feat: improve runtime controls, import/export UX, and release guardrails

Author: alexphillips-dev

.github/workflows/ci.yml

@@ -40,3 +40,8 @@ jobs:
       - name: Run utility tests
         run: |
           node --test tests/*.mjs
+
+      - name: Release guard checks
+        run: |
+          chmod +x scripts/release_guard.sh
+          bash scripts/release_guard.sh

.github/workflows/release-beta.yml

@@ -73,6 +73,11 @@ jobs:
             exit 1
           fi
 
+      - name: Run release guard
+        run: |
+          chmod +x scripts/release_guard.sh
+          bash scripts/release_guard.sh
+
       - name: Commit and push to beta
         run: |
           git add archive/ folderview.plus.plg

.github/workflows/release-main.yml

@@ -33,6 +33,11 @@ jobs:
           chmod +x pkg_build.sh
           bash pkg_build.sh
 
+      - name: Run release guard
+        run: |
+          chmod +x scripts/release_guard.sh
+          bash scripts/release_guard.sh
+
       - name: Extract stable version
         id: version
         run: |

.github/workflows/release-stable.yml

@@ -41,6 +41,11 @@ jobs:
           chmod +x pkg_build.sh
           bash pkg_build.sh
 
+      - name: Run release guard
+        run: |
+          chmod +x scripts/release_guard.sh
+          bash scripts/release_guard.sh
+
       - name: Extract stable version
         id: version
         run: |

README.md

@@ -21,11 +21,15 @@ major quality-of-life, reliability, and UX improvements for Unraid users:
 - Rule simulator for full-item assignment preview (assigned/blocked/unassigned)
 - Folder templates (save/apply/delete) for reusable folder configurations
 - Bulk actions for rules/templates (enable/disable/delete/export where applicable)
+- Folder pinning and optional hide-empty folder view in settings
+- Runtime action planner with preview + apply (`Start`, `Stop`, `Pause`, `Resume`) per folder
+- Change history panel with one-click undo to latest transaction backup
 - Sort modes per type: `created`, `manual`, `alpha`
 - Search filters in settings for folders, rules, backups, and templates
 - Diagnostics support bundle and copyable issue report text for faster issue filing
 - Runtime lazy preview controls for large libraries (`lazy preview` + threshold)
 - Better release/version metadata handling for more consistent update detection in Unraid
+- Release guardrails in CI/workflows for `.plg` validity, archive/version/md5 consistency
 - Continued folder-based views across Docker, VMs, and Dashboard pages
 
 ## Requirements
@@ -72,6 +76,9 @@ plugin remove folderview.plus
 - Rule-based auto-assignment using name regex and Docker labels
 - Rule simulator to preview final assignment outcomes across all Docker/VM items
 - Bulk rule and template operations in settings
+- Folder pin/unpin controls and hide-empty toggle
+- Runtime bulk folder action preview/apply workflow for Docker and VMs
+- Change history viewer and latest-change undo action
 - Search and filtering for settings tables (folders/rules/backups/templates)
 - Folder templates to copy folder settings/actions/regex between folders
 - Folder sort modes: `created`, `manual`, `alpha`

archive/folderview.plus-2026.03.09.1.txz

@@ -6,13 +6,22 @@
 <!ENTITY launch "Settings/FolderViewPlus">
 <!ENTITY plugdir "/usr/local/emhttp/plugins/&name;">
 <!ENTITY pluginURL "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/&github;/main/folderview.plus.plg">
-<!ENTITY version "2026.03.08.9">
-<!ENTITY md5 "67099f6404923957ab251e0a36316997">
+<!ENTITY version "2026.03.09.1">
+<!ENTITY md5 "0bf457b05dd00716c7bc7c90c3a38874">
 ]>
 
 <PLUGIN name="&name;" author="&author;" version="&version;" launch="&launch;" pluginURL="&pluginURL;" icon="folder-open-o" support="https://github.com/alexphillips-dev/FolderView-Plus/issues" min="7.0.0">
     <CHANGES>
 
