Changelog

02 Sep 2025 3.3.1

fixed: scroll position restoration on mobiles
improved: add fetchpriority=high attribute to the masthead image for improved LCP
improved: support for AVIF image formats during AJAX transitions

02 Jun 2025 3.3.0

fixed: PHP notices related to string translations in "_load_textdomain_just_in_time"
improved: upgraded both theme and core plugin codebases
improved: updated .pot translation files for both theme and core plugin

29 Jan 2025 3.2.1

fixed: incorrect position of slide captions when the "vertically centered" option is enabled
improved: optimized loading of the Google Maps API
improved: removed the theme option panel for the Google Maps API key; use the one provided by Elementor settings instead
improved: minor SEO fixes

15 Dec 2024 3.2.0

added: widget compatibility with "Element Caching" feature
added: widget compatibility with "Optimized Markup" feature
fixed: footer was cut off in the admin panel when the smooth scrolling feature was active
fixed: <meta> tags in the theme header as per Google Web Vitals practices
fixed: "Vertically centered slides" option didn't work in the "Slider Images" widget
fixed: images appeared cut off on mobiles in the "Slider Images" widget
fixed: cursor follower didn't follow the dragging gesture in the "Portfolio Fullscreen Two Rows Slider" widget
added: `[aria-label]` attributes across the theme widgets
improved: updated widget codebase for compatibility with Elementor 3.26.x
improved: upgraded Swiper library to 8.4.x and avoided double loading on the frontend
improved: added a function to detect page ID by title in the menu for compatibility with PolyLang
improved: always show the wizard setup in the admin panel menu

04 Sep 2024 3.1.0

fixed: 404 errors caused by missing banners and icons in core plugin updates
fixed: PHP notice related to the non-existent option "hicpo_options" during theme onboarding
added: new "Theme License" page in the admin panel under the "Appearance" menu group
added: automatic theme and core plugin updates for license holders who activated their purchase code on the "Theme License" page
added: optional field to enter the theme purchase code during onboarding
added: readme.txt file and "Tested up to" tags as required by Envato Theme Check
added: automatic updates for the ACF Pro plugin for users with activated theme licenses
improved: escaped code returned by the `get_sub_field` function as required by ACF Pro
improved: adjusted API endpoint for the plugin updater
improved: changed URLs for downloading bundled plugins and demo files
improved: removed Envato Market from the set of recommended theme plugins
improved: moved the function for registering extra mimes and file types from the theme to the core plugin as required by Envato Theme Check
improved: reduced the size of covers for both parent and child themes
improved: removed unused favicon assets from the theme folder

25 Jul 2024 3.0.1

fixed: AJAX transitions stopped working in the latest Google Chrome

22 Jul 2024 3.0.0

fixed: removed default link underlines in the newest Elementor version
fixed: Swiper loading in the Elementor editor
improved: forcefully disabled the "Optimized Control Loading" feature unless it can work properly with the responsive controls duplication mode
improved: updated bundled ACF Pro to the latest version 6.3.4

25 Jun 2024 2.9.9

improved: synced opacity of the image overlay during AJAX transitions

18 Mar 2024 2.9.8

fixed: font loading issues related to the Kirki plugin (please update Kirki to 5.0.1 after the theme update and empty the /wp-content/fonts folder)
added: AJAX compatibility for the "Email Address Obfuscation" feature provided by CloudFlare
improved: updated bundled ACF Pro to the latest version 6.2.7

17 Jan 2024 2.9.7

fixed: Intuitive Custom Posts Order may stop working due to incorrect capabilities
fixed: PHP warning thrown by the TGM_Plugin_Activation class in some edge cases
added: WordPress and PHP version requirements for both the theme and core plugin

02 Jan 2024 2.9.6

fixed: security patch as per discovered XSS vulnerability in the TGM_Plugin_Activation class
added: shortcode [arts_current_year] to display the current year

