Better Messages — Chat Rooms, Group Chat, Private Messages & AI Chat Bots

Журнал изменений

2.15.13 — 2.15.17

• Added Automatic Message Cleanup for chat rooms
• Added Participants List Order setting at Settings → Messaging → Group Conversation Settings
• Better Messages → Administration moderation area now showing message timestamps in the site timezone from Settings → General
• Fixed user badge icons (e.g. PeepSo VIP icons) showing as HTML code instead of images in WP Admin user lists
• Fixed encrypted conversations staying locked forever after a participant reset their encryption keys — the conversation key is now reliably re-shared as soon as any other participant visits the site or unlocks their encryption keys
• Fixed MasterStudy mobile bottom menu bar showing through the full-screen messenger on the student dashboard
• Fixed Better Messages mobile floating chat button and new-message notification being hidden behind the MasterStudy bottom menu bar on account pages
• Fixed SureDash integration message button on member profiles opening the messages page without starting a conversation with the selected member
• PeepSo integration: members banned in PeepSo can no longer send messages or start new conversations in Better Messages
• PeepSo integration: group chats are now accessible to group members only
• Fixed messenger failing to load with error 500 — infinite loop when an encrypted conversation awaiting encryption key sharing was deleted or no longer accessible
• Update Freemius SDK to 2.13.2
• Banned members in chat room cant join group video and audio calls anymore
• Fixed OneSignal JavaScript error
• Other minor bugfixes and improvements

2.15.9 — 2.15.12

• Migration to new Roadmap
• Added Shortcode Builder — visual admin tool at Settings → Shortcodes that configures the [better_messages_live_chat_button] shortcode without code.
• Added initial BuddyBoss ReadyLaunch theme integration
• Added new BuddyBoss settings group at Better Messages → Settings → Integrations → BuddyPress — separate Full-page messenger, Full Width, Page Title, and Hide Mini Widget on Messages Page toggles for the ReadyLaunch theme and the classic BuddyBoss Theme
• Fixed FluentCommunity integration script throwing Cannot read properties of null on non-FluentCommunity pages
• Hide the messenger Minimize button on the FluentCommunity /messages route — the mini widgets are hidden there, so minimize had no surface to restore from
• Fixed image download from the lightbox opening a stuck Quick Look preview when Better Messages is used in an iPhone PWA — now uses the native iOS share sheet
• Fixed guest authentication being silently dropped after long tab-idle periods in some websites
• Fixed BuddyBoss user-dropdown My Messages item not showing the unread counter on sites where the BuddyBoss Theme renders the user dropdown from a WordPress nav menu instead of the standard admin-bar nodes
• Fixed MultiVendorX vendor dashboard «Messages» sidebar link missing on some sites
• Fixed in-thread message Delivered tick rendering white in dark mode
• Added Settings → Integrations → WooCommerce → MultiVendorX toggle «Hide Messages tab when vendor disables live chat» — off by default
• Fixed the «Sound Notification Control» setting not hiding the sound mute toggle from user settings when disabled
• Fixed the Guest Messages Page rendering the raw [bp-better-messages] placeholder instead of the messenger when no main Messages Location page is set
• Fixed user avatars and names not loading for not-yet-registered guests in chat rooms and the mini widget
• Other minor bugfixes and improvements

2.15.8

• Fixed pages with the slug messages returning 404 on sites that use WooCommerce as the Messages Location
• Fixed the compact-sidebar hover tooltip lingering on the conversation screen after tapping an avatar on mobile
• Added Guest Messages Page setting
• Added per-thread participant override mechanism — addons can display a participant under a different name, avatar and profile URL inside one specific thread without touching their real WordPress identity elsewhere. Same WP user can wear different identities in different threads at the same time. See the developer guide for the reusable pattern
• Added initial Houzez Real Estate Theme integration
• Added initial RealHomes Real Estate Theme integration
• Other minor bugfixes and improvements

2.15.7

• Added Send Message, Audio Call and Video Call buttons to the PeepSo user hovercard
• Added emoji search translations — admin can download per-locale annotations so emoji picker search works in 30+ languages (e.g. German «gesicht» finds 😀)
• Optimized emoji and stickers data delivery
• Fixed guest users seeing their own name and avatar in one-on-one conversation headers, mini chat heads, and thread list previews instead of the other participant in some cases
• Fixed MasterStudy LMS account mobile bottom menu overlapping the chat on the Messages page in full-screen mobile view
• Other minor bugfixes and improvements

