NEOVANTAGE Core

The official companion plugin for the NEOVANTAGE WordPress theme.

Features | Why Choose It | Installation | Requirements | FAQ | Changelog | Hire the Developer

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What Is NEOVANTAGE Core?

NEOVANTAGE Core is the official companion plugin for the NEOVANTAGE WordPress theme. It adds the features that belong in a plugin -- post view tracking, enhanced widgets, custom Gutenberg blocks, a one-click demo importer, and Customizer export/import -- keeping the theme itself lean, portable, and compliant with WordPress.org guidelines.

This plugin is designed exclusively for the NEOVANTAGE theme. It depends on theme functions and styling that are only present when NEOVANTAGE is active. It will not produce the expected output with any other theme.

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✨ Features

📊 Post View Counter

Tracks and displays how many times each post has been viewed -- automatically, without configuration. View counts are stored as standard WordPress post meta (_neovantage_post_views_count), so they survive theme switches, plugin deactivations, and database migrations.

No external service. No API key. No bloat.

🗂️ Enhanced Recent Posts Widget

A drop-in upgrade to WordPress's built-in Recent Posts widget. Shows post thumbnails, publication dates, and theme-matched styling -- add it to any sidebar or footer column from Appearance -> Widgets.

👤 Author Profile Contact Fields

Adds Email and Dribbble profile fields to WordPress user profiles. Displayed automatically on author archive pages so your writers have a complete, professional presence without installing a separate plugin.

🔧 System Status Panel

A single-screen admin panel listing your PHP version, WordPress version, server software, active theme version, and database information. Share a screenshot with support instead of explaining your setup from scratch.

📥 One-Click Demo Importer

Imports the full NEOVANTAGE demo -- posts, pages, menus, widgets, and all Customizer settings -- in a single click. Go from a blank WordPress install to a fully configured demo site in under a minute.

Accordion Block with FAQ Schema

A parent/child Gutenberg block (neovantage-blocks/accordion + neovantage-blocks/accordion-item) for FAQ-style collapsible content. Built on semantic <details>/<summary> HTML -- accessible by default, keyboard-navigable, and functional without JavaScript.

Key features:

• FAQ structured data -- optional JSON-LD FAQPage schema output (disabled by default, per-block toggle). Helps search engines display rich FAQ snippets directly in results.
• Collapse others -- groups accordion items so only one can be open at a time (uses the HTML name attribute on <details> elements).
• Build-free -- vanilla JS editor scripts using window.wp.* globals. No webpack, no JSX, no build step required.
• Theme-integrated -- styled to match the NEOVANTAGE design system with theme color support via CSS custom properties.

Author Structured Data (JSON-LD)

Outputs professional ProfilePage + Person schema.org structured data on author archive pages -- the format Google recommends for author/profile URLs. Includes author name, avatar, bio, social profile links (sameAs), published post count (interactionStatistic), registration date, and site context (isPartOf). Handles both full URLs and plain usernames in social profile fields. Auto-disabled when Yoast, Rank Math, SEOPress, or AIOSEO is active so it never conflicts with a dedicated SEO plugin.

💾 Customizer Export / Import

Export your entire WordPress Customizer configuration to a .json file. Import it on another site in one step. Perfect for moving settings between staging and production, or backing up your design before a major change.

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✅ Why Choose It

	NEOVANTAGE Core	Generic alternatives
Setup time	Zero -- active on plugin activation	Each feature needs a separate plugin
Theme integration	Pixel-perfect -- built for NEOVANTAGE's layout and CSS	Styling gaps require custom CSS overrides
Post view storage	Standard WP post meta -- fully portable	Some plugins use custom tables or external APIs
Customizer backup	Native .json export/import built in	Requires a third-party migration plugin
Demo content	One click -- menus, widgets, and settings all applied	Manual import, then manual Customizer recreation
Update delivery	Standard WP update system -- no extra steps	N/A
PHP 8.4 support	Tested clean on PHP 8.0 - 8.4	Varies by plugin
Code footprint	Loads only what the theme needs	General-purpose plugins load unused code on every page
Dependencies	Zero -- no APIs, no accounts, no SaaS	Some require API keys or remote services

