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Charitable Update: Test Mode Alerts, Elementor Styling Upgrades & Feedback Form

New Charitable Update: Test Mode Alerts, Elementor Styling Upgrades & Feedback Form

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We’ve been listening closely to your feedback, and this maintenance release is all about making your day-to-day experience smoother and more flexible.

We’ve improved your experience with building donation pages with Elementor, testing your payment gateways, and sharing ideas for the future.

With the latest Charitable Pro plugin (1.8.8.4), we aim to bring thoughtful improvements designed to help you stay in control and create even better fundraising experiences.

🔔 Test Mode Banner

No more second-guessing whether you’re testing or running live donations. In the latest Charitable update, whenever Test Mode is enabled for your payment gateways, you’ll see a “Charitable Test Mode Active” alert box appear in the top right corner of your WordPress admin dashboard.

Charitable test mode active alert

Turn Test Mode off, and the alert disappears. Simple, clear, and designed to save you from any mix-ups between test and live donations.

Why does this matter? Test Mode is a crucial step when setting up or troubleshooting your payment gateways—but forgetting to switch back can mean lost donations and frustrated supporters. This new alert acts as a safety net, making sure you always know exactly what mode you’re in before going live.

🎨 Styling for Elementor Widgets

We recently launched Elementor Widgets and sought your feedback. One thing we heard most was that you wanted more styling options. Now they’re here!

We didn’t just add more customization—you’ll also find it easier overall to build donation pages that look and feel like the rest of your site.

Edit campaigns gallery

From the Style tab, you can now customize:

  • Campaign title, description, and meta typography (font size, weight, color, hover effects, underline, and more)
  • Campaign images, spacing, and layout for a polished design
  • Donate button styling, from shape and border radius to hover states
  • Responsive design tweaks to make sure everything looks great on any screen
  • Animations, effects, and even custom CSS for complete control

And here’s the best part: the styling options adjust based on the widget you’re using.

  • Campaign Widget → Typography, background & layout, border & radius, donate button styling, plus custom CSS.
  • Campaigns Widget (Gallery) → Extra options for campaign images, animations & effects, and performance & loading.
  • Donate Button Widget → Dedicated hover styling so your call-to-action stands out.
  • Donation Form → Customize the background, border, and layout.

This way, every widget gives you exactly the right set of tools to customize your campaigns—without clutter.

We believe your donation pages are more than functional—they represent your mission. These styling upgrades let you fine-tune every detail so your campaigns look professional, trustworthy, and seamlessly integrated into your website.

The result? A smoother donor experience that inspires more giving.

💡 Feedback & Suggestions for Elementor Widgets

Your input has always shaped the way Charitable grows, and now we’ve made it even easier to share your ideas. In the latest Charitable Pro update (1.8.8.4), you’ll find a new Feedback & Suggestions option under the Content tab when working with Elementor Widgets.

Feedback

Click it, and you’ll be taken to a simple form where you can submit suggestions for new elements, widgets, or improvements you’d love to see.

The best features come from real-world use. By sharing what you need, you help us build tools that make your fundraising pages more effective and your workflow smoother. Think of this as your direct line to shaping the future of Charitable.

Ready to Try Everything Out?

These features are available right now in the latest version of Charitable. Simply update to the latest version of Charitable

From test mode alerts that keep you on track, to powerful new Elementor styling options, to a direct line for your feedback—we’re making it easier than ever to create donation experiences that truly reflect your mission.

We’d love to hear how you’re using these new features! Stay connected with us:

Your feedback keeps Charitable moving forward. Let’s keep building better fundraising tools—together.

author avatar
David Bisset Project Manager
David is the project manager of Charitable since 2022. David works with several non-profits (one operated by his wife) along with managing and developing features, support, and marketing for Charitable. Has been with WordPress since 2006 and has been lead organizer of multiple conferences, events, and meetups.

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Integration New

WordPress Command Palette Integration

Take your fundraising workflow to the next level. Speed up your site management and stay in your creative flow with our new WordPress Command Palette integration.

Supercharge Your Workflow
Navigate your fundraising dashboard faster than ever.

The Ultimate Keyboard Shortcut Hit Cmd + K (or Ctrl + K) to launch the Command Palette and manage your campaigns instantly.

⚡ Instant Navigation: Jump directly to your Campaigns, Donations, or Settings from anywhere in the editor.

➕ Quick Create: Start a new fundraising campaign or add a manual donation with a single command.

Efficiency Redefined
The tools you need, exactly when you need them.

⚙️ Contextual Actions: See relevant Charitable commands based on whether you’re editing a page or viewing your reports.

🚀 Seamless Integration: Built directly into the WordPress core experience for a lightweight, native feel.

author avatar
David Bisset Project Manager
David is the project manager of Charitable since 2022. David works with several non-profits (one operated by his wife) along with managing and developing features, support, and marketing for Charitable. Has been with WordPress since 2006 and has been lead organizer of multiple conferences, events, and meetups.
Improvement New Security

📣 New Security Features

We’ve introduced a suite of new security tools to give you total control over who accesses your forms, plus a new way to tidy up your database.

