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Sky Changelog Notifier

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Sky Changelog Notifier

by Matt Biscay

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Description

Sky Changelog Notifier enhances WordPress automatic update notification emails by including the actual changelog for each updated plugin or theme. This keeps you informed about what changed in each update without having to visit the WordPress.org repository.

Key Features:

  • Automatically fetches and includes changelogs in update notification emails
  • Works with both plugin and theme updates
  • Adds emoji indicators (✅🚀❌) to plugin details modal showing version status
  • Fetches from tagged versions for accuracy, with automatic fallback to trunk
  • Comprehensive caching for optimal performance
  • WP-CLI support for testing
  • Compatibility with WordPress core notifications and Easy Updates Manager (EUM)
  • Locale-agnostic email insertion — works on any localized WordPress site

Pro Features:

  • Accessible HTML update emails with a plain-text alternative
  • Searchable local changelog history for plugins and themes
  • Plugin/theme filter presets with an optional checkbox-based custom selection
  • Default, existing-user, or custom-email primary recipient, plus additional CC recipients

How It Works:

When WordPress automatically updates plugins or themes, this plugin:

  1. Fetches the changelog from the plugin/theme’s readme.txt file
  2. Extracts the specific version’s changelog
  3. Appends it to the update notification email
  4. Caches results for 1 hour to improve performance

Plugin Modal Enhancement:

When viewing plugin details in the WordPress admin, you’ll see:
* ✅ Green checkmark – Your version matches the latest
* 🚀 Rocket – You’re ahead (development version)
* ❌ Red X – Update available

Compatibility:

Works seamlessly with:
* Easy Updates Manager
* Uses high priority (999) on standard WordPress filters
* Hooks into automatic_updates_complete for EUM and similar plugins that bypass WordPress email filters
* Locale-agnostic insertion using structural markers instead of translatable strings

Development

Development happens on GitHub: https://github.com/skyminds/sky-changelog-notifier

  1. Upload the sky-changelog-notifier folder to /wp-content/plugins/
  2. Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress
  3. That’s it! The plugin works automatically
Does this work with manual updates?

No, this plugin only enhances automatic update notification emails. Manual updates don’t trigger these emails.

Can I test if it’s working?

Yes! Use the built-in testing feature:
* Web: /wp-admin/?test_changelog_retrieval&_wpnonce=<nonce> (generate nonce with action sky_changelog_notifier_test)
* WP-CLI: wp changelog akismet 5.3 plugin

Is it compatible with other plugins?

The plugin is designed for WordPress core automatic update emails and includes a dedicated integration for Easy Updates Manager.

Other update management plugins may work when they use the standard WordPress email filters, but they are not currently part of the tested compatibility matrix.

Does it slow down my site?

No. All changelog fetches are cached for 1 hour, and the plugin only runs during automatic updates.

What happens to plugin data when I uninstall it?

Uninstalling the plugin from the WordPress Plugins screen removes its settings, cached changelogs, and local changelog history. Deactivating the plugin keeps this data.

3.3.2

  • FIX: Frontend CSS now only loads when the [scln_changelog] shortcode includes a slug attribute, instead of on any page containing the bare shortcode

  • IMPROVED: Admin settings and frontend changelog display now serve minified CSS

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