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📋 Requirements

Requirement	Minimum	Recommended
WordPress	5.3	7.0
PHP	8.0	8.4
Theme	NEOVANTAGE (any version)	NEOVANTAGE 2.0.13+

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🚀 Installation

Option 1 -- Via the NEOVANTAGE Theme (Recommended)

1. Install and activate the NEOVANTAGE theme
2. A notice appears prompting you to install NEOVANTAGE Core
3. Go to Appearance -> Install Plugins (or NEOVANTAGE -> Install Plugins)
4. Click Install next to NEOVANTAGE Core, then Activate

Option 2 -- Manual Upload

1. Download neovantage-core.zip from the latest release
2. In your WordPress admin go to Plugins -> Add New -> Upload Plugin
3. Choose the zip file and click Install Now
4. Click Activate Plugin

Option 3 -- FTP / File Manager

1. Download and unzip neovantage-core.zip
2. Upload the neovantage-core/ folder to /wp-content/plugins/
3. Go to Plugins -> Installed Plugins and activate NEOVANTAGE Core

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🔄 Automatic Updates

Once installed, NEOVANTAGE Core integrates with WordPress's native update system. When a new release is published you will see the standard update notice in:

• Dashboard -> Updates
• The Plugins list row
• The Admin bar badge

No manual downloads required -- update directly from your WordPress admin, exactly like any plugin hosted on WordPress.org.

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📖 Usage

Post View Count

Post views are tracked automatically on every single post page load. No configuration required. The theme displays view counts in post meta areas automatically.

To query the count in custom code:

$views = (int) get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), '_neovantage_post_views_count', true );

Demo Importer

1. Go to NEOVANTAGE -> Demo Importer
2. Click Import Demo
3. Wait for the import to complete -- menus, widgets, and Customizer settings are all applied automatically

Run the demo importer on a fresh WordPress installation only. Always back up before importing on an existing site.

Customizer Export / Import

1. Go to NEOVANTAGE -> Customizer Export/Import
2. Click Export to download your settings as a .json file
3. On another site, upload that file using the Import button on the same page

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❓ FAQ

Does this plugin work without the NEOVANTAGE theme? No. NEOVANTAGE Core depends on theme functions and styling that are only available when the NEOVANTAGE theme is active. It is not a general-purpose plugin and is not supported outside of NEOVANTAGE.

Will my post view counts survive a theme switch? Yes. View counts are stored as standard WordPress post meta and are not tied to the theme. They persist through theme switches, plugin deactivations, and WordPress updates.

Can I import demo content on an existing site? The demo importer is designed for fresh installations. Running it on an existing site may create duplicate posts, pages, or menus. Always back up first.

Is this compatible with PHP 8.4? Yes. Tested and confirmed clean on PHP 8.0, 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, and 8.4. All deprecated functions have been removed or replaced.

Where can I get support? Post in the WordPress.org support forum or open an issue on GitHub.

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📝 Changelog

2.2.0 -- 30 May, 2026

• Feature: Added neovantage-blocks/accordion and neovantage-blocks/accordion-item Gutenberg blocks. Parent/child dynamic blocks using semantic <details>/<summary> HTML for native accessibility and keyboard support. Parent block provides a "Collapse others" toggle (uses the HTML name attribute to group items) and optional FAQ structured data output (JSON-LD FAQPage schema, disabled by default, per-block toggle). Build-free vanilla JS editor scripts following the existing neovantage-blocks/button pattern.
• Feature: Added JSON-LD structured data for author archive pages (Neovantage_Core_Structured_Data class). Outputs ProfilePage schema with Person mainEntity including name, avatar (ImageObject 256x256), bio, sameAs social links (website, Facebook, X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Dribbble, Instagram, GitHub, YouTube), interactionStatistic (published post count via WriteAction), dateCreated (user registration), dateModified (latest post), and isPartOf (WebSite). Handles both full URLs and plain usernames in social profile fields. Auto-disabled when Yoast, Rank Math, SEOPress, or AIOSEO is active.
• Compat: Tested up to WordPress 7.0.

