Once upon a time I had just left University and started selling a WordPress plugin within weeks. The pressure was on to make money before the baby was born so it all happened very quickly. The big mistake was uploading a demo plugin to the WordPress.org repository, having no idea what rule I was breaking at the time. It resulted in the plugin being removed from the WordPress repository.
That plugin was CSV 2 POST, the plugin you can now download for free again from the WordPress.org website. After some WordPress education my respect for the WP community soon grew. I could see why it has to work the way it does, I could see the reason why we done a “Computer Ethics” module and I could see many authors/developers bending every rule or ethic to its limits. We see it everywhere, but lets stick to WordPress and this plugin for now shall we!
I came to feel that most CSV importer plugins restrict just enough to make them useless if someone wants to create post that make use of WordPress standard features. Lets face it, that is most WordPress users who have a clue about such functionality, agree?! Are authors suggesting that users create 100 posts in a few seconds then manually add featured images to them all? Yes, I suppose they are and I’m not saying they are breaking rules or unethical. It is natural to charge a fee for a time saving solution, in any industry. But when the free solution doesn’t meet the requirement of even the most basic side to its purpose, is that not just a demo?
Continue to read more of my opinion on this…
Limited or Unlimited Free Support?
There is a limit to the number of features plugin authors can provide free, especially when the plugin works with data and saves hours of time. The easier a plugin is, the easier support is and it would be easy to say free support is unlimited. We can’t do that with a plugin like CSV 2 POST, Easy CSV Importer or WordPress CSV Importer etc. They demand more than the average levels of support.
More features equal more complexity in data importers. A plugin like CSV 2 POST has already saved many large business days worth of time by offering advanced abilities. We need to cash in on that and our customers/clients do not mind. But many users are very happy to keep using the free importers out there and the support demand for them all is high. Some plugin authors ignore the support requests because it is a never ending, profitless task. I refuse to ignore a request for help and I refuse to provide very restrictive plugin, which is what this post is about. Plugins which are restrictive, some of which come with no or little free support and there are even some which still don’t come with much support on purchasing the premium edition.
To stay on the sunnier side in the land of reputation, I’m going to spend more time encouraging donations and make clear improvements in the free edition in response. Below is an image showing the new notice box on the free edition Install page, Install Actions screen…
Featured Images A Featured Feature?
Are featured images a featured feature in every CSV importer plugin for WordPress? The answer is no and this is the best example of what I mean when I say “minimum requirements per post”. Many are going to argue that such a minimum requirement doesn’t exist but I strongly disagree. I think we would struggle to find a theme considered as Web 3.0 or CSS3 or WordPress 3.6 ready…that does not require featured images to truly fulfill its design.
Why is the featured image functionality not supported by all auto-blogging plugins? The answer I think is because the authors of these plugins feel it is both a key ability and an advanced ability.
The advanced…lets say ‘appearance’, of an ability such as featured image attachment allows plugin authors to make out as if it is an ability that can really only be provided at a price, like it requires a professional with a degree to get it working in auto-blogging fashion or something! The approach is fine, I do it with some features such as applying custom permalink. However the featured image ability is very different from other parts of WordPress Edit Post screen. The featured image ability allowed post editors to move a posts main image from within the posts content to an attachment which can be presented in a better way by themes. Even free themes use this ability, hell they require it. We can’t just add the image to post content and see our premium themes come to life in the way they were shown in the demo. So doesn’t that mean featured images aren’t really optional and so if a plugin that creates posts does not add the images. Does it not mean the plugin does not work or is a demo?
Data Related Plugins Require Much Support
I agree that it is not easy to provide a plugin that deals with data. A plugin of this nature demands higher support than most plugins, so authors will reduce functionality in their free editions. They must and they should. Even if a plugin is not super advanced it still generates support and each author will accept their own level of demand. That will often determine how much the are willing to give away free. It is the way it must be and an author may be making a living from this. The sales and profit encouraging them to continue providing more plugins or themes. I simply as that what they provide as their contribution to the WP community does not restrict the most standard features required in order to say a job is done.
CSV 2 POST free edition provides certain features other data importers do not so that users can say “Job done!”. Even if a user created 10 posts with the plugin, I want the level of standard in those posts to reach minimum requires for the themes that come with WordPress itself i.e. Twenty Thirteen, the theme in development as I type this. That not only requires featured images for posts to look as they are meant to but it requires Post Formats which will make full use of the theme.
Post Formats Free In CSV 2 POST
WordPress 3.6 is delivering a cool featured called Post Formats. I’ve already added the support for this to CSV 2 POST free and premium edition. As always the premium edition got just a little more option. That is how I work. I do no restrict a key feature for a theme to work at its full, including custom fields, then display a link in place of where that feature would be. Suggesting the user buys a premium edition. Instead I simply put more time into the premium side of things and offer more.
That is what makes CSV 2 POST the best data importer, the best WordPress auto-blogger and the fairest product of its type.