2.15.6

• Added JavaScript filter slots in the guest authentication screen — better_messages_auth_required_top, better_messages_auth_required_between, and better_messages_auth_required_bottom — for injecting custom HTML into the pre-chat popup, mini-widget banner, and full messages page wall
• Added live unread counter badge to the BuddyBoss Theme profile dropdown Messages item
• Added Audio Call and Video Call buttons to the members directory and group member rows for both BuddyPress (Nouveau theme) and BuddyBoss Platform
• Added better_messages_group_call_join_custom_error PHP filter for blocking group audio/video call join with a custom error message, mirroring the existing better_messages_call_join_custom_error filter for 1-to-1 calls
• Settings → Integrations tab label and section titles now read «BuddyBoss» instead of «BuddyPress» when the BuddyBoss Platform is active
• Improved the bbPress reply Private Message link layout in BuddyBoss Theme
• Added initial Motors – Car Dealer, Classifieds & Listing integration
• Added initial Classified Listing integration
• Other minor bugfixes and improvements

2.15.5

• Added per-role filter for the auto-remove inactive chat room participants feature, so an admin can target guests or other specific roles only and leave members untouched
• Fixed new chat room participants could be remove if auto-removal option is enabled for users who did not wrote any message in the chat room
• Fixed online participant count in the chat rooms list not updating in real time when a user joined or was added to a room
• Fixed some group chats threads could reappear after the admin deleted them
• Other minor bugfixes and improvements

2.15.3

• Added System Messages
• Added per-role restrictions for group calls — Settings → Group Calls → Group Call Restrictions lets admins block specific WordPress roles from starting and / or joining group audio and video calls
• Group calls are now available to guest visitors
• Added possibility to auto-remove inactive chat room participants
• Added possibility to enable group audio/video calls button in mini chats
• Added support for LearnDash Instructor Role add-on
• Added shortcodes for every Send Message / Message Instructor button in the GeoDirectory, Directorist, LearnDash, LearnPress, Tutor LMS and MasterStudy LMS integrations, so they are possible to use with page builder. Check Integrations tab in plugin settings to find appropriate shortcode
• Reorganized Settings → General tab — added a Quick Actions dashboard with shortcuts to the Chat Rooms, AI Chat Bots and Administration screens and added easy access to detected integrations
• End to end encryption is moved to Messaging settings tab
• Fixed PHP 8.5 deprecation notices
• Fixed sticker images pointing to the previous site URL after a domain migration
• Fixed guest visitors being redirected to wp-login after starting a chat from a WooCommerce

2.15.2

• Added initial MasterStudy LMS integration
• Added initial Directorist integration
• Added initial GeoDirectory integration
• Remake database displaying in plugin settings which make it easier to fix database if something not migrated properly
• LMS course chats are now their own thread type in database
• Added «Email Notifications» and «Push Notifications» toggles for LMS course chats under Settings → Integrations → LMS → Shared Course Settings
• Other minor bugfixes and improvements

2.15.1

• Added initial LearnPress LMS integration
• Added initial Tutor LMS integration
• Added initial LearnDash LMS integration
• Added MultiVendorX 5.0+ integration alongside the existing < 5.0 support
• Older MultiVendorX 4.x sites are unaffected — the previous integration continues to load on those installations
• Added FluentCommunity Courses integration
• Added a dedicated Courses widget to the Mini Widgets which will be showing user enrolled courses in LMS
• Added «Maximum Message Length» setting (Settings → Messaging) — cap the number of characters allowed in each message
• Other minor bugfixes and improvements

