Publications Manager — v2.5.0

Release date: 2026-07-16
Package: publications-manager-v2.5.0.zip

New features

Author order is now preserved — authors display in the exact order they were entered or imported, instead of being alphabetized. Previously authors were stored only as pm_author taxonomy terms, which WordPress returns sorted by name; the intended order was lost on read. Order is now recorded per publication in a pm_author_order post meta (an ordered list of term IDs) and honored everywhere authors are shown.
Drag-and-drop author reordering — the Authors & Editors meta box now has a drag handle on each author row (jQuery UI sortable, bundled with WordPress — no external dependency). Drag to reorder, then save with the normal Update button. Add/Remove behavior is unchanged.
Import order fidelity — File import (JSON, CSV, BibTeX) and Crossref import (create and update) now record author order at import time, so an imported publication matches the order of its source.
Bricks Builder author ordering — a new bricks/terms/query_vars filter makes a Terms query loop over the Authors (Publication) taxonomy follow the stored order when it runs on a single publication. It also scopes the loop to that publication's authors. Set the loop's Order by to Include list to make the intent explicit (the filter enforces it regardless).

A single central helper, PM_Author_Taxonomy::get_ordered_author_terms(), reconciles the terms actually assigned to a publication (authoritative set) with the stored order (ordering only). Renamed/deleted terms and duplicates self-heal, and publications with no saved order fall back to the previous alphabetical behavior.
Order is written at every author-assignment site (meta-box save, file import, Crossref create/update) and read through the helper at every display site (frontend/shortcode, admin list column, exports, Bricks).

None — this release is purely additive.

Bumped catalog version to 2.5.0. No new user-facing strings require translation beyond existing coverage (the new meta-box hint and drag handle title reuse the standard i18n functions).

Drop-in upgrade — no migration or configuration required.

Existing publications keep their current (alphabetical) author order until you re-save or re-import them, at which point the entered/import order is captured. To set a custom order, open a publication, drag the authors into place, and click Update.
Bricks: if you render authors with a Terms query loop over the Authors taxonomy on a single publication, set the loop's Order by to Include list so the stored order is used. Rendering authors via the {post_meta:pm_authors} dynamic tag / [pm_authors] shortcode already reflects the order with no changes.

None.