15 Dec 2023 2.9.5

fixed: Swiper compatibility issues with Elementor Pro

03 Nov 2023 2.9.4

fixed: theme frontend didn't load on password-protected pages
improved: updated bundled ACF Pro to the latest version 6.2.2

19 Oct 2023 2.9.3

fixed: security update as per discovered XSS vulnerability

22 Sep 2023 2.9.1

fixed: portfolio categories may not render correctly in some cases when using the WPML plugin
fixed: "Edit with Elementor" button pointed to an incorrect target after AJAX transitions in the admin panel
fixed: Google Maps widget threw a console warning regarding the absent callback function
fixed: warning messages when running the theme on PHP 8.2.x
fixed: warnings related to Gutenberg duotone filters in the widget panel
added: API for automatic updates for the Rubenz Core plugin
improved: updated bundled ACF Pro to the latest version 6.2.1

12 Jul 2023 2.9.0

added: AJAX compatibility for the "Hide Title" option in Elementor document settings
fixed: Query Monitor plugin threw PHP errors on Merlin wizard setup pages
fixed: warnings related to the TGMPA class on PHP 8
improved: polyfilled the get_page_by_title() function, which is deprecated since WordPress 6.2
improved: force-disabled HTML minification in the Autoptimize plugin if AJAX transitions are enabled (for correct page rendering)
improved: updated bundled ACF Pro to the latest version 6.1.7

25 Feb 2023 2.8.1

fixed: Swiper compatibility issues in Elementor 3.11.2

18 Feb 2023 2.8.0

improved: compatibility with the latest Elementor 3.11.x
improved: updated bundled ACF Pro to the latest version 6.0.7

09 Dec 2022 2.7.5

fixed: removed link underlines in the newest Elementor version
added: experimental AJAX compatibility with the WPForms plugin
improved: updated bundled ACF Pro to the latest version 6.0.5

29 Apr 2022 2.7.4

fixed: PHP 8.x.x warning related to the incorrect visibility of the magic "__wakeup" method
fixed: Elementor "deprecation" warnings in the Rubenz Core plugin
improved: bumped the minimum required Elementor version to 3.5.x
improved: updated bundled ACF Pro to the latest version 5.12.2

28 Feb 2022 2.7.3

fixed: PHP Notice: Undefined variable filters in WP_Theme_JSON::get_svg_filters()

17 Feb 2022 2.7.2

fixed: incorrect alignment for the logo in the "Logo Description" widget (wasn't centered)
added: options to customize lazy image appearance (Customizer -> Theme Options -> Lazy Images)
improved: removed unneeded SVG duotone filters from HTML markup that appeared since the WordPress 5.9 update
improved: during AJAX transitions, the router will send an "Accept: image/webp" HTTP header to indicate *.webp format support by the browser. This may be useful in some strategies for serving optimized *.webp images.
improved: updated the Modernizr library to the latest version

29 Dec 2021 2.7.1

fixed: fatal error in PHP 7.2.x versions

17 Dec 2021 2.7.0

fixed: JS error when the "Improved assets loading" Elementor feature is turned on
fixed: Elementor accordion widget didn't animate smoothly
improved: replaced all FontAwesome icons with EIcons in Elementor widget controls
improved: minified vendor CSS and JS assets to improve loading speed
improved: updated bundled ACF Pro to the latest version 5.11.4

31 Aug 2021 2.6.0

fixed: resized markers were positioned with an offset in the Google Map widget
fixed: PHP notices related to the "Additional Custom Breakpoints" Elementor feature
fixed: Smooth Scrolling container wasn't accessible for keyboard navigation right after the page load
added: TikTok icon to the Rubenz Social Media widget
added: smooth fade-in/fade-out for the styled Bootstrap modal windows (Contact Form 7 messages)
improved: classes "current-menu-item" and "current-menu-ancestor" are now being updated on the menu items after AJAX navigation, allowing styling of the currently active menu element
improved: renamed deprecated _register_controls() methods to register_controls() for the theme Elementor widgets
improved: renamed deprecated _content_template() methods to content_template() for the theme Elementor widgets
improved: updated bundled ACF Pro to the latest version 5.10.1
deprecated: slug customization no longer works since WordPress 5.8.x. To customize the portfolio post slug, please use this free WordPress plugin https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-post-type-permalinks/