2.15.0

• Added three new widgets: Users (browse and message any site member, with optional online-only filtering, online-first ordering, sort by last activity or registration date, and three display modes — all / by role / hand-picked), AI Bots (start or continue conversations with configured AI chat bots), and Chat Rooms (browse public chat rooms with optional online-count badge)
• Redesigned the Settings → Mini Widgets page into per-widget sub-tabs, with each widget exposing its own icon picker, search-box toggle, role restrictions matrix (mini bar / side panel / mobile bar), and widget-specific options
• Added «Hide Tab When Empty» toggle per widget — hides the Friends / Groups / AI Bots / Chat Rooms / Users tab entirely when the current user has nothing to show, instead of rendering an empty list
• Added AI Chat Bot welcome message — bots can greet users with a configurable opening message and placeholder
• Added dynamic placeholders which allows to dynamically change ai chat bots system prompts and welcome messages
• Renamed better_messages_open_ai_bot_instruction filter to better_messages_ai_bot_instruction since it applies to all AI providers, and added new $thread_id and $message_id arguments so callbacks can read the conversation context and the triggering user message — the old name remains available as a deprecated alias
• Added per-message edit time limit — restrict how long users can edit their own messages after sending
• Fixed fatal error when uploading attachments at the bulk messages screen
• Fixed hideParticipants chat room setting being ignored when the attachments browser was enabled
• Fixed stale sticker suggestions remaining visible in the composer after a sticker was sent
• Fixed AI Chat Bots admin layout breaking on older PHP versions and removed a misleading missing-key error
• Fixed sticker pack «Add language» button appearing when no remaining locales were available
• Fixed reply form not being blocked for deleted conversations when PeepSo friendship filter was active
• Fixed Private Message button still showing in chat room user list and message context menu when «Hide New Conversation Button» was enabled
• Improved performance of reported-messages admin screen for sites with millions of messages — queries now scale cleanly instead of relying on transient caches
• Other minor bugfixes and improvements

2.14.16

• Провайдер стикеров Stipop переведён в статус устаревшего, так как значительно повысил цену с момента начальной интеграции
• Added built-in sticker packs system — create and manage your own sticker packs, with role-based access control and per-locale support
• Добавлены 8 готовых наборов стикеров, которые можно установить из настроек плагина
• Добавлены подсказки стикеров при вводе — стикеры предлагаются во время набора текста на основе ключевых слов, если включено в настройках плагина
• Перестроена интеграция GIF в мультипровайдерную систему с поддержкой GIPHY и Klipy — выберите предпочтительного провайдера в Настройки → Интеграции
• Исправлена проблема, при которой вставленные эмодзи преобразовывались в изображения эмодзи WordPress в редакторе ответа
• Other minor bugfixes and improvements

2.14.14

• Added WooCommerce integration — adds contact buttons on product, cart, checkout, and order pages with configurable placement and recipient
  • Added Product Page contact button with 4 placement options (above/below summary, above/below add-to-cart) — works in both classic and block themes
  • Added Order Page contact button on My Account → View Order
  • Added Pre-purchase Help Button on cart and checkout pages
  • Added automatic cart snapshot — when a customer starts a chat from cart or checkout, the contents of their cart are auto-posted as a rich message in the conversation.
  • Added rich product cards in chat — plain WooCommerce product URLs pasted in any chat message are auto-expanded into rich cards with image, title, and price
  • Fixed bug where saving plugin settings could wipe registered rewrite endpoints (WooCommerce, BuddyPress, Better Messages) until permalinks were manually re-saved
• Removed hardcoded logo width and height in the email notifications template
• Other minor bugfixes and improvements

2.14.13

• Added new «Floating Bubble» display style for mini widgets — replaces the classic bottom tab bar with a circular button that expands into a chat panel on click
• Added «Bubble Chat Heads» option — shows recently closed conversations as avatar bubbles stacked above the floating bubble button (similar to Messenger chat heads), with hover tooltips showing thread name, time, and last message preview
• Added Bubble Icon picker in admin settings
• Added customizer controls for bubble button and chat head sizes and roundness
• Added smooth open/close/transition animations for mini widgets, bubble panel, and chat heads (can be disabled in admin settings)
• Fixed bug where photos uploaded from iOS could appear rotated in chat — caused by buggy EXIF orientation handling in iOS Safari’s createImageBitmap
• Fixed bug where the «Select Logo» button on the Email template settings page did nothing because the WordPress media library was not enqueued
• Other minor bugfixes and improvements

