v1.0.0

1.0.0 - 2026-01-12

Major Release: The Island Update

This release marks a complete reimagining of the CaptainCore Helm experience. We have moved away from modifying the native WordPress Toolbar and introduced "The Island"—a unified, floating dock that stays out of your way while keeping essential tools within reach.

Added

• The Helm Island: A floating, centralized dock that replaces the standard top WordPress Admin Bar. It provides access to the Quick Menu, a dynamic Action button, and system status indicators without cluttering the screen.
• Smart Context Menu: The Island automatically detects where you are (e.g., editing a Page, viewing settings, or browsing a custom post type) and provides a popup menu containing links to related sibling pages.
• Dark Mode (Easter Egg): An experimental dark theme for the admin interface. Type "dark mode" into the Quick Menu search bar to toggle it.
• Error Page Navigation: The Island is now injected into standard WordPress error pages (wp_die), ensuring you never lose navigation access during permission errors, maintenance modes, or white screens.
• Loading Status Indicators: Instant visual feedback when navigating. The Island displays a spinner and the destination URL path (e.g., Loading /wp-admin/plugins.php) so you always know the system is reacting.
• Query Monitor Integration: Added a dedicated status indicator on the Island. It mirrors Query Monitor's native behavior, changing colors for warnings/errors and toggling the QM panel overlay on click.
• Focused Admin Layout: The classic wp-admin interface has been modernized.
  • The sidebar menu and footer are now hidden.
  • Page content is centered in a "canvas" layout (max-width 1200px) with a clean white background and rounded corners for a focused workspace.
• Extended Builder Support: The Island now intelligently adapts its position and z-index to float seamlessly above popular page builders, ensuring tools are available without obstruction:
  • Elementor
  • Divi Builder
  • Beaver Builder
  • Bricks Builder
  • Etch
• Dynamic Action Button: A context-aware button on the Island that changes function based on your location:
  • Frontend: Shows an "Edit" icon (links to Post Edit, Builder, or Dashboard).
  • Backend: Shows a "View" icon (links to the frontend permalink).
• Toast Notifications: Non-intrusive popup notifications for UI actions (e.g., hiding the menu).

Changed

• Zero-Layout Shift: The Context Menu logic has been moved from JavaScript to server-side PHP. This ensures links render immediately on page load, eliminating visual "flashes" or layout shifts.
• Performance: The menu snapshot logic now uses content hashing. Updates are only written to the database when the menu structure actually changes, significantly reducing write operations on page load.
• Keyboard Shortcuts:
  • Updated the global trigger shortcut to align with modern command palette standards.
  • Mac: Cmd + Option + K
  • Windows: Ctrl + Alt + K
• Navigation Logic:
  • Simplified Navigation: Removed the requirement to hold modifier keys (Cmd / Ctrl) to navigate cards. Once the menu is open, standard Arrow Keys (Up, Down, Left, Right) work immediately.
  • Selection: Press Enter to select the active card or sub-item immediately.
• UI Polish:
  • The Quick Menu now features a refined aesthetic with updated shadows, blur effects (backdrop-filter), and cleaner typography.
  • External links within the Quick Menu are now automatically detected and marked with an external icon.

Fixed

• Plugin Install Screen: Fixed an issue where the "Add Plugins" screen would occasionally load without content by enforcing the featured tab as the default view.
• Z-Index Conflicts: Resolved overlapping issues with high z-index elements in various themes and site editors.
• Iframe Navigation: Fixed navigation issues when using Helm inside builder iframes (like Divi or Customizer) by forcing top-window navigation.

Removed

• Top Admin Bar: The default WordPress toolbar is now completely hidden in favor of the Island UI when Helm is active.
• Admin Footer: The default WordPress footer text and version number are hidden to reduce visual noise.

v0.3.0

0.3.0 - 2025-08-12

Added

• Etch Editor Integration: Helm now ensures the admin bar remains visible and functional within the Etch editor interface.
• Fallback Admin Color Schemes: A set of default admin color schemes is now included within the plugin to ensure UI consistency even when WordPress's color scheme data is not available.

Changed

• Updater Versioning: The plugin updater now dynamically uses the CCHELM_VER constant for the version number instead of a hardcoded value.
• Admin Bar Styling: The admin bar background now uses the user's selected color scheme. Item hover and focus colors in the admin bar also adapt to the user's theme for better integration.

Fixed

• Updater Stability: The updater is now more robust, preventing errors if the remote request for the manifest fails by returning the original transient data. It also adds required properties to the no_update transient to prevent warnings in WP-CLI.
• Admin Color Scheme Loading: The plugin now proactively registers admin color schemes on the frontend if they haven't been loaded, ensuring custom colors are available outside of the admin area.

v0.2.0

0.2.0 - 2025-08-11

Added

• Admin Color Scheme Integration: The Quick Menu and other UI elements now adapt to the user's selected WordPress admin color scheme for a more personalized and integrated experience. This is achieved by dynamically generating CSS variables based on the active scheme's colors.

Changed

• UI Styling:
  • The hover-state border color for the keyboard shortcut hint in the admin bar now uses the accent color from the user's admin theme.
  • The selected view toggle button (Cards or Expanded) in the Quick Menu now uses the theme's accent color for its background.
  • The main popout menu is now properly inset below the admin bar instead of covering the full screen.
• Code Optimization:
  • Removed a duplicate action hook for printing critical CSS on the frontend, streamlining asset loading.

v0.1.0

0.1.0 - 2025-08-10

Added

• Initial Release of CaptainCore Helm
• Quick Menu: A new pop-out menu for fast access to all admin areas, accessible via a "Menu" button in the admin bar or with a keyboard shortcut (Ctrl+Shift+. or ⌘⇧.).
• Compact Admin Bar: The WordPress admin bar is redesigned to be more compact, keeping essential items visible while hiding others for a cleaner look.
• Left Menu Hiding: The default WordPress admin menu on the left side is hidden to provide more content space.
• User Preference: Users can enable or disable the Helm admin view via a new option in their user profile.
• Search and Filter: The Quick Menu includes a real-time search bar to quickly filter menu items.
• Two Viewing Modes: The Quick Menu offers a "Cards" view and an "Expanded" list view for navigating admin items (⌘ + arrow keys) and selecting with (enter or return).
• Site Editor & Customizer Integration: Helm ensures the admin bar remains visible and functional within the Site Editor and Customizer interfaces.
• Editor Fullscreen Disabled: Fullscreen editing is disabled by default for a more traditional editing experience.
• Keyboard Navigation: The Quick Menu supports keyboard navigation for moving between cards and lists.
• External Link Indicators: External links within the Quick Menu are automatically detected and marked with an icon.
• Automatic Updates: The plugin includes an updater to fetch new releases from its GitHub repository.