Hello.
At the moment, the Newspaper theme version 9.1 is installed and used on my site. WordPress has been updated to version 6.4.4. Php version 7.4.33 is used on the hosting.
There are more and more problems with the old version, and in order not to deal with them, it would be nice to update the theme version. There is an opportunity to upgrade the php version on the hosting up to 8.3. WordPress will also be updated before updating the theme.
But I have a number of questions, as some points are unclear.
1) I bought the Newspaper version 9.1 theme 5-6 years ago or more. There is an activation key and it is applied to the theme on the site. But on the tabs of the theme settings, I do not see where it would be possible to update between versions or sub-versions from the administrative part of the theme. As shown in the tutorial on updating the theme. That is, I will most likely have to update the new version via Ftp. Tutorial I read how to do it.
2) To get the new version, will I have to pay for it in full, as a new separate product? That is, not as an update for an already purchased product at any discount or reduced cost, for example.
3) Will the activation key be new or will the old one remain, which is currently activated by the current version of the theme?
4) And I want to understand whether the update will solve the problems that currently exist with the theme and its plugins.
Currently, there is a vulnerability issue for new malware in older versions. Malware was encountered and something was partially defeated by making edits to the theme code, something was limited by banning the REST API for the site, since installing a clean WordPress and a clean theme did not bring results.
And periodically, the tagDiv Composer plugin is deactivated by itself. It occurs at different times of the day and with different frequency by day. I have not been able to detect dependence on anything.
Therefore, I would like to understand that updating to the latest version of the theme has fixes for these problems. At least a security solution against the current malware attack and infection mechanisms. And it will be very cool if the update also solves the problem of self-deactivation of the plugin. Otherwise, it greatly spoils the appearance of the site when the Composer plugin is disabled.
I hope for understanding and help in answering my questions.
As soon as everything becomes more or less clear, I will send the answers to my management so that they pay for the new version and we will receive the new version of the topic as soon as possible.
Hello,
We recommend using PHP version 8.0 or 8.1; with version 8.3, certain issues may arise.
1. You need to download the latest version from Themeforest and perform the update manually. We recommend conducting the update on a staging website because there have been many changes from version 9.1 to 12.6.5. Additionally, the auto-update option was only added later in version 10.3.x.x.
2.No, you don’t need to purchase a new license, as updates are for a lifetime if the license is valid.
3. The license remains the same; only the theme version differs, so you can use the same license on the website where you currently have that older version.
4. Over time, vulnerabilities have been discovered and resolved through updates. You can find the changelog for each version here -> https://tagdiv.com/newspaper/
Unfortunately, the tagdiv Composer may be disabled due to malware, so certain plugin files may be targeted. However, this can only be seen in the error log file. I recommend that after updating the theme, WordPress, and PHP, you use Wordfence to scan the website and block access to /wp-json/tdw/save_css
If an attacker wants to target this URL /wp-json/tdw/save_css they can do so. Even if the website uses a different theme, the attacker can still try that URL. We could add an option to enable/disable the Live CSS, and it will be considered. But for now in order to remove it this can only be done with a modification to the composer plugin. I think that all that removing it requires is to comment this line of code – https://prnt.sc/RtwvL5Nc4ikR -> https://prnt.sc/ymZmhdUfp57U But as I mentioned, the attacker can still try to access the URL.
Thank you!
Hello.
Thanks for the detailed answer.
We will keep updating.