+###2026.03.09.1
+- Major feature expansion and quality pass:
+  - add folder pinning and optional hide-empty folder behavior in settings/runtime views,
+  - add runtime action planner (preview + apply) for folder-level Docker/VM start/stop/pause/resume,
+  - add change-history panel and one-click undo to latest transaction/undo backup,
+  - add stronger diagnostics integrity checks (pinned IDs, icon path format) and richer update-check telemetry,
+  - add release guardrails script and enforce guard checks in CI/release workflows,
+  - expand utility/settings tests for new prefs/runtime planning behavior.
+
 ###2026.03.08.9
 - Full bugfix pass for regressions and stability:
   - scope custom-action dialog styling to its own dialog widget (no global `.ui-dialog` side effects),

folderview.plus.plg

@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+ROOT_DIR="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")/.." && pwd)"
+PLG_FILE="${ROOT_DIR}/folderview.plus.plg"
+
+if [[ ! -f "${PLG_FILE}" ]]; then
+  echo "ERROR: Missing plugin manifest: ${PLG_FILE}" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+VERSION="$(sed -n 's/^<!ENTITY version "\([^"]*\)".*/\1/p' "${PLG_FILE}" | head -n 1 || true)"
+MD5_ENTITY="$(sed -n 's/^<!ENTITY md5 "\([^"]*\)".*/\1/p' "${PLG_FILE}" | head -n 1 || true)"
+
+if [[ -z "${VERSION}" ]]; then
+  echo "ERROR: Could not parse version entity from folderview.plus.plg" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if [[ -z "${MD5_ENTITY}" ]]; then
+  echo "ERROR: Could not parse md5 entity from folderview.plus.plg" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if ! [[ "${VERSION}" =~ ^[0-9]{4}\.[0-9]{2}\.[0-9]{2}([.-][0-9]+|-beta[0-9]*)?$ ]]; then
+  echo "ERROR: Version has unexpected format: ${VERSION}" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if command -v xmllint >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+  xmllint --noout "${PLG_FILE}"
+else
+  php -r '
+      libxml_use_internal_errors(true);
+      $xml = @file_get_contents($argv[1]);
+      if ($xml === false) { fwrite(STDERR, "ERROR: Failed to read PLG file\n"); exit(1); }
+      $dom = new DOMDocument();
+      if (!$dom->loadXML($xml, LIBXML_NONET | LIBXML_NOERROR | LIBXML_NOWARNING)) {
+          fwrite(STDERR, "ERROR: Invalid PLG XML\n");
+          exit(1);
+      }
+  ' "${PLG_FILE}"
+fi
+
+ARCHIVE_FILE="${ROOT_DIR}/archive/folderview.plus-${VERSION}.txz"
+if [[ ! -f "${ARCHIVE_FILE}" ]]; then
+  echo "ERROR: Missing archive package for current version: ${ARCHIVE_FILE}" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+if ! grep -q "###${VERSION}" "${PLG_FILE}"; then
+  echo "ERROR: CHANGES section does not contain an entry for ${VERSION}" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+MD5_CALC="$(md5sum "${ARCHIVE_FILE}" | awk '{print $1}')"
+if [[ "${MD5_ENTITY}" != "${MD5_CALC}" ]]; then
+  echo "ERROR: md5 entity mismatch. plg=${MD5_ENTITY}, archive=${MD5_CALC}" >&2
+  exit 1
+fi
+
+echo "Release guard checks passed:"
+echo "  version: ${VERSION}"
+echo "  archive: ${ARCHIVE_FILE##*/}"
+echo "  md5: ${MD5_CALC}"

scripts/release_guard.sh

@@ -41,6 +41,11 @@ require_once('/usr/local/emhttp/plugins/folderview.plus/langs/script.php');
             </select>
             <div class="hint-line">Use manual mode and the up/down buttons in the first column to set custom order.</div>
             <input id="docker-folder-filter" type="text" placeholder="Search Docker folders" oninput="setFilterQuery('folders','docker',this.value)">
+            <div class="badge-toggle-row">
+                <span class="badge-toggle-title">Layout</span>
+                <label><input id="docker-hide-empty-folders" type="checkbox" onchange="changeVisibilityPref('docker', 'hideEmptyFolders', this.checked)"> Hide empty folders</label>
+                <span class="rules-help">Pin folders with the star button in the Actions column.</span>
+            </div>
             <div class="badge-toggle-row">
                 <span class="badge-toggle-title">Folder badges</span>
                 <label><input id="docker-badge-running" type="checkbox" onchange="changeBadgePref('docker', 'running', this.checked)"> Running</label>
@@ -99,6 +104,11 @@ require_once('/usr/local/emhttp/plugins/folderview.plus/langs/script.php');
             </select>
             <div class="hint-line">Use manual mode and the up/down buttons in the first column to set custom order.</div>
             <input id="vm-folder-filter" type="text" placeholder="Search VM folders" oninput="setFilterQuery('folders','vm',this.value)">
+            <div class="badge-toggle-row">
+                <span class="badge-toggle-title">Layout</span>
+                <label><input id="vm-hide-empty-folders" type="checkbox" onchange="changeVisibilityPref('vm', 'hideEmptyFolders', this.checked)"> Hide empty folders</label>
+                <span class="rules-help">Pin folders with the star button in the Actions column.</span>
+            </div>
             <div class="badge-toggle-row">
                 <span class="badge-toggle-title">Folder badges</span>
                 <label><input id="vm-badge-running" type="checkbox" onchange="changeBadgePref('vm', 'running', this.checked)"> Running</label>
@@ -271,6 +281,48 @@ require_once('/usr/local/emhttp/plugins/folderview.plus/langs/script.php');
 </div>
 <hr>
 