28 May 2021 2.5.3

fixed: incorrect image alignment when hovering over an item in the Portfolio Masonry Grid widget
fixed: loading issues in the masonry grid in Firefox
fixed: PHP 7.4 notices thrown by the Rubenz core plugin
added: "All" label customization in the Portfolio Masonry Grid widget
improved: updated bundled ACF Pro to the latest version 5.9.6

22 Mar 2021 2.5.2

added: ability to force reload the selected page scripts in AJAX navigation (Customizer -> Theme Options -> AJAX Transitions -> Update Page Script Nodes)

26 Feb 2021 2.5.1

fixed: last update caused a PHP fatal error (please remove/install the Rubenz Core plugin again)

25 Feb 2021 2.5.0

fixed: blog page didn't load with the enabled "Improved Assets Loading" Elementor feature
added: compatibility with the latest Contact Form 7 plugin version 5.4.x
added: option to load and evaluate the missing assets (JS and CSS) after AJAX transition (Customizer -> Theme Options -> AJAX Transitions -> Load Missing Scripts/Styles)
added: option to evaluate inline scripts in the content area after AJAX transition (Customizer -> Theme Options -> AJAX Transitions -> Eval Inline JavaScript in Content Area)
added: emit "DOMContentLoaded" event after each AJAX transition
improved: minor backend and frontend improvements

29 Jan 2021 2.4.1

fixed: incorrect transform calculation for parallax effects
fixed: abnormal captions offset in Rubenz Slider Images widget
fixed: incorrect wrapper size calculation for the lazy images
added: compatibility with "Improved Assets Loading" Elementor's latest feature
added: panel to enable/disable the outdated browsers notification in Customizer -> Theme Options -> Outdated Browsers
improved: don't enqueue frontend assets for the disabled features in Customizer (AJAX navigation, Smooth Scrolling, Outdated Browsers)
improved: constant "ARTS_THEME_VERSION" now uses the parent actual theme version

28 Jan 2021 2.4.0

fixed: disappearing Elementor buttons in admin bar after AJAX navigation
fixed: wrong slider height calculation in Rubenz Slider Images widget
added: compatibility with Elementor 3.1.x
added: new theme PHP filter 'arts/lazy/enable_optimized_sizes' to control if the generated thumbnails should be used when outputting a lazy image (see docs for more)
improved: updated bundled ACF Pro to the latest version 5.9.4
improved: under hood improvements in frontend

14 Dec 2020 2.3.0

fixed: Woocommerce AJAX exclusion rules in the latest WP jQuery library
fixed: JS error when there is a link with "#elementor-action" URL on a page
fixed: 404 error for elementor-admin-bar.min.js file in console
fixed: disappearing Elementor buttons in admin bar after AJAX navigation
fixed: disappearing Masonry grids in Elementor preview editor
added: compatibility with WordPress 5.6
added: anchors scrolling compatibility with Smooth Scrolling and AJAX transitions
added: new theme PHP filter 'arts/lazy/placeholder' to add a custom placeholder source for lazy images
added: experimental compatibility with Elementor Theme Builder
added: AJAX compatibility with Elementor Popups

04 Nov 2020 2.2.0

fixed: frontend failure if there is a system or fallback font selected in Typography panel
fixed: posts styles didn't apply correctly when navigating from Blog pages to Elementor pages via AJAX
fixed: blog featured image didn't appear in fullscreen overlay menu

09 Oct 2020 2.1.3

added: compatibility with TranslatePress multilingual plugin (https://docs.artemsemkin.com/rubenz/wp/plugins/multilingual-cms.html#translatepress)
added: if WooCommerce plugin is active there will appear a toggle to disable AJAX navigation on WooCommerce pages in Customizer -> Theme Options -> AJAX Transitions (https://docs.artemsemkin.com/rubenz/wp/customization/ajax-transitions.html#excluding-woocommerce-pages)

