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=== BeyondWords - AI audio for publishers === |
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Contributors: beyondwords, stuartmcalpine |
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Donate link: https://beyondwords.io |
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Tags: text-to-speech, tts, audio, AI, voice cloning |
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Stable tag: 7.1.0 |
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Requires at least: 6.6 |
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Requires PHP: 8.0 |
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Tested up to: 7.1 |
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License: GPLv2 or later |
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License URI: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html |
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Turn WordPress articles into audio as you publish, with tools for distribution, monetization, and analytics. |
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== Description == |
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Turn WordPress articles into audio as you publish, with tools for distribution, monetization, and analytics. |
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= Let audiences listen to your articles = |
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BeyondWords turns selected WordPress posts and pages into audio automatically. |
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Your editors keep working in WordPress. BeyondWords generates the audio, adds a customizable player, and automatically update audio when articles changes. |
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Choose from premade voices, generate a voice from a prompt, or create Instant and Professional voice clones. Voices are powered by ElevenLabs. |
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= What you can do = |
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* Choose which posts and pages become audio |
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* Create full audio articles or shorter audio summaries |
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* Add a customizable player with automatic word highlighting |
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* Correct pronunciations and review audio before publishing |
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* Build playlists and podcast feeds |
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* Monetize listening through advertising and subscriptions |
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* Measure plays, engagement, listening time, and completion |
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= Distribute in WordPress and beyond = |
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Embed audio in your articles, create playlists, publish podcast feeds to services such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts, share audio via URL, or share and download audio files. |
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= Built for WordPress workflows = |
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Set defaults for your publication, then override them on individual posts. |
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BeyondWords can regenerate audio when an article changes. You can also use WordPress bulk actions to generate audio for existing articles. |
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For page-builder setups such as Elementor, Magic Embed provides an alternative to the standard REST API integration. |
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= Monetize listening = |
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Make audio a subscriber benefit with full, ad-free listening, while using previews or ad-supported audio to encourage other readers to register or subscribe. |
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Upload your own audio ads or connect your existing ad server through VAST, the common standard for audio advertising. |
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= What publishers say = |
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> "We've had great customer feedback and the team have been quick to make adjustments based on our suggestions." |
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> |
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> Kenneth Creamer, Creamer Media |
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= Get started = |
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Book a demo and we'll help you choose the right setup, voices, player, and monetization options for your publication. |
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[Book a demo](https://beyondwords.io/book-a-demo/) |
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For questions or support, email <support@beyondwords.io>. |
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== Installation == |
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1. Install and activate the BeyondWords plugin. |
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2. Connect it to your BeyondWords project. |
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3. Choose which posts and pages should become audio. |
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4. Set your default voice and player preferences. |
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5. Publish as usual. |
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== Frequently asked questions == |
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= Can I choose which articles become audio? = |
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Yes. Set defaults for posts and pages, then change the settings for individual articles from the WordPress editor. |
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= What happens when I update an article? = |
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BeyondWords can regenerate the audio using the updated article text. You can also keep the existing audio when an update doesn't require a new version. |
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= Can we use our own voices? = |
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Yes. You can create Instant or Professional voice clones for journalists, authors, analysts, presenters, or other speakers. You must have the speaker's permission. |
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You can also choose a premade voice or generate a voice from a prompt. |
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= Can we monetize the audio? = |
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Yes. Upload your own audio ads, connect an existing ad server, or use access tiers to create different listening experiences for visitors, registered readers, and subscribers. |
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= Can we publish the audio as a podcast? = |
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Yes. BeyondWords lets you create podcast feeds for services such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts. |
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= Does it work with Elementor and other page builders? = |
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Yes. The plugin normally connects WordPress to BeyondWords through our REST API. For Elementor and other page-builder setups where that approach isn’t suitable, Magic Embed uses a script on your site to extract and sync the article content instead. |
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== Changelog == |
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= 7.1.0 = |
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Release date: 4th September 2026 |
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**Enhancements** |
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* [#626](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/626) Import Tool: only offer to import to post types BeyondWords supports, and say why each skipped record was skipped. |
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* [#623](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/623) Per-block language and voice in the block editor. |
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**Fixes** |