2.14.11 — 2.14.12

• Added Better Messages Translation AI — automatic message translation for 1-to-1 conversations
• Added Better Messages Transcription AI — voice message transcriptions
• Added Test Callback URL button to the Settings page in the WebSocket version, which allows testing the callback URL for the Better Messages Cloud AI
• Initial integration with WordPress Abilities API, which allows using MCP and AI
• Fixed bug with AI Chat Bots not allowing to select model if no global api key setting
• Fixed bug with attachments being sent to previously opened conversation when using «Send now» button in the file uploader popup
• Fixed bug where disabling End-to-End Encryption would lock users out of previously encrypted conversations and prevent starting new ones with the same participants when the Single Conversation Per Recipient option is enabled
• Other minor bugfixes and improvements

2.14.8 — 2.14.10

• Initial release of Better Messages Cloud AI
• Added Better Messages Moderation AI — included with WebSocket license at no additional cost, no third-party API keys required.
  • Cloud-powered content moderation with extended categories, custom rules, and conversation context awareness
  • Added AI moderation provider selection: choose between OpenAI Moderation API and Better Messages Moderation AI
  • Added custom moderation rules — define your own rules in plain text (e.g. block contact sharing, promotions)
  • Added conversation context for AI moderation — detect patterns like phone numbers split across multiple messages
  • Added 10 new moderation categories for Better Messages AI: spam, scam/phishing, minor safety, contact sharing, profanity, impersonation, doxxing, drugs/alcohol, threats, commercial promotion
• Translations now loaded as cacheable external file instead of inline scripts to make it more efficient
• Added ability to open and close chat rooms
• Added chat room management actions: duplicate, clear messages, remove all participants
• Fixed PeepSo Notifications Popup overlapping Better Messages Popup
• Fixed PeepSo Vip Icons displaying incorrectly in administration panel
• Reworked reactions selector displaying as they became a bit jumpy, especially on mobile devices
• Improved database reset detection and connection timeout for settings changes
• Added FluentCommunity Spaces integration for groups widgets (mini widgets, side panel tabs, mobile tabs)
• It’s now possible to find users by email in admin user search
• Fixed PHP warning for undefined ‘lang’ key in mobile device registration
• Improved SharedWorker reconnect, plugin updates no longer require page reload
• Updated Freemius SDK to latest version
• Other minor bugfixes and improvements

2.14.7

• Added new Privacy & GDPR settings page with compliance overview and privacy controls
• Added self-hosted emoji sprites option — download emoji images to your server instead of loading from external CDN
• Added Privacy-friendly oEmbeds — YouTube, Vimeo and other video embeds load only after user clicks
• Added WordPress personal data export and erasure support (Tools → Export/Erase Personal Data)
• Added suggested privacy policy text that adapts based on enabled features (Settings → Privacy)
• Added option to delete file attachments when user requests data erasure
• Added option to enable or disable Emoji Picker button
• Added option to enable or disable automatic text emoticon to emoji conversion
• Improved caching — scripts and resources that don’t change between updates are now cached independently by the browser
• Scripts and resources are now loaded on demand only when the feature is actually used
• Added filter hooks for custom AI provider registration
• AI Chat Bots will not be auto-removed from Group Conversations when members list syncing
• Show «Voice message» fallback text when voice messages addon is disabled
• Fixed mentions popup not closing when no matches found
• Fixed voice message uploads returning 404 when file attachments disabled
• Fixed E2E encrypted file uploads in new conversations
• Fixed group member sync running for groups with chat disabled
• Improved email template customization — preview now reflects all settings accurately
• Fixed custom HTML email template not saving properly
• Other minor bugfixes and improvements

2.14.2 — 2.14.6

• Added option to randomize filenames on upload to prevent Web Application Firewalls from blocking file uploads in some web hosts
• Added double confirmation for message auto deleting setting to prevent accidental data loss
• Improved integrations subtabs sorting — active plugins now appear first
• Improved AI Digests with better context awareness and error logging
• Improved video and image transcoding to prevent GIF animation loss
• Fixed chat room moderators not recognized in group video call permissions (join, start, admin controls)
• Fixed async chunk loading issues caused by browser caching after plugin updates
• Fixed reactions selector overflowing bottom of viewport
• Fixed image/video optimization output formats not saved to settings and not validated on upload
• Fixed stale E2E encryption status when sending messages after switching threads
• Fixed Ultimate Member directory message button missing target user ID
• Fixed Chat Room block «Create new» link pointing to old post editor
• Fixed messages location warning showing incorrectly for integration plugins
• Fixed mentions with HTML badges (e.g. PeepSo verified icons) rendering as raw HTML instead of images
• Fixed CSS issue for SVG icons in FluentCommunity Groups
• Fixed Fluent Community mobile bottom menu not returning after closing keyboard on Chrome iOS with native button
• Improved Fluent Community mobile bottom menu icon now navigating back to messages list when not at it
• Other minor bugfixes, improvements and optimizations

