Plugins from CodeCanyon bundled with themes and their activation notifications.

Dream-Theme · August 19, 2015, 9:13am

Hey guys,

This thing worries me for quite a while, so now I decided to start a public discussion.

On one hand we, theme authors, are purchasing developer licenses and including plugins from CodeCanyon into our themes. (We’ll not discuss the fact that developer license price is ridiculously low just yet )

On the other, those plugins are pushing their activation notices. This makes end users feel like they are using half-assed pirated versions of software. And its quite annoying to explain many times a day that

You can use all plugins that comes bundled with this theme without entering purchase codes or activating them.
However if you want a bit faster plugins updates, dedicated support or just want to support their authors - you are more then welcome to purchase dedicated licenses.

Sure theme authors can suppress plugins activation notifications. And I’m myself guilty in doing so… But I do not feel this is ethical.

Let’s find some consensus.

E.g. can we reach the agreement of having a global variable that will tell the plugin that it’s being bundled with theme. And in this case plugin will show modified notification like “Great, you can use all features of this plugin. However if you want x, y and z benefits, please consider purchasing a separate license.”?

Looking forward for your feedback!

Miroslav
(from Dream-Theme)

Aislin · August 19, 2015, 9:24am

We agree with you. 10% of our support questions is in regards to that.
There should be a global setting to let us suppress that message.

dedalx · August 19, 2015, 9:34am

Many plugins already have this.

Revolution slider: set_revslider_as_theme();

Visual Composer: vc_set_as_theme(true);

kotofey · August 19, 2015, 10:06am

dedalx said
Many plugins already have this.

Revolution slider: set_revslider_as_theme();

Visual Composer: vc_set_as_theme(true);

+1

Seems like nobody didn’t read user’s manual of these plugins.

envato24 · August 19, 2015, 10:09am

dedalx said
Many plugins already have this.

Revolution slider: set_revslider_as_theme();

Visual Composer: vc_set_as_theme(true);

Yep I fire these off, or manually override any update/register notifications if a filter isn’t available.

ait · August 19, 2015, 10:09am

I think themes should not be bundled with premium plugins. Themes are already ridiculously low priced. Customers will buy additional plugins for $10-$15 anyway.

Granth · August 19, 2015, 10:19am

We are plugin developers and haven’t applied this activation warning. But we are planning to create something like this in the future.

dtbaker said
dedalx said
Many plugins already have this.

Revolution slider: set_revslider_as_theme();

Visual Composer: vc_set_as_theme(true);

Yep I fire these off, or manually override any update/register notifications if a filter isn’t available.

What about this?
When you purchase a developer license of the plugin, you should register your theme, putting it on a white list. When a theme is on the list then the user won’t receive any warnings.

Just an idea. We would like to implement the best (if there’s any) method the save some pain for both parties - theme and plugin developers.

Attila - Granth

envato24 · August 19, 2015, 10:24am

^ the easiest way would be to do something similar to VC with this help article:

https://wpbakery.atlassian.net/wiki/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=524333

and this one

https://wpbakery.atlassian.net/wiki/display/VC/Theme+Integration