28 Sep 2020 2.1.2

fixed: disappearing Elementor buttons in admin bar after AJAX navigation

23 Sep 2020 2.1.1

added: option to adjust images overlay opacity in Fullscreen Headings Slider widget
improved: Material Icons are now served locally instead of Google Fonts server for better loading speed

18 Sep 2020 2.1.0

fixed: double loading of Google Fonts in some edge cases
added: AJAX compatibility for the pages based on Elementor Canvas template
added: option to adjust AJAX router rules per specific page (Edit with Elementor -> Document Settings -> Page AJAX Transition)
added: option to disable zoom hover effect in Portfolio Masonry Grid widget
added: a field to update page head nodes (Customizer -> Theme Options -> AJAX Transitions)
added: helpful articles in theme docs regarding the new AJAX options
improved: more smooth zoom in/out image hover effect in Portfolio Masonry Grid widget
improved: color themes in some places
improved: minor underhood frontend improvements

03 Sep 2020 2.0.3

fixed: dark color themes for Testimonials and Pricing Table widgets
added: option to turn on/off the system cursor loading state
added: JS events on the main window (for developers): 'arts/barba/transition/start', 'arts/barba/transition/init', 'arts/barba/transition/end'
improved: minor frontend optimizations
improved: increased priority for enqueuing child theme styles to load them later

27 Aug 2020 2.0.2

fixed: incorrect import of some demo pages when running on Elementor 3+
added: apply "no-ajax" class for the links to exclude them from AJAX transitions
improved: updated bundled ACF Pro to the latest version 5.9.0
improved: convenient highlight for custom JS code field in Customizer

18 Aug 2020 2.0.1

improved: minor underhood optimizations

24 Jul 2020 2.0.0

fixed: inaccessible Google Map markers on mobile touch devices
fixed: inline Elementor Google Fonts didn't load after AJAX transition
fixed: incorrect render of Animated Headline widget (Elementor Pro) after AJAX transition
fixed: duplicated response messages in Contact Form 7 latest version
fixed: avatars may not load in Slider Testimonials if mouse click navigation were used
added: compatibility with Elementor 3
added: AJAX compatibility with Lottie animations (Elementor Pro)
added: error message if the declared fonts fail to load
added: helpful article on how to fix broken fonts problem in theme documentation
improved: optimized images loading speed by serving proper sizes and srcset
improved: minimized database queries from dynamic theme widgets
improved: implemented singleton pattern for all the theme widgets classes
improved: better compatibility with latest WPML
improved: removed duplicated fonts names declaration to load in frontend
improved: if AJAX is off, enqueue Google Maps API script only whenever it's required
improved: removed theme version parameter from Material Icons CSS

03 Jul 2020 1.9.10

fixed: footer bottom widget area didn't appear if no footer columns are present
improved: removed redundant eval code

26 Jun 2020 1.9.9

fixed: PolyLang language dropdown did open an incorrect page after AJAX transitions
fixed: unreadable headings in Masonry Grid dark theme
fixed: broken counters ordering in Portfolio Masonry Grid & Portfolio Two Rows widgets
added: option to enable/disable AJAX image transition for all the dynamic widgets
added: option in Customizer to evaluate inline scripts after AJAX transitions
added: option in Customizer to prevent AJAX transitions from header widget area
added: option in Portfolio Masonry Grid widget to enable/disable decorative counters
updated: ACF Pro to latest version 5.8.12

06 Jun 2020 1.9.8

fixed: frontend error if canvas element doesn't exist

22 May 2020 1.9.7

added: handling of anchors scrolling for '#link" elements on the page
added: the closing of overlay menu in case of a clicked anchor link
added: support for wp_body_open() hook
fixed: PHP notices produced by Rubenz: Social Media widget
fixed: Source maps notices in console
updated: .pot translation files