2.1.0 -- 6 May, 2026

Released alongside NEOVANTAGE theme 2.1.0 -- the two packages ship the same day to capture the theme.json design-token surface and the companion plugin polish as one user-visible upgrade.

• Improvement: Post view counter now skips the increment when an administrator (manage_options capability) is logged in. Self-views from the team that runs the site no longer inflate the public counter. Behaviour is filterable via the new neovantage_skip_post_view_count hook (bool $skip, WP_Post $post); return true to skip a view, false to count. Sites that want broader exclusion (editors, authors, all logged-in users) can add a one-line callback. Existing counters are untouched -- only future increments are affected.
• Feature: Shipped the neovantage-blocks/button Gutenberg block -- the block-editor counterpart of the [neovantage_button] shortcode. Build-free implementation (block.json + editor JS using window.wp.* globals, no JSX/Babel/webpack). Inspector grouped into Button (label/URL/target) and Appearance (style/size/alignment/full-width) panels. PHP render_callback delegates to the same renderer the shortcode uses, so block and shortcode emit identical HTML and stay in lockstep on future tweaks.
• Security: Hardened Neovantage_Core_Shortcode_Button::neovantage_button() -- link text and title attribute are now properly escaped (esc_html / esc_attr), every input is validated against an enum (or normalized through FILTER_VALIDATE_BOOLEAN for full-width), and rel="noopener noreferrer" is added automatically whenever target="_blank" to prevent reverse-tabnabbing. The default URL placeholder also changed from the non-standard '#.' to '#'. No visible change for any well-formed [neovantage_button] invocation.
• Fix: Renamed neovantage_custom_contact_info() to nc_custom_contact_info() to match the add_filter( 'user_contactmethods', ... ) callback name -- resolves a fatal "callback not found" TypeError on REST /wp/v2/users/me updates and any path that triggers wp_get_user_contact_methods(). Also corrected the textdomain on the two contact-field labels from neovantage to neovantage-core.
• i18n: Normalized escape levels in Neovantage_Core_Admin::nc_get_admin_script_l10n_strings() -- plain-text JS labels now use esc_html__() (matching their .html() / string-replace usage in neovantage-core-admin.js), and HTML-bearing strings (classic, default, register_first) now go through wp_kses_post() like the existing error_timeout / error_php_limits entries. No string IDs or translations changed.
• Docs: Documented the neovantage_* shortcode tag prefix as a frozen public-contract carve-out. The eight tags ([neovantage_container], [neovantage_row], [neovantage_column], [neovantage_title], [neovantage_gap], [neovantage_hr], [neovantage_button], [neovantage_content_box]) predate the plugin's later nc_ naming convention but are stored verbatim inside saved post content, so renaming any of them would silently strip blocks from existing posts and is treated as Breaking. New shortcodes added to this plugin must use the nc_ prefix.
• Refactor: Removed dead block-editor scaffolding from Neovantage_Core_Public -- the long-commented add_action( 'enqueue_block_editor_assets', ... ) and the orphan public/js/neovantage-core-editor-blocks.js (which used blocks.getSaveElement to wrap core/table in a .table-responsive div) have been deleted. The hook was never registered in any shipped version, so no live behaviour changes. If table-wrapping is wanted later, prefer a render-time filter (render_block) over a save-side block filter to avoid mutating persisted post content.
• Refactor: Removed the orphan NEOVANTAGE_PLUGIN_DIR and NEOVANTAGE_PLUGIN_URL constants from neovantage-core.php -- they duplicated the NC_DIR_PATH / NC_DIR_URL pair and grep across both the theme and the plugin found zero consumers.
• Refactor: Removed dead $post_date block in Neovantage_Core_Widget_Recent_Posts::widget() -- the variable was computed via a relative-time formatter but never displayed. Removal also retires a latent current_time( 'timestamp' ) deprecation notice (deprecated since WP 5.3).

2.0.10 -- 20 April, 2026

• Fix: Updated plugins-data.json -- version and latest_version for NEOVANTAGE Core bumped from 2.0.8 to 2.0.9 so the NEOVANTAGE theme's Install Plugins screen displays the correct version.

