Aeon News updates

What’s new, clearly explained.

Follow new capabilities, refinements and resolved issues across the Aeon News platform and add-ons. Each note explains the practical impact, availability and any next step for an existing newsroom.

These are customer-facing release notes. Sensitive implementation details are intentionally kept out; relevant operating guidance links directly to the public documentation.

Product area
Change type
Year
Status
Proofreading 1.0.47
Optional add-on

Proofreading now follows the editor's current draft

Aeon News Proofreading can analyse the text currently visible in the editor, including unsaved article and selected custom-field changes, before anything is published.

New

Current-draft analysis

The review includes the active Classic or block-editor state and supported editorial fields instead of relying only on the last saved revision.

Improved

Safer suggestions

Structured responses and segment validation reject suggestions that cannot be tied safely to the material that was reviewed.

Fixed

Stable review controls

The progress indicator no longer moves the proofreading button label or its search icon while a review is running.

Why it matters

Editors can run a meaningful final check at the moment it matters, with less risk of applying a correction to the wrong field or an outdated version of the story.

For existing customers

Available in Proofreading 1.0.47. The add-on remains optional and requires a configured AI provider.

Recommended action

Update the add-on, confirm the selected provider and model, and test the fields used by your newsroom on staging.

Read the documentation Proofreading guide
Comment Agent 0.1.4
Optional add-on

A safer AI moderation queue for reader comments

The standalone WordPress add-on supports native comments and wpDiscuz, sending a moderation provider only stripped comment text with the article title or a short excerpt — never names, email addresses, IP addresses, or browser identifiers.

New

Assisted moderation queue

Clearly safe comments can move forward faster while uncertain material remains available for a moderator to decide.

Improved

Privacy and human control

Original comments are preserved, provider failures stay in review and authorised moderators can use a private Swedish translation when needed.

Why it matters

Only comments classified as safe with confidence of at least 90% can move forward automatically. Uncertain cases, provider failures, and malformed responses stay in the human review queue; no comment is automatically deleted or discarded, and the original is preserved. Authorised moderators can also use a private Swedish translation when helpful, never shown publicly.

For existing customers

Available as an optional standalone WordPress add-on. Implementation is configured around your comment system, moderation policy, provider privacy requirements, and hCaptcha setup.

Platform 4.10.1.9
Available now

Steadier continuous reading and revenue surfaces

Continuous article reading is more dependable, with ad placements that remain reliable as readers move through loaded articles.

Improved

Smoother article sequences

Standard and full-width stories keep their intended presentation as the reader continues into related coverage.

Fixed

More dependable commercial surfaces

Collapsed placements, repeated article modules and responsive sidebars retain more predictable spacing and behaviour.

Why it matters

Longer reading sessions should feel more seamless for readers while preserving dependable inventory for the commercial side of the newsroom.

For existing customers

Available in the active Theme 4.10.1 release series. Existing publishers can plan the update with their normal release window.

Recommended action

Test continuous reading, advertising conditions, dark mode and publication-specific sidebars on staging before rollout.

Read the documentation Continuous reading guide
Add-ons 1.11.3
Optional add-on

More considered AI reader polls

Editor-led AI reader polls now respect the site language, generate more reliably, offer more balanced response choices and recover results robustly on cached pages.

Improved

More reliable poll suggestions

The generator follows a stricter response shape, honours the publication language and returns clearer errors when a provider is delayed.

New

Finnish reader interface

Reader-facing poll strings are available for Finnish publications alongside the existing language support.

Fixed

Stable voting on cached pages

Confirmed votes and results recover more reliably when the surrounding article page is served from cache.

Why it matters

Reader questions can stay useful and on-brand without adding avoidable work or uncertainty to the editorial day.

For existing customers

Available as optional Add-ons 1.11.3. Existing customers should update to benefit from the stronger generation and result handling.

Recommended action

Review the configured language and AI provider on staging, then test one article poll and one standalone poll.

Read the documentation Polls and quiz guide
Platform 4.10
Available now

More ways to surface the work behind the headline

The 4.10 series brings advanced archive search, renewed author profiles and archives, a Latest News Wire, a more flexible ticker, design presets, a Draft Previewer role and stronger localisation.