15 May 2020 1.9.6

fixed: PHP error during the theme update on some web-servers
fixed: incorrect work of multiple fullscreen sliders placed on a page
improved: Fullscreen Slider parallax performance on Windows Firefox & Edge
added: ability to hide arrows in Portfolio Fullscreen Slider widget
updated: ACF Pro to latest version 5.8.11

03 May 2020 1.9.5

fixed: interaction glitch in overlay menu on some touch mobile devices

24 Apr 2020 1.9.4

added: option to reposition "next" portfolio item as first on mobiles in Customizer -> Portfolio
added: option to disable touch swipe controls in fullscreen sliders
added: option to enable/disable "fit to viewport height" in Customizer -> General Style -> Layout
added: WordPress filters to add custom social icons (ref: https://docs.artemsemkin.com/rubenz/wp/tips-tricks/adding-custom-social-icons.html)
added: new icons to Social Media widget
improved: compatibility for Waypoints JS library

10 Apr 2020 1.9.3

fixed: vertical alignment mode in Slider Images
fixed: Adobe Fonts PHP warning
added: window resizing handler to update the fullscreen sliders
updated: new theme docs

11 Mar 2020 1.9.2

added: compatibility with Elementor 2.9.5+
added: backward compatibility for Elementor 2.8.5 and below
improved: separated Elementor editor frontend from the main theme script
updated: SplitText library to the latest version

22 Feb 2020 1.9.1

fixed: incorrect lines breaks produced by text splitting
fixed: AJAX transition crash with enabled AdBlocker and Google Analytics
updated: new fonts loading strategy

13 Feb 2020 1.9.0

added: compatibility with Swiper 5.x
added: compatibility for upcoming Elementor 2.9.x
added: options for hiding indicators in "Portfolio Headings Slider" Elementor widgets
updated: handlers and versions for the frontend assets

27 Jan 2020 1.8.1

fixed: Elementor standard animations didn't run on the elements placed after the Masonry grids on a page
fixed: Elementor Pro sticky glitches when switching between pages (only native scroll is currently supported for sticky effects)
added: AJAX compatibility for CF7 Conditional Fields plugin

08 Jan 2020 1.8.0

fixed: potential page crash if Slider Images Widget had progress bar turned off
added: cursor progress during initial page load
added: styled modal windows for Contact Form 7 (error/submit events)
added: on/off option for new styled modal windows for Contact Form 7
added: WordPress filters for changing query arguments in the dynamic widgets
improved: cursor mouse follower now uses transforms instead of left/top to improve the performance
improved: updated .pot theme language file
improved: updated .pot plugin language file
improved: updated theme docs

27 Dec 2019 1.7.0

fixed: scrollbar thumb may become inaccessible in the top part of the page
fixed: Kirki plugin didn't activate automatically during theme wizard setup
fixed: OC Demo Import conflict with Merlin wizard setup. Now loads only 1 demo importer at the same time
improved: page scroll and slider mousewheel now works even if mouse pointer is over the header area

22 Dec 2019 1.6.2

improved: smooth scrollbar now emits a native scroll window event instead of registering dozens of callbacks as event listeners

21 Dec 2019 1.6.1

added: compatibility with Elementor Gallery widget from Elementor Pro
added: smooth scrolling plugin now emits native window scroll events enabling compatibility with scroll-based JS plugins
added: compatibility with parallax motion effects from Elementor Pro
added: keyboard control for the fullscreen sliders (on/off from widget options)
added: support for mobile touch gestures in fullscreen sliders
improved: Contact 7 Form now will send data over AJAX after a page transition (was a page hard refresh)
improved: cleaned up unnecessary code
fixed: halfscreen slider content may not appear on mobile because of an overridden CSS rule by Autoptimize plugin
fixed: incorrect footer widgets setup during the demo import

25 Nov 2019 1.5.3

fixed: setup wizard threw error message "Sorry, you are not allowed to access this page" after the initial theme activation in WordPress 5.3
fixed: Google Analytics threw console error with active Ad Blocker
improved: handling placeholders in the form input fields
improved: header position absolute is now compatible with Smooth Scroll
added: page style handling for Essential Addons for Elementor plugin

