a lot with this update. We have changed the look and feel of the options panel a bit to make it easier for you to use the widget. We also have added a new option to ignore sticky posts and to change the excerpt length (if enabled). This is very handy if you want to control the length of the “MH Custom Posts” widget.

But the most useful improvement for the “MH Custom Posts” widget is the new option to select a category. In the past you needed to enter the category ID of the category of which you wanted to display posts from. For some users this was not easy to handle and we received a lot of questions and support tickets about this stuff. That was a good reason for us to rethink this feature and we have decided to change it, to improve the usability for our users.

With the new option you can select a category very easily and you can also see how many posts there are published in a specific category. But there is one more thing you will definately like! If you select a category, the widget title will now link automatically to the specific category archive. We know that this was also on the wishlist of many users and we are happy to add this feature to MH Magazine WordPress Theme. Of course you can also query posts using tags (tag slug), this has not changed.

Image size of small thumbnails

After the last update to v1.8.0 we received a lot of feedback regarding the image size of the small thumbnails, which are used for the “MH Custom Posts” and “MH News in Pictures” widgets. With the last update we increased the size of these thumbnails to 100 x 75px, but many of you did not like it. So we have decided to reverse that change and with this update to v1.8.1, the image size for the small thumbnails will be 70 x 53px again. You want it, you will get it! 😉

Required actions on your side

You can update the theme like you are used to. Due to the major changes regarding widgets and the changed image sizes, you will have to be aware of two things. After you have updated the MH Magazine WordPress Theme to v1.8.1 you might have to:

  1. Select the categories again for your widgets
  2. Regenerate your thumbnails

Now have fun with the new update for MH Magazine WordPress Theme and if you need support, please check the support center first and if you don’t find an answer to your question there, please open a support ticket at the helpdesk. We will answer within 24 hours!