2.14.0 — 2.14.1

• Completely rebuilt Settings page in WP Admin to make it more compact and easier to navigate while adding new features
• Reworked GamiPress and myCRED addons into unified Points System with per-role pricing and balance display directly in Better Messages interface
• AI Chat Bots: Added support for adding chat bots to group conversations and ability to respond when they are mentioned
• AI Chat Bots: Added support for Anthropic (Claude) and Google Gemini providers alongside OpenAI
• AI Chat Bots: Added conversation summarization and scheduled digests features for Group Conversations
• AI Chat Bots: Added token usage tracking with cost estimation and ability to charge with MyCRED or GamiPress points
• AI Chat Bots: Bots now appear as online users and show typing indicators while generating responses in WebSocket Version
• AI Chat Bots: Added dedicated admin page for bot management
• Added activity indicators for voice recording and file uploading in addition to typing indicator in WebSocket Version
• Added Voice Messages settings tab with max recording duration, auto-delete, voice transcription and role restrictions
• Added new Chat Rooms administration page in WP Admin
• Added ability to force notification for tagged users even if muted the conversation
• Added online users sidebar panel in Chat Rooms with toggle button
• Added ability mute and unmute participant microphones in group video calls
• Added ability to send voice messages when creating a new conversation
• Added ability to customize order of tabs in mini widgets, side panel and mobile view
• Added compatibility with the new Progressify plugin (wordpress.org version) alongside the legacy CodeCanyon version
• Tested with WordPress 7.0 Beta

2.13.0 — 2.13.1

• Added optional End-to-End Encryption (E2EE) for private and group conversations (WebSocket version only)
  • Can be enabled at the website level and optionally per conversation
  • Messages encrypted in user browsers — server never sees plaintext
  • AES-256-GCM encryption for messages and file attachments
  • Password-protected key backup for multi-device access
  • Key recovery if the user forgets an encryption password
  • Automatic key distribution for new conversation participants
• Added client-side image and video optimization for cross-browser compatibility and saving storage space
  • Automatic image conversion to WebP, AVIF, or JPEG before upload
  • Configurable image quality and max resolution
  • Metadata stripping for privacy
  • HEIC/HEIF automatic conversion for cross-browser compatibility
  • Video format conversion to MP4 for universal playback
• Added Compact Mode for Side Conversations List with auto and always compact options
• Renamed «Combined View» to «Side Conversations List»
• Fixed «Enable PeepSo Header at Messages Page» was not working after some updates
• Other minor bugfixes, improvements and optimizations

2.12.9

• Added optional feature to enable messages forwarding
• Reworked bulk messaging
  • Moved bulk messaging to a dedicated WP Admin screen
  • Added ability to attach files to bulk messages
  • Moved bulk messaging sending to a background process instead of frontend processing
  • Added ability to schedule bulk messages for later
  • Added ability to pause, resume and cancel bulk jobs
  • Added follow-up messaging to send additional messages into existing bulk conversations
  • Added activity filter to target users active within or inactive for a specified number of days
  • Added ability to send bulk messages as another user
  • Added ability to send bulk messages to specific users
  • Added ability to send bulk messages to group members (BuddyPress, PeepSo, Ultimate Member)
  • Added send rate (batch size) control
  • Added test/preview for bulk messages before sending
• Added initial integration with SureDash
• Removed jQuery dependency from inline scripts
• Fixed empty chat rooms to be properly shown in user inbox when user auto added to it
• Added Thread ID indication and View in inbox button to Chat Rooms settings page in WP Admin
• Other minor bugfixes, improvements and optimizations