07 Nov 2019 1.5.2

fixed: posts amount limit function in Elementor dynamic widgets

29 Oct 2019 1.5.1

added: detecting of outdated browsers and advising users to upgrade to a new version
added: mousewheel control on/off for portfolio fullscreen sliders
improved: removed plugin-territory <head> tags
improved: dynamically add pingback URLs to blog posts

24 Oct 2019 1.5.0

added: Rubenz Elementor widgets are now fully compatible with WPML's Translation Editor
improved: better code structure in Rubenz Core Elementor extension class

14 Oct 2019 1.4.0

added: support for custom fonts uploading (new option panel in admin menu)
added: masthead backgrounds support for blog posts (Customizer -> Blog -> Masthead)
added: draggable slider cursor indication (images slider)
improved: Adobe Fonts are now supported by default (no more toggle needed)
improved: changed CSS variable var(--vh) to var(--fix-bar-vh)
improved: there is an inline style now created instead of property for mobile bar height correction
improved: better <head> update function for AJAX transitions
improved: removed PJAXWaitContainerImages() promise from AJAX next page init to improve loading speed
fixed: overlay menu may not open again when going to a single blog post

09 Oct 2019 1.3.0

improved: better performance on dual-GPU hardware
improved: smoother overlay menu
added: cursor progress loading
added: spinner AJAX loading indicator (separate options for desktop and mobile in Customizer)
updated: ACF Pro to version 5.8.4

12 Sep 2019 1.2.2

fixed: color theme selector didn't appear in document settings

11 Sep 2019 1.2.1

added: container full-width/boxed layout selector in Customizer for both header & footer

11 Sep 2019 1.2.0

added: compatibility with Elementor 2.7+

27 Aug 2019 1.1.6

added: new options for smooth scroll (Customizer -> Theme Options -> Smooth Scroll)
added: Edge Easing plugin for smooth scroll
updated: menu overlay hover
fixed: Elementor lightbox gallery after AJAX transition
fixed: slider images height calculation
removed: unnecessary scripts

17 Aug 2019 1.1.5

fixed: links on non-Elementor pages didn't load other pages via AJAX

15 Aug 2019 1.1.4

added: additional text field for portfolio items displayed in full-screen sliders
added: "explore" button slider animation

14 Aug 2019 1.1.3

improved: smoother menu closing animation
improved: smoother sub-level menu transition

13 Aug 2019 1.1.2

fixed: portfolio slider 2 rows didn't show on mobile

12 Aug 2019 1.1.1

fixed: overlay menu glitches in Safari
improved: overlay menu performance
added: AJAX compatibility with popular ad tracking systems (Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, Yandex Metrika)

01 Aug 2019 1.1.0

fixed: incorrect text split in some rare cases in Safari
fixed: Elementor lightbox gallery didn't show correctly after AJAX transition
added: portfolio slug customization (Customizer -> Portfolio -> Enable custom portfolio slug)
added: portfolio categories taxonomies (can be used for filtering in portfolio masonry grid)
updated: more portfolio display control possibilities in all dynamic widgets (all, limited amount, excluding certain items)
added: ability to filter items by categories in portfolio masonry grid

08 Jul 2019 1.0.7

added: an option to control the number of displayed custom posts in dynamic Elementor widgets
updated: bundled plugin Advanced Custom Fields to version 5.8.1
updated: bundled plugin Rubenz Core to version 1.0.1

19 Jun 2019 1.0.6

added: Adobe Fonts (Typekit) support

14 Jun 2019 1.0.5

fixed: 404 page

12 Jun 2019 1.0.3 / 1.0.4

improved: default Elementor widgets compatibility
improved: mobile 100vh calculation for home sliders

09 Jun 2019 1.0.2

fixed: incorrect slider images height in Safari

07 Jun 2019 1.0.1

fixed: scroll restoration when closing overlay menu

06 Jun 2019 1.0.0

initial release