Technical

• Downtime, Profiles Data Bug, and a Round of More Positive Technical Updates

  tl;dr: We’ve had some downtime due to AI bots hammering us. We’re working on it. We had another bug where profile fields disappeared. We fixed it (duplicate metadata in the wp_bp_xprofile_field table). We’re doing lots of cool new development work. When big corporate players have problems or downtime, they tend to hide them and see…

• WordPress 6.8.1 and New Themes

  Last week, Knowledge Commons upgraded our WordPress instance to version 6.8.1. This update brings a range of exciting new features and enhancements that offer a smoother, more powerful experience to user sites. Below, you’ll find a selection of the latest tools and options you can start using on your site. For more details, be sure…

• On Accessibility and Security

  In keeping with our commitment to be a platform for everyone and a good partner to both our current organizational members and those who wish to join us, the Knowledge Commons team recently completed two important reports: the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template (VPAT) and the Higher Education Community Vendor Assessment Toolkit (HECVAT). Taken together these…

• Testing 1, 2, 3 (on software testing and why it’s interesting even to non-developers/non-coders)

  

  My days working at Knowledge Commons are highly varied. It’s great. I get up in the morning and do some research work, writing my next book (OK, that isn’t KC work, I know, but it’s part of my day). The day itself will then involve some hands-on programming (we’re re-writing the Profiles system), writing grant…

• Swimming upstream

  Reposted from: Martin Paul Eve, “Swimming upstream”, https://eve.gd, February 21, 2025, https://doi.org/10.59348/3e3vq-jf273. Open source projects like InvenioRDM – on which we rely for our repository software at Knowledge Commons – thrive on community contributions. When initiatives like ours not only use these platforms but actively contribute improvements back to the original codebase, everyone benefits. This…

• Getting external access to BuddyPress’s notifications (or: distributing Knowledge Commons)

  Crossposted from Martin Paul Eve, “Getting external access to BuddyPress’s notifications (for Knowledge Commons)”, https://eve.gd, February 18, 2025, https://doi.org/10.59348/gpbaz-kx09. As part of my work on Knowledge Commons, I want to make more of our development process open, welcoming, and transparent, by using blogging. So I will be writing some technical posts on what I’m doing…

• Rebuilding Commons Search

  This fall we launched KCWorks, our brand-new, modern, really awesome document repository. But did you know we also launched a new search application, written from the ground up for Knowledge Commons? Well, we did! Search is not flashy. It’s something that’s meant to fade into the background and be taken for granted. If you think…