Next release

front/php/server/util.php

@@ -166,13 +166,72 @@ function saveSettings()
     copy($fullConfPath, $fullConfPath . ".bak");
   }
 
+  // Detect whether the frontend needs to block-wait for backend reload
+  $requiresReloadWait = getReloadWaitRequired($decodedSettings);
+
   // Open the file for writing without changing permissions
   $file = fopen($fullConfPath, "w") or die("Unable to open file!");
   fwrite($file, $txt);
   fclose($file);
 
-  echo "OK";
+  echo json_encode(['success' => true, 'requiresReloadWait' => $requiresReloadWait]);
+
+}
+
+// -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Determines if the frontend must wait (block) for the backend to finish reloading after a
+// settings save. Blocking is required when LOADED_PLUGINS changes or UI_WAIT_FOR_SETTINGS
+// is explicitly enabled. Defaults to true (safe) on any parsing error.
+function getReloadWaitRequired($decodedSettings) {
+  $newLoadedPlugins = null;
+  $uiWaitForSettings = false;
+
+  foreach ($decodedSettings as $setting) {
+    if ($setting[1] === 'LOADED_PLUGINS') {
+      $newLoadedPlugins = $setting[3];
+    }
+    if ($setting[1] === 'UI_WAIT_FOR_SETTINGS') {
+      $uiWaitForSettings = ($setting[3] === true || $setting[3] === 1
+        || strtolower((string)$setting[3]) === 'true');
+    }
+  }
+
+  if ($uiWaitForSettings) {
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  $oldLoadedPlugins = getSettingValue('LOADED_PLUGINS');
+
+  // If the old value couldn't be read, default to blocking (safe).
+  if (strpos((string)$oldLoadedPlugins, 'Could not') !== false) {
+    return true;
+  }
+
+  return normalizePluginList($oldLoadedPlugins) !== normalizePluginList($newLoadedPlugins);
+}
 
+// -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+// Normalise a plugin list value (PHP array, JSON array, or Python-style list) to a sorted
+// JSON string for reliable equality comparison.
+function normalizePluginList($value) {
+  if ($value === null || $value === '') {
+    return '[]';
+  }
+  if (is_array($value)) {
+    $arr = $value;
+  } else {
+    $arr = json_decode($value, true);
+    if (!is_array($arr)) {
+      // Handle Python-style single-quoted lists: ['A','B']
+      $jsonStr = str_replace("'", '"', (string)$value);
+      $arr = json_decode($jsonStr, true);
+    }
+    if (!is_array($arr)) {
+      return trim((string)$value);
+    }
+  }
+  sort($arr);
+  return json_encode($arr);
 }
 
 // -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

front/php/templates/language/en_us.json

@@ -807,6 +807,7 @@
     "settings_publishers_label": "Publishers",
     "settings_readonly": "Can't READ or WRITE <code>app.conf</code>. Try restarting the container and read the <a href=\"https://docs.netalertx.com/FILE_PERMISSIONS\" target=\"_blank\">file permissions documentation</a>",
     "settings_saved": "<br/>Settings saved. <br/> Reloading… <br/><i class=\"ion ion-ios-loop-strong fa-spin fa-2x fa-fw\"></i> <br/>",
+    "settings_saved_background": "Settings saved. Changes are being applied in the background.",
     "settings_system_icon": "fa-solid fa-gear",
     "settings_system_label": "System",
     "settings_update_item_warning": "Update the value below. Be careful to follow the previous format. <b>Validation is not performed.</b>",

front/plugins/avahi_scan/config.json

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
   "display_name": [
     {
       "language_code": "en_us",
-      "string": "AVAHISCAN (Name discovery)"
+      "string": "AVAHISCAN (Naming)"
     }
   ],
   "icon": [

front/plugins/nbtscan_scan/config.json

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
   "display_name": [
     {
       "language_code": "en_us",
-      "string": "NBTSCAN (Name discovery)"
+      "string": "NBTSCAN (Naming)"
     }
   ],
   "icon": [

front/plugins/nslookup_scan/config.json

@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@
   "display_name": [
     {
       "language_code": "en_us",
-      "string": "NSLOOKUP (Name discovery)"
+      "string": "NSLOOKUP (Naming)"
     }
   ],
   "icon": [

front/plugins/ui_settings/config.json

@@ -264,11 +264,13 @@
       "localized": [],
       "name": [
         {
+          "language_code": "en_us",
           "string": "Default page size"
         }
       ],
       "description": [
         {
+          "language_code": "en_us",
           "string": "Default number of items shown in tables per page, for example in teh Devices lists."
         }
       ]
@@ -704,6 +706,34 @@
           "string": "Based on which value should the network topology view be ordered."
         }
       ]
+    },
+    {
+      "function": "WAIT_FOR_SETTINGS",
+      "type": {
+        "dataType": "boolean",
+        "elements": [
+          {
+            "elementType": "input",
+            "elementOptions": [{ "type": "checkbox" }],
+            "transformers": []
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      "default_value": false,
+      "options": [],
+      "localized": ["name", "description"],
+      "name": [
+        {
+          "language_code": "en_us",
+          "string": "Wait for settings reload"
+        }
+      ],
+      "description": [
+        {
+          "language_code": "en_us",
+          "string": "When enabled, the UI blocks after saving settings until the backend finishes reloading. When disabled (default), the UI returns immediately for most changes and only waits when plugin configuration changes."
+        }
+      ]
     }
   ]
 }

front/settings.php

@@ -615,19 +615,33 @@ function: 'savesettings',
             settings: JSON.stringify(settingsArray) },
             success: function(data, textStatus) {
 
-              if(data == "OK")
-              {
-                // showMessage (getString("settings_saved"), 5000, "modal_grey");
+              // Parse response: support both legacy "OK" string and new JSON format
+              let saveSucceeded = false;
+              let requiresReloadWait = true; // safe default
+
+              if (data === "OK") {
+                saveSucceeded = true;
+              } else {
+                let parsed = null;
+                try { parsed = (typeof data === 'object') ? data : JSON.parse(data); } catch(e) {}
+                if (parsed && parsed.success === true) {
+                  saveSucceeded = true;
+                  requiresReloadWait = parsed.requiresReloadWait === true;
+                }
+              }
+
+              if (saveSucceeded) {
                 // Remove navigation prompt "Are you sure you want to leave..."
                 window.onbeforeunload = null;
 
-                // Reloads the current page
-                // setTimeout("clearCache()", 5000);
-
                 write_notification(`[Settings] Settings saved by the user`, 'info')
 
-                clearCache()
-              } else{
+                if (requiresReloadWait) {
+                  clearCache()
+                } else {
+                  showMessage(getString("settings_saved_background"), 5000, "modal_green");
+                }
+              } else {
                 // something went wrong
                 write_notification("[Important] Please take a screenshot of the Console tab in the browser (F12) and next error. Submit it (with the nginx and php error logs) as a new issue here: https://github.com/netalertx/NetAlertX/issues", 'interrupt')
                 write_notification(data, 'interrupt')