WP Travel Engine 6.0 Beta is Here!

We have an announcement to make!

We’re releasing the beta version of WP Travel Engine 6.0. With this update, we’ve significantly improved our plugin’s loading speed and overall performance.

By making the plugin lighter and more responsive, we aim to enhance the usability of our single trip page – the core page your users interact with when making bookings. 

This update is currently in the testing phase. Therefore we invite you to try the beta and experience the benefits firsthand. 

Download the WPTE v6.0 Beta now [Download File] and install it on your test environment.

What’s New in WP Travel Engine v6.0?

1. Improved Page Speed

One of the most significant improvements in the new version 6.0 will be the drastic enhancement in loading speeds, particularly for single-trip page. 

With this ongoing optimization, your users will experience minimal wait times, ensuring quick access to any information they need to complete their bookings with ease.

2. Lightweight and Efficient

We’re continuously optimizing the WP Travel Engine for peak performance. 

In this update, we’ve simplified the plugin’s code and are actively optimizing Java Scripts and CSS Styles to make Version 6.0 remarkably lighter. This ongoing effort will not only speed up page loads but also reduce your server’s overall resource use.

The result? A faster, more efficient website that can handle higher traffic volumes without compromising performance.

3. Enhanced User Experience

Moving forward, we’ve ensured that this update brings tangible benefits where they matter most. We’ve focused more on the single trip page, which is the most visited and critical for your users.

Moreover, users will experience smoother browsing with quicker access to trip details, images, and booking options. This improved experience will mostly lead to higher user satisfaction and increased booking conversions.

How to Test WP Travel Engine v6.0 Beta?

Here’s a detailed guide on setting up, testing, and reporting any issues you encounter during testing. 

Before You Test

Before you start testing, follow these steps to set up and upload the WP Travel Engine 6.0 beta plugin on your test site:

1. Set Up a Test Site:

• Locally: You can use a local development environment such as XAMPP, MAMP, or Local by Flywheel.
• Staging Site: Alternatively, you can create a staging site with your web hosting provider to safely test without making changes to your live website.

2. Upload the Plugin:

• Download the WP Travel Engine 6.0 beta plugin ZIP file from here or from the newsletter you received.

Download Beta File

• Upload and activate the plugin on your test or staging site.

What to Test

1. Booking Functionality

• Navigate to a single trip page.
• Test the entire booking process from start to finish.
• Ensure that all steps are smooth and without delays.
• Pay special attention to price calculations during the booking process.
• Verify that the displayed prices match the expected totals.
• Check that any applied discounts, taxes, or additional fees are calculated correctly.

2. Partial Payment

Completing remaining trip payments is now easier. You’ll be redirected to a checkout page showing your cart details (price, down payment) before finalizing the payment. Previously, you could only pay the due amount without seeing the cart history.

So now:

• Test the redirection to the checkout page during the remaining payment flows.
• Verify the accuracy of due amount calculations.

3. Single Trip Data

We’ve reduced repeated code, optimized it, and removed unused CSS and JS in the single trip page. Ensure the overall design still looks good, and verify that all content normally displayed on the single trip page appears correctly.

What if You Find a Bug?

If you encounter any issues while testing, especially those related to booking functionality or data calculations, please report them to us immediately. 

To report a bug, please fill out the form below with detailed information about the issue.

(For better troubleshooting, please include details like steps to reproduce and any screenshots/error messages)

https://forms.gle/ETRN5P9oQndgey3VA

What About the Official Release of Version 6.0?

While we’re targeting a release date in the mid-week of July, this may shift slightly based on valuable feedback and bug reports from our testers.  

We prioritize a smooth user experience, so if any major issues arise during testing, we’ll address them before officially launching Version 6.0.

For Developers

If you’re a developer using our WP Travel Engine for your theme or custom website development, here are the details of the code changes we made in version 6.0 beta.

1. Deprecated Classes and New Implementations

• Classes have been moved to the includes/classes folder.
• We have implemented an autoloader function to automatically load the class definitions when needed, ensuring efficient management of class dependencies.
• WPTravelEngine\Core\Booking is deprecated, use WPTravelEngine\Core\Booking\BookingProcess instead. 
• Wp_Travel_Engine class has been deprecated. Use WPTravelEngine\Plugin instead.

2. Asset Management

• Optimized Assets: Scripts and styles are now registered and added only when needed to improve performance.

3. New API Endpoints

• Access Trip Data: wp-json/wptravelengine/v2/trips/{tripID}
• Access Packages: wp-json/wptravelengine/v2/trips/{tripID}/packages
• Access Dates: wp-json/wptravelengine/v2/trips/{tripID}/dates
• Access Extra Services: wp-json/wptravelengine/v2/trips/{tripID}/services

4. Booking Modal

• React JS implementation: We have implemented React in our booking modal. This choice was made to improve the maintainability of our codebase. By using React, the code will be easier for future developers to understand, which will make fixing bugs a more efficient process.

Comparison of the Previous Version and v6.0

Comparison of CSS and JavaScript File Size

File Size	Current Version	Version 6.0
CSS Size	579 kB	160 kB
JS Size	973.87 kB	783.6 kB

Reduction in CSS: 72.37%

Reduction in JS: 19.53%

Comparison of the Number of Requests of CSS and JavaScript

Number of Requests	Current Version	Version 6.0
CSS	5	4
JS	15	12

Reduction in CSS: 1%

Reduction in JS: 3%

Install the WP Travel Engine 6.0 Beta Today!

We can’t wait for the WP Travel Engine community to test 6.0, and we look forward to receiving your feedback and answering any questions. This will help us continue to identify and make the necessary changes and improvements needed before the final release of 6.0.