+<h2>Folder runtime actions</h2>
+<div class="bulk-assign-grid">
+    <div class="rules-panel">
+        <div class="rules-header">
+            <h3>Docker folder actions</h3>
+            <span class="rules-help">Preview and apply Start/Stop/Pause/Resume for items currently in a folder.</span>
+        </div>
+        <div class="runtime-action-grid">
+            <select id="docker-runtime-folder"></select>
+            <select id="docker-runtime-action">
+                <option value="start">Start</option>
+                <option value="stop">Stop</option>
+                <option value="pause">Pause</option>
+                <option value="resume">Resume</option>
+            </select>
+            <button onclick="previewFolderRuntimeAction('docker')"><i class="fa fa-list-alt"></i> Preview</button>
+            <button onclick="applyFolderRuntimeAction('docker')"><i class="fa fa-play"></i> Apply action</button>
+        </div>
+        <pre id="docker-runtime-preview-output" class="diagnostics-output compact-output">Preview a runtime action to see exactly which containers will be changed.</pre>
+    </div>
+
+    <div class="rules-panel">
+        <div class="rules-header">
+            <h3>VM folder actions</h3>
+            <span class="rules-help">Preview and apply Start/Stop/Pause/Resume for VMs currently in a folder.</span>
+        </div>
+        <div class="runtime-action-grid">
+            <select id="vm-runtime-folder"></select>
+            <select id="vm-runtime-action">
+                <option value="start">Start</option>
+                <option value="stop">Stop</option>
+                <option value="pause">Pause</option>
+                <option value="resume">Resume</option>
+            </select>
+            <button onclick="previewFolderRuntimeAction('vm')"><i class="fa fa-list-alt"></i> Preview</button>
+            <button onclick="applyFolderRuntimeAction('vm')"><i class="fa fa-play"></i> Apply action</button>
+        </div>
+        <pre id="vm-runtime-preview-output" class="diagnostics-output compact-output">Preview a runtime action to see exactly which VMs will be changed.</pre>
+    </div>
+</div>
+<hr>
+
 <h2>Backups</h2>
 <div class="backup-grid">
     <div class="rules-panel">
@@ -397,6 +449,21 @@ require_once('/usr/local/emhttp/plugins/folderview.plus/langs/script.php');
 </div>
 <hr>
 
+<h2>Change history and undo</h2>
+<div class="rules-panel">
+    <div class="rules-header">
+        <h3>Recent changes</h3>
+        <span class="rules-help">Shows recent config actions from diagnostics history and allows one-click undo to the latest backup transaction.</span>
+    </div>
+    <div class="backup-actions">
+        <button onclick="refreshChangeHistory()"><i class="fa fa-refresh"></i> Refresh history</button>
+        <button onclick="undoLatestChange('docker')"><i class="fa fa-undo"></i> Undo latest Docker change</button>
+        <button onclick="undoLatestChange('vm')"><i class="fa fa-undo"></i> Undo latest VM change</button>
+    </div>
+    <pre id="change-history-output" class="diagnostics-output compact-output">Refresh history to view recent changes.</pre>
+</div>
+<hr>
+
 <h2>Diagnostics</h2>
 <div class="rules-panel">
     <div class="rules-header">

src/folderview.plus/usr/local/emhttp/plugins/folderview.plus/FolderViewPlus.page

@@ -485,6 +485,10 @@ const createFolderDocker = (folder, id, position, order, containersInfo, folders
 
     // replace the old containers array with the newFolder object
     folder.containers = newFolder;
+    if (folderTypePrefs?.docker?.hideEmptyFolders === true && Object.keys(folder.containers).length === 0) {
+        $(`.folder-showcase-outer-${id}`).remove();
+        return remBefore;
+    }
 
     //temp var
     const sel = $(`tbody#docker_view span#folder-id-${id}`);
@@ -718,6 +722,10 @@ const createFolderVM = (folder, id, position, order, vmInfo, foldersDone) => {
 
     // replace the old containers array with the newFolder object
     folder.containers = newFolder;
+    if (folderTypePrefs?.vm?.hideEmptyFolders === true && Object.keys(folder.containers).length === 0) {
+        $(`.folder-showcase-outer-${id}`).remove();
+        return remBefore;
+    }
 
 
     //set tehe status of a folder