Advanced Security Suite

Layered protection: Cloudflare, ReCAPTCHA, IP Controls, and Rate Limiting.

We have overhauled our security settings to stop bots without blocking real donors.

  • 🤖 Flexible Protection: Choose between Google reCAPTCHA v3 or the privacy-first Cloudflare Turnstile to block bots invisible.

  • 🚦 Rate limiting: Stop spam floods by limiting how many submissions an IP address can make in a set timeframe.

  • 🛑 Total control: Use the new IP Blacklist to block bad actors instantly, or the IP Whitelist to let your team bypass checks during testing.

The Clean Donation Tool

Go from “Testing” to “Live” in seconds.

Finished setting up your site and need to get rid of all those test transactions?

  • 🧹 Sweep it clean: Bulk delete test donations and donor records with a single click.

  • 📉 Accurate reporting: Ensure your revenue stats are 100% accurate for launch day.

  • ⚙️ Reset sequences: Automatically resets sequential invoice numbering.

author avatar
David Bisset Project Manager
David is the project manager of Charitable since 2022. David works with several non-profits (one operated by his wife) along with managing and developing features, support, and marketing for Charitable. Has been with WordPress since 2006 and has been lead organizer of multiple conferences, events, and meetups.
donation form New

🏗️ Visual Donation Form Builder

Building the perfect donation form just got easier. We have completely reimagined how you create forms with a new drag-and-drop interface.

Design Visually, in Real-Time

No coding, no guessing. Just point, click, and build.

Say goodbye to confusing settings pages. You can now edit your form and see exactly what your donors will see, instantly.

  • 🖱️ Drag & Drop: Easily add fields like names, addresses, or file uploads by dragging them exactly where you want them.

  • 🎨 Customize everything: Click any field to tweak labels, placeholders, and requirement settings on the fly.

  • 👁️ Live preview: See your changes immediately as you make them—ensure your form flows perfectly before you hit publish.

Flexible & Powerful

Works with all your existing campaigns.

  • 🧩 Deep customization: Add custom HTML, shortcodes, or CSS classes for advanced branding.

  • ⚙️ Smart fields: Collect exactly what you need with support for dropdowns, checkboxes, dates, and hidden fields.

author avatar
David Bisset Project Manager
David is the project manager of Charitable since 2022. David works with several non-profits (one operated by his wife) along with managing and developing features, support, and marketing for Charitable. Has been with WordPress since 2006 and has been lead organizer of multiple conferences, events, and meetups.
Leaderboards New

🏆 Donor Leaderboards!

Turn your fundraising into a community event. Recognize your most generous supporters and inspire friendly competition with our new leaderboard tools.

Gamify Your Fundraising

Celebrate your top donors and encourage others to climb the ranks.

Create a public “Hall of Fame” to give your donors the recognition they deserve.

  • 🎨 Two stunning layouts: Choose the List View for a clean, data-rich table or the Card View for a modern, visual grid with avatars.

  • 🥇 Automatic highlights: The top 3 supporters get special Trophy and Crown icons to make them stand out.

  • 🧩 Place it anywhere: Add it to any page using the new Gutenberg Block, or drop it directly into your campaign using the Visual Builder.

Total Customization

You decide what to show and what to hide.

  • ⚙️ Flexible data: Choose to display or hide donation amounts, donor counts, or avatars.

  • 🔄 Lifetime stats: Works seamlessly with Recurring Donations to show a donor’s all-time total impact.

author avatar
David Bisset Project Manager
David is the project manager of Charitable since 2022. David works with several non-profits (one operated by his wife) along with managing and developing features, support, and marketing for Charitable. Has been with WordPress since 2006 and has been lead organizer of multiple conferences, events, and meetups.
Improvement New templates

🎨 New Templates & List Builder

Launch faster and design better. We’ve added three professional campaign templates and a versatile new content block to help you tell your story.

3 New Campaign Templates

Ready-to-use designs for specific fundraising needs.

Don’t start from scratch. Pick a template tailored to your cause and launch in minutes.

  • 🎄 Holiday Fundraiser: A warm, festive design perfect for year-end giving, toy drives, or food pantries.

  • 🎓 School Fundraiser: Built for PTAs and sports teams. clearly highlights goals like playground upgrades or classroom tech.

  • Church Fundraiser: A trustworthy layout designed for building funds, mission trips, and tithes.

The New “List” Block

Organize your campaign details without writing code.

Make your campaign pages easier to scan and more visually engaging with our new builder block.

  • 📝 Flexible layouts: Choose from 3 distinct styles to display sponsorship levels, donation perks, or project goals.

  • 🎨 Rich customization: Add colorful headlines, support for emojis, and unlimited list items.

  • 👣 Smart footers: Include a built-in footer for extra context or a final Call to Action.

author avatar
David Bisset Project Manager
David is the project manager of Charitable since 2022. David works with several non-profits (one operated by his wife) along with managing and developing features, support, and marketing for Charitable. Has been with WordPress since 2006 and has been lead organizer of multiple conferences, events, and meetups.