New

Richer discovery

Archive search, author profiles, the Latest News Wire and News Cycle give readers more routes into the publication's reporting.

Improved

Editorial presentation controls

Design presets, ticker choices and broader localisation make the platform easier to adapt without losing its newspaper structure.

Why it matters

Readers can find more of your reporting and understand who made it, while editors get clearer tools for presenting a living news product.

For existing customers

Available in the 4.10 series. Review the new editorial presentation options before enabling them in production.

Platform 4.10
Available now

More control around reading, privacy and editorial context

Theme 4.10 adds optional privacy consent and Matomo opt-in, an editorial image lightbox and built-in sticky widgets.

New

Editorial image lightbox

Readers can inspect article images with captions, credits, navigation and keyboard support kept in the publishing context.

New

Optional privacy controls

Publications can choose a consent profile that fits their analytics policy instead of receiving a forced default.

Fixed

Sticky modules across viewports

Theme-owned sticky widgets handle long stacks, container boundaries and tablet layouts more consistently.

Why it matters

Publishers can make consent choices clearer while giving readers richer context and keeping key editorial modules in reach.

For existing customers

Available in Theme 4.10. Privacy consent is optional; assess it against your own privacy setup before activation.

Reels Creator 2.5.8
Available now

A clearer WordPress workflow for article-to-video publishing

Aeon Reels connects the article editor to the Reels production service so a newsroom can create a vertical video automatically on publish or trigger one manually from an existing story.

New

Per-article controls

Editors can choose whether a reel should be created, select configured destinations and override the default voice when a story needs a different treatment.

Improved

Visible production status

The editor shows the current job state, recent activity and the completed video link without forcing the newsroom into a separate production interface.

Why it matters

Short-form video can become part of the normal publishing routine instead of a separate manual production chain.

For existing customers

Aeon Reels is a live product. Destination availability depends on the publisher agreement, connected accounts and current platform APIs.

Recommended action

Contact Aeon Media Group before enabling new destinations or changing automation defaults.

Read the documentation Reels Creator guide
Translate & Migrate 1.0.1
Optional add-on

Move complete stories between language editions

The Translate and Migrate add-on transfers the article, featured media, selected editorial metadata and mapped publishing context to another WordPress publication while translating the material.

New

Complete article transfer

Titles, article copy, excerpts, media and supported editorial fields can move as one controlled publishing task.

Improved

Context-aware language workflow

Editors can use an AI-assisted translation route or a traditional translation provider and define publication-specific instructions and mappings.

Why it matters

A multilingual publisher can reuse reporting without rebuilding every article, image and taxonomy assignment by hand.

For existing customers

Available as an optional integration for publications with a defined source and destination WordPress setup.

Recommended action

Category, author, topic and language mappings must be reviewed before production migration.

Read the documentation Translate and migrate guide
Add-ons 1.10
Optional add-on

A curated vertical video and YouTube Shorts slider

Editors can assemble a vertical video slider from manual selections, selected channels or curated sources, with deferred video loading for a lighter page experience.

New

Curated video sources

Editors can save, reorder and remove selected vertical videos instead of depending only on an automatic channel feed.

Improved

Lighter playback

Video players load only after a reader chooses to play, while responsive scroll controls keep the carousel usable on touch and desktop.

Why it matters

It gives video a deliberate editorial home instead of making the front page depend on an unfiltered feed.

For existing customers

Available as an optional add-on. It can be configured around the channels and editorial selection process you already use.

Platform 4.6
Available now

News Cycle: the day’s news in chronological order

News Cycle gives readers a chronological overview of the publishing day, making fast-moving coverage easier to follow.

New

Chronological news view

A dedicated daily timeline presents published stories in order and gives developing coverage a stable destination.

Improved

Return visits with context

Readers can re-enter the news day without reconstructing the sequence from the front page alone.

Why it matters

A clear timeline helps readers return to a developing story without losing the day’s editorial sequence.

For existing customers

Available now in Theme 4.6 and later. Existing customers can add News Cycle where a chronological overview suits their coverage.