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* [#627](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/627) Give audio creates a longer timeout, and recover the content ID when a create still times out after the API accepted it. |
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* [#626](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/626) Debug Tool: fix the fatal error raised when activating the plugin. |
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* Download the updated ZIP from this release — every earlier build fails on activation. |
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* [#623](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/623) Fix "Generation disabled" being ignored on blocks nested inside a Group, Columns or other container. |
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* Audio regenerated for an affected post no longer includes those blocks. |
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* [#621](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/621) Fix the fatal error shown when the plugin is replaced with a different version from the Plugins screen. |
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* Switching away from an existing 7.0.0 install still shows it once; the version being replaced has to be 7.1.0 or later for the fix to apply. |
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**Deprecations** |
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* [#626](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/626) Removed the SpeechKit Export Tool, which only exported post meta the plugin stopped writing in v4.0. |
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* Site Health and the editor's Inspect panel report the same data for current installs. |
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**Compatibility** |
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* [#626](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/626) Debug Tool: request logging is now switched off on WordPress VIP, where it could not append to its log file safely. |
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* [#624](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/624) Tested up to WordPress 7.1. |
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**Codebase Enhancements** |
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* [#626](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/626) Install and smoke-test the extension plugins in CI, and document them in `doc/extension-plugins.md`. |
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* [#624](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/624) Turn off Cypress web security so the block editor specs run on WordPress 7.1. |
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* [#629](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/629) Finalise the 7.1.0 release notes. |
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* [#628](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/628) Dependency upgrades. |
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* [#625](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/625) Mount the plugin at a fixed `speechkit` slug in the local wp-env environments. |
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* [#622](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/622) Correct the 7.0.0 changelog entry for the "Add Player" block preview. |
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= 7.0.0 = |
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Release date: 12th August 2026 |
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**Enhancements** |
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* [#566](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/566) Poll the content status before embedding the player. |
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* The block and classic editor previews now wait until content has finished processing — showing a loading spinner meanwhile — instead of embedding the player immediately and caching a 404 when the audio or video isn't ready yet. |
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* [#520](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/520) New settings page and project-wide rewrite. |
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* Simplifies the plugin settings — removing many tabs, fields and options — so that audio/video generation and player display are managed from your BeyondWords project settings. |
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* Standardises the codebase to WordPress VIP coding standards and migrates CI tooling from Yarn to npm. |
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* [#527](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/527) BeyondWords editor redesign for the block and classic editors. |
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* New Content (Source, Script template), Format (Output, Video template, Video size), Voice (Language, Model, Voice) and Player (Embed) settings, available in both editors. |
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* The Player "Embed" setting replaces the "Display player" checkbox — choose "None" to hide the player on a post. |
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* [#536](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/536) Wire up the Player "Embed" setting. |
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* The Embed choice (audio/video × post/script) now controls the rendered player, rather than only showing or hiding it. |
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* [#537](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/537) Opt-in "Customize" voice and language controls. |
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* A per-post "Customize" toggle (off by default) reveals the Language and Voice pickers; the project's default language is pre-selected when enabled. |
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* The Voice and Language settings are consolidated into the plugin sidebar. |
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* [#558](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/558) Reorder the voice picker to Language → Model → Voice. |
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* "Model" is now a language-level filter that narrows the Voice list. |
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* [#557](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/557) Preselect "Generate audio" by taxonomy term. |
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* Reinstates preselecting audio generation for posts assigned specific terms, now across all hierarchical taxonomies and without marking posts as having unsaved changes. |
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* [#555](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/555) Live player preview for the "Add Player" block. (Reverted in [#568](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/568) before 7.0.0 shipped — the block shows a static placeholder in the editor; the player still renders on the front end.) |
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* [#563](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/563) State-reflecting generation labels and "Legacy" model rename. |
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* The "Generate audio" toggle now reads "Generation enabled" / "Generation disabled"; the "Standard" voice model bucket is relabelled "Legacy". |
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* [#532](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/532) Cache API reads and defer audio generation on WordPress VIP. |
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* Editor dropdown data is cached in 15-minute transients; on VIP, audio create/update is deferred to WP-Cron so the save request returns immediately. |
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* [#598](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/598) Send taxonomy terms as `tags`. |
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* Breaking: the `metadata` param is no longer sent. Code hooking `beyondwords_content_params` to write `$params['metadata']` must append to `$params['tags']` instead, or it will raise a fatal error. |
