5th Social Bot (also known as the Mastodon All-In-One WordPress Plugin) has a new release: version 1.7.1. This update focuses on what matters most when you automate social distribution from WordPress to the Fediverse: flexibility (any Mastodon instance), visibility (clear connection status + analytics improvements), reliability (dynamic instance handling across API calls), and security (stronger sanitization and escaping).
If you publish articles, landing pages, or news posts and want them to appear on Mastodon automatically—without turning your workflow into a “copy/paste” routine—this release is built to make your setup cleaner, safer, and easier to manage.
⬇️ Download 5th Social Bot 1.7.1
What’s new in 1.7.1
Version 1.7.1 brings several practical improvements that reduce friction in daily publishing and make multi-instance workflows much smoother.
1) Custom Mastodon instance support (use any instance)
Until now, many users started with a default instance (like social.5th.ro). With 1.7.1, you can configure the plugin to work with any Mastodon instance—including your own self-hosted server or a public instance you prefer.
- Use your preferred Fediverse home without changing your WordPress workflow.
- Ideal for agencies managing multiple sites and multiple Mastodon identities.
- Helps avoid “locked-in” settings when migrating accounts or instances.
2) Connection status now shows the full username + instance domain
Small detail, huge clarity: the connection status now displays the full handle like @[email protected]. When you manage more than one account (or more than one instance), this prevents confusion and makes troubleshooting faster.
3) Import Stats: bring missing post URLs into Analytics
Analytics only help if your dataset is complete. The new Import Stats feature (in the Analytics tab) can import missing post URLs from Mastodon—useful when:
- you posted from a different workflow in the past,
- you migrated instances or reconnected accounts,
- you want a more accurate historical overview.
4) Automatic version check + update notifications from plugin.5th.ro
The plugin can now perform an automatic version check and display update notifications sourced from plugin.5th.ro. This keeps your site admins informed without having to manually track releases.
5) Admin menu moved to the main sidebar (with a custom icon)
For faster access, the plugin menu is now placed in the main WordPress admin menu and includes a custom “5th” icon. If you open the plugin often (templates, queues, analytics), this saves time daily.
6) Improved dynamic instance handling for all API calls
When you set a custom instance, every API call now uses the configured instance consistently. This is important for:
- reliable posting, boosts, and status lookups,
- accurate profile verification and identity metadata,
- analytics and import workflows that depend on the correct instance base URL.
7) Security hardening (sanitization + output escaping)
Version 1.7.1 includes enhanced input sanitization and output escaping to reduce risk from unsafe values in settings, templates, and admin output. In plain terms: safer admin screens and fewer opportunities for accidental XSS exposure.
Why this update matters (real-world use cases)
Publish once, distribute automatically
5th Social Bot is designed for people who publish frequently and want a dependable autopost pipeline to Mastodon—without giving up control. You can auto-post when publishing posts and/or pages, while still having the option to exclude individual items.
Multi-site or agency workflows
If you manage multiple WordPress sites, this release’s custom instance support plus clear connection identity makes it easier to keep each site aligned with the right Mastodon presence.
Fediverse-first branding and verification
The plugin includes features that help verify your profile ownership, including:
<meta name="fediverse:creator">support<a rel="me">verification link injection
This helps establish trust and consistency across your site and your Fediverse identity.
Core features (quick overview)
Here’s what you can do with 5th Social Bot today, including the newest enhancements:
Auto-post to Mastodon (any instance)
- Auto-post when publishing posts and/or pages.
- Configurable instance: use your own Mastodon server or any public instance.
- Per-post/per-page “exclude from autoposting” control via meta box checkbox.
Flexible message templates with placeholders
Create a consistent posting style while keeping each post unique. The template supports:
{text}– excerpt / preview content{tags}– hashtags generated from WordPress tags{readmore_text}– short call-to-action line{url}– permalink
Newlines supported (either real newlines in the textarea or \n in the template).
Smarter CTA rotation
You can define multiple {readmore_text} variants (one per line). The plugin randomly picks one per post. Example:
Read more at:
More details at:
Full story here:Emoji picker (2000+ Unicode emojis)
- Huge emoji library with categories (business, IT/SEO, medical, construction, news, and more).
- Lazy-loading for better performance.
- Quick access toolbar inside the template editor.
Language control (ISO 639-1/639-2)
Set the language code for your Mastodon posts. Default is Romanian (ro), but you can switch per your publishing needs.
Automatic trimming to 500 characters
To stay within Mastodon limits, the plugin:
- tries to shorten only
{text}first, - falls back to a minimal format like:
…. {readmore_text} {url}if needed.
WordPress tags → Mastodon hashtags
Tags are normalized (spaces and symbols removed; only letters/digits remain), then converted into hashtags automatically.
Auto-Boost and safe queue delivery
For users who run more than one Mastodon identity, the plugin includes an Auto-Boost system designed with rate limits and queue safety in mind.
- Boost posts from a primary instance to a second instance automatically.
- Cross-instance boost support using Mastodon API v2 search with
resolve=true. - Configurable rate limits (1–10 boosts/day) and interval spacing (30 minutes to 2 hours).
- Automatic retry when federation delays occur (e.g., retry after 5 minutes).
- Dedicated Boost Queue & Statistics area (queue size, daily boosts, remaining limits).
For posting, the plugin uses a safe drip-feed queue via WP-Cron (example: 1 post every 5 minutes), so bulk actions don’t flood your account or create spam-like bursts.
Analytics improvements (and the new Import Stats tool)
The Analytics tab provides:
- Aggregated totals (posts, replies, boosts, favorites, views)
- Averages per post
- Per-post metrics with direct links back to Mastodon
- Boost metrics (separate stats for boosted posts)
- Cached data (e.g., 5 minutes) to reduce API load
New in 1.7.1: Import Stats lets you import missing post URLs from Mastodon, improving the completeness and usefulness of your analytics dataset.
How to update to 1.7.1
- Backup first (recommended): take a site backup or at least export plugin settings if you have that workflow.
- Download the latest version from: plugin.5th.ro/download
- Update the plugin in WordPress (upload/replace, depending on your installation method).
- Open the plugin settings and confirm your configured Mastodon instance URL and account connection.
- Optionally run Import Stats if you want analytics to include older/missing items.
Changelog
1.7.1
- New: Plugin menu moved to main admin menu with custom icon.
- New: Custom Mastodon instance support – use any Mastodon instance, not just social.5th.ro.
- New: Connection status displays full username with instance domain (e.g., @[email protected]).
- New: Import Stats feature in Analytics tab to import missing post URLs from Mastodon.
- New: Automatic version check and update notifications from plugin.5th.ro.
- Improved: Dynamic instance handling – all API calls use configured instance.
- Security: Enhanced input sanitization and output escaping.
FAQ
Does 5th Social Bot work with any Mastodon server?
Yes. Starting with 1.7.1, you can configure the plugin to use any Mastodon instance, including self-hosted servers and public instances.
Can I exclude specific posts or pages from auto-posting?
Yes. You can exclude individual posts/pages using the per-item checkbox in the post editor meta box.
How does the plugin handle Mastodon character limits?
It automatically trims content to a maximum of 500 characters, shortening the {text} portion first, then falling back to a minimal message format if required.
What is Import Stats used for?
Import Stats helps you fill gaps in analytics by importing missing post URLs from your Mastodon account, so your stats view is more complete.
Is this plugin safe to use on production sites?
The plugin focuses on safe WordPress practices: tokens are handled securely in the UI (password-type fields with show/hide), inputs are sanitized, outputs escaped, and it relies on WordPress APIs rather than risky custom SQL.
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