2.12.5 — 2.12.6

• Added option to filter conversations list to show only unread conversations
• Migrated WC Vendors and WCFM Add-ons to the core plugin. WCFM and WC Vendors Add-ons are now deprecated and will be removed, please deactivate them in your website if you are using them.
• Updated OneSignal Integration code to support the latest OneSignal API changes
• Mentions search now supports searching usernames with whitespace
• Other minor bugfixes, improvements and optimizations

2.12.2 — 2.12.4

• Completely reworked Voice Recorder Add-on UX
• Added Attachments browser feature which allows browsing all uploaded files in the conversation information panel
• Added message draft autosave feature — unsent messages are automatically saved and restored when returning to a conversation, with a draft indicator shown in the conversations list
• Added voice message transcription powered by OpenAI (requires OpenAI API key)
• Added protect files with proxy feature to protect uploaded files from direct access with support for X-Sendfile, X-Accel-Redirect and LiteSpeed optimized serving
• Added resumable file uploads for improved reliability on slow or unstable connections
• Added option to switch between file upload method (Standard POST Upload or TUS (Resumable Upload)) as some hosting blocks TUS uploads with WAF
• Improved upload directory structure with per-thread unique subfolders to improve security and keep original filenames
• Other minor bugfixes and improvements

2.12.0 — 2.12.1

• Added AI Content Moderation powered by OpenAI Moderation API
• Group Video & Audio Calls improvements:
  • Added moderator controls: lock room, mute all participants, broadcast mode
  • Added Promote to Speaker / Demote to Viewer controls in broadcast mode
  • Added Raise Hand / Lower Hand feature for viewers in broadcast mode
  • Added Lower All Hands button for moderators
  • Added option to restrict who can start group calls (anyone or moderators only)
  • Added default call mode setting (Participatory or Broadcast) in conversation settings
  • Added group call settings section in conversation information panel
  • Added visual speaker highlighting during group calls
  • Improved microphone and camera device switching reliability
• Replaced browser database engine with new lightweight custom solution for better performance and stability
• Browser database and WebSocket connection is now shared across browser tabs via SharedWorker, improving performance and real-time sync
• AI Moderation supports two modes: Hold for Review (messages require admin approval) and Flag Only (messages are sent but marked for admin review)
• AI Moderation includes configurable sensitivity threshold, content category selection, and role-based bypass
• AI Moderation supports image moderation in addition to text content
• AI Flagged messages appear in the moderation panel alongside user-reported messages
• Improved moderation notification emails with detailed reason information (AI moderation, first-time sender, blacklisted user)
• AI Chat Bots: Added support for OpenAI reasoning models (o-series, GPT-5)
• AI Chat Bots: Added Temperature, Max Output Tokens, and Reasoning Effort settings
• Added Chat Room block for WordPress Block Editor (Gutenberg) with full screen auto-open option
• Added option to hide participants count in chat room header
• Improved rendering performance of the messages list, reducing unnecessary updates when receiving new messages
• Improved auto-recovery when browser database is unexpectedly deleted
• Fixed calls not starting in some cases
• Fixed group video call crash when container has zero dimensions during initialization
• Fixed AI Chat Bot error «You cannot send messages to this user»
• Fixed scrollbar thumb direction in some browsers
• Compatibility update for WordPress 6.2+ by replacing deprecated get_page_by_title() usage during activation
• Other minor bugfixes and improvements

2.11.0 — 2.11.1

• Added ability to customize the email template for unread messages notifications in WP Admin
• Added ability to add unsubscribe link to email notifications
• Added ability to send test email notifications message from plugin settings page
• Added Pre-Moderated Messages feature, which allows moderating messages before they are delivered to recipients
  • Added ability to pre-moderate messages when the user did not have messages at website yet
  • Added ability to enable moderation of new conversation by user role in plugin settings
  • Added ability to enable moderation of new replies by user role in plugin settings
  • Added ability to whitelist users from moderation in the administration screen
  • Added ability to blacklist users, which enables force moderation of messages from them
  • Added ability to set email list which will receive notifications about new messages for moderated or new message reports
• Added options for admins to bypass words blacklist
• Added initial support for new Dokan Vendor Dashboard UI
• Removed Customizations tab from settings page, settings from that page moved to Messaging tab
• Other minor bugfixes and improvements