2.0.9 -- 11 April, 2026

• Fix: Admin header "Installed" version now reads from the NEOVANTAGE theme directory (style.css via wp_get_theme()) instead of the plugin's own NC_VERSION constant -- the displayed version correctly reflects the installed theme version.

2.0.8 -- 07 April, 2026

• Fix: Plugin now boots on plugins_loaded hook instead of directly at file load -- resolves _load_textdomain_just_in_time notice introduced in WordPress 6.7.

2.0.7 -- 07 April, 2026

• Fix: Corrected GITHUB_OWNER constant from PixelsPress to mohsin-rafique -- wrong owner caused the GitHub Releases API to return 404, silently blocking all update notifications in Dashboard -> Updates, Plugins list, and admin bar.
• Fix: Updated plugin url and homepage in the updater to the correct GitHub repo (github.com/mohsin-rafique/neovantage-core).
• Fix: Updated doc block API URL reference from PixelsPress/neovantage-core to mohsin-rafique/neovantage-core.
• Distribution: Plugin source code and releases moved to GitHub (github.com/mohsin-rafique/neovantage-core). Download URL updated from downloads.pixelspress.com to GitHub Releases.
• Distribution: Plugin version metadata JSON (plugins-data.json) moved from downloads.pixelspress.com to GitHub raw content.
• Improvement: Plugin URI in plugin header updated to point to GitHub repo instead of pixelspress.com.
• Improvement: Plugin description updated to accurately reflect all features.
• Improvement: plugins-data.json added to repo root -- single source of truth for version metadata used by the NEOVANTAGE theme's TGM plugin list.
• Bump: Version raised to 2.0.7 in plugin header and NC_VERSION constants.

2.0.6 -- 05 April, 2026

• Compatibility: Tested up to WordPress 6.9.
• Compatibility: Minimum PHP raised to 8.0; confirmed clean on PHP 8.4.
• Improvement: Plugin now self-manages update notices via built-in updater -- badges appear in Dashboard -> Updates, Plugins list, and admin bar.
• Fix: Removed deprecated mysql_get_server_info() fallback (removed in PHP 7).
• Fix: Updated PHP version threshold in System Status from 7.2 to 8.0.
• Fix: Replaced hardcoded version string in admin header with live WordPress.org API lookup (cached 12 hours).
• Fix: Used version_compare() instead of loose string comparison.
• Fix: Removed defunct Google+ author contact field (service shut down 2019).
• Fix: Updated all http:// links in System Status to https://.

2.0.0 -- 04 September, 2019

• Compatibility: Full Gutenberg block editor compatibility.

1.0.8 -- June, 2018

• Fix: Strip extra paragraph and break tags from shortcode output.

1.0.6 -- 07 May, 2018

• Feature: Post view count tracking and display.

1.0.5 -- 22 February, 2018

• Feature: Additional author profile fields.

1.0.4 -- 11 November, 2017

• Fix: Nonce verification for post format meta boxes.

1.0.0 -- 28 August, 2016

• Initial release.

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🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome. Please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/my-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add my feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/my-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

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💼 Hire the Developer

NEOVANTAGE Core and the NEOVANTAGE theme are built by Mohsin Rafique, a WordPress developer and open-source contributor operating as PixelsPress.

If this plugin demonstrates the kind of work you are looking for -- clean PHP, security-first coding, WordPress best-practice architecture -- Mohsin is available for hire.

What he builds:

• Custom WordPress themes and companion plugins
• PHP 8.x-compatible WordPress code audits and rewrites
• Performance, security, and WP coding standards reviews
• WordPress plugin and theme development for agencies and product companies

Get in touch:

• Website: pixelspress.com
• GitHub: github.com/mohsin-rafique
• WordPress.org: profiles.wordpress.org/mohsinrafique

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💬 Support

• WordPress.org forum: wordpress.org/support/theme/neovantage
• GitHub issues: github.com/mohsin-rafique/neovantage-core/issues
• Documentation: pixelspress.com/article-categories/neovantage/

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📄 License

NEOVANTAGE Core -- Copyright (C) 2016-2026 PixelsPress

Licensed under the GNU General Public License v2.0 or later.

This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU GPL as published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

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Made with ❤️ by PixelsPress | mohsin-rafique