Bug Report: "NEW:" labels appear on all menu items after customization

[mallomar]

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Install Menu Disabler plugin
2. Customize menu (disable items)
3. Save changes and restart KOReader
4. Observe "NEW:" labels on core KOReader features

Expected Behavior:
Only genuinely new features should be labeled "NEW:"

Actual Behavior:
Many visible menu items get "NEW:" labels, including core features like "Book information", "Status bar", etc.

Impact:

• Confusing UX that makes KOReader appear broken
• Users think their installation is corrupted
• Labels persist indefinitely until manual reset

Workaround:
Reset Menu Disabler to default removes labels. Tested on KOReader on macOS & Android

Suggestion:
Remove the "NEW:" labeling system entirely, or only apply it to actually new features

[JoeBumm]

Thank You for noticing !!
I'm aware of this issue. I tried fixing it several times, but unfortunately, I found out it’s a problem with KOReader's logic after reordering and sorting menus. There’s already an issue open on the KOReader repo discussing this. Until it’s fixed, we’ll have to wait before I can see how we should handle it. I will further try fix it in the upcoming update

Issue on koreader's Repo : koreader/koreader#2601

[mallomar]

Thank you for the detailed explanation and for providing the link to the KOReader issue. I appreciate your transparency about this being an upstream problem rather than trying to work around it silently.

After reviewing the MenuSorter implementation in PR #2601, I can see how the orphaned item handling logic with the 'NEW:' prefix gets triggered inappropriately when menu customization occurs. It's clear this isn't a bug in your plugin but rather a design limitation in KOReader's menu system.

Your decision to wait for an upstream fix rather than implementing a potentially fragile workaround makes sense - it's better to address the root cause. I understand this puts you in a difficult position since users experiencing the issue might think it's your plugin causing problems.

Would it be helpful to add a note about this known issue in your plugin's README to help users understand it's a KOReader limitation?"

Also, Is there anything users can do in the meantime besides the workaround of resetting to defaults?

Thanks again for the thorough investigation and for contributing to the KOReader ecosystem. I hope the upstream issue gets resolved soon so your plugin can work without these confusing side effects.

[JoeBumm]

Thank you so much for your time, I love your suggestion. I will definitely update the README, to include that warning. I'm hopeful for the next update, I will generally improve the ui, allow fast switching between profiles and maybe add a warning for that bug, when you first install it on your ereader.