PublishPress Checklists v2.29: More Reliable Link Checks and Editor Fixes
This post is about a release of the PublishPress Checklists plugin. This is the best way to make sure your content is ready to go live. You can define tasks that must be complete before posts are published.
PublishPress Checklists 2.29.0 focuses on making editorial requirements more reliable in both the Block Editor and Classic Editor. The most useful change for many teams is improved link checking: internal links, external links, anchor links, and relative links should now be validated more accurately, especially when a checklist task only sets a minimum requirement.
This is mainly a maintenance and quality release, but it addresses several real workflow frustrations for editors who rely on checklists before publishing content.
Table of Contents
More dependable checklist validation
- Minimum link requirements: Internal and external link tasks now work correctly when only a minimum value is set and no maximum value is entered.
- Classic Editor reloads: Internal link checks now recheck saved Classic Editor content correctly after a post is reopened.
- Anchor and relative links: Valid anchor links and relative URLs are no longer incorrectly treated as invalid links.
These fixes should reduce false warnings when your content already meets the required checklist rules. For teams using Checklists to enforce SEO, linking, or editorial standards, that means fewer unnecessary interruptions before publishing.
Block Editor and admin screen fixes
The release also improves several parts of the editing experience, especially around the Block Editor sidebar and block highlighting behavior.
- Gutenberg deprecation notices: The plugin has been updated to avoid several WordPress 6.6 deprecation notices in the editor.
- Block highlighting tooltip: A timing issue that could prevent the tooltip from starting correctly during editor loading has been fixed.
- Highlighter setting: The block highlighter can now be disabled as expected from the plugin settings.
- Template editing: The Checklists icon now appears correctly on the template editing screen.
- Checklists screen layout: Dropdown menus on the Checklists screen no longer overlap each other.
Clearer settings and performance cleanup
PublishPress Checklists 2.29.0 also includes smaller usability and performance improvements. The description for the checklist task sort order setting has been improved, making it easier to understand how checklist items are organized.
- Legacy compatibility check removed: An older compatibility check was removed to improve backend performance.
- Text cleanup: One checklist item string was corrected for clearer wording.
- Project maintenance: Development workspace files, GitHub workflows, and the WordPress.org readme were updated.
Developer improvements
For developers, this release updates deprecated Gutenberg API usage introduced around WordPress 6.6. It moves away from older wp.editPost references where needed and updates the publish sidebar checks to use current editor APIs.
The removal of the legacy plugin compatibility check may also help reduce unnecessary backend processing on some sites, particularly in admin requests where performance bottlenecks were visible.
This post provides an overview of the new features in this release of the PublishPress Checklists plugin. The complete changelogs for both Free and Pro versions are available in our Docs area.
Make sure all your posts meet your standards
When you use PublishPress Checklists, you can define tasks that authors must complete before content is published. You can ensure that all your WordPress posts meet your high standards.