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* [#611](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/611) Tidy the classic editor metabox spacing and Content ID layout. |
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**Fixes** |
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* [#618](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/618) Poll content status before embedding the block-editor Preview panel player, so a still-processing post (more likely with a customised voice/model) no longer shows a broken preview. |
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* [#613](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/613) Fix author names with an ampersand showing as `Smith & Sons` in the BeyondWords dashboard. |
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* [#612](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/612) Fix tags with an ampersand showing as `r&d` in the BeyondWords dashboard. |
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* [#610](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/610) Stop the bulk "Generate audio" notice counting skipped posts as failures. |
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* [#606](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/606) Fix posts published with no player when two saves race to create audio. |
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* [#564](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/564) Sweep the paired `_transient_timeout_beyondwords_*` rows on uninstall, so no orphaned option rows are left behind. |
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* [#540](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/540) Escape the player `onload` attribute to prevent stored XSS via the Content ID. |
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* [#539](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/539) Add capability checks to the bulk-edit AJAX handler. |
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* [#541](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/541) Prevent a player SDK error from clobbering saved content on Fetch. |
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* [#554](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/554) Return JSON from the bulk-edit AJAX handler and catch delete errors. |
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* [#553](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/553) Resolve the post ID in `Content::get_content_without_excluded_blocks`. |
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* [#551](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/551) Track live meta for the Inspect panel Remove button. |
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* [#550](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/550) Coerce non-string API error messages to avoid a fatal `TypeError`. |
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* [#543](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/543) Guard a null languages API result in the classic editor voice select. |
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* [#542](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/542) Surface a `WP_Error` from `get_content()` instead of a fatal `TypeError`. |
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* [#588](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/588) Ship `symfony/dom-crawler` 5.4.52 to fix CVE-2026-45071 (XXE / local file disclosure). |
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* The composer constraint now floors at the patched release, so a vulnerable version can no longer be bundled. |
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**Deprecations** |
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* Removed the `beyondwords_player_style`, `beyondwords_player_content`, `beyondwords_title_voice_id`, `beyondwords_summary_voice_id` and `beyondwords_disabled` post meta keys. |
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* Existing values are preserved in the database and only removed on full uninstall; `beyondwords_disabled` is migrated to the new "Embed" setting on upgrade. |
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* The `beyondwords-*` `<head>` meta tags are now only emitted for the client-side (Magic Embed) integration. |
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* [#601](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/601) Removed the "Script" option from the post Source setting, which now offers "Post" or "Post + script". |
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* Posts saved as "Script" are migrated to "Post + script" on upgrade, and keep embedding their script asset. |
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**Compatibility** |
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* Tested up to WordPress 7.0. |
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* [#515](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/515) PHP 8.5 support. |
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* Run unit and e2e tests against PHP 8.0 and PHP 8.5 in GitHub Actions. |
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* Bumped `phpVersion` in wp-env to 8.5. |
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**Codebase Enhancements** |
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* [#619](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/619) Run the Cypress suite with pretty permalinks, fixing the block editor Preview panel content-status poll spec. |
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* [#591](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/591) Refresh the developer documentation in `doc/` against the v7 codebase. |
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* [#608](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/608) Fix the intermittent detached-DOM failures in the block editor Cypress specs. |
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* [#607](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/607) Update two PHPUnit tests left stale by the Script-only Source removal. |
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* [#602](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/602) Align the player-visibility docs and Cypress specs with the "Embed" setting. |
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* [#600](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/600) Add must-follow documentation and changelog rules to `AGENTS.md`, with `CLAUDE.md` and Copilot pointer files. |
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* [#533](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/533) Fix failing Cypress tests for v7. |
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* [#538](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/538) Remove the unused `updatePostMeta` util from the Inspect panel. |
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* [#562](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/562) Re-enable Plugin Check on `plugin-check-action` v1.1.7. |
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* [#560](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/560) Cancel superseded CI runs via a concurrency group. |
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* [#516](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/516) Remove `environment` from the GitHub workflows. |
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* [#517](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/517), [#535](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/535) Update GitHub Actions dependencies. |
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* [#514](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/514), [#529](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/529), [#534](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/534), [#616](https://github.com/beyondwords-io/wordpress-plugin/pull/616) Dependency upgrades. |
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* Various dependency updates to clear Dependabot security warnings. |
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-------- |
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[See the previous changelogs here](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/speechkit/trunk/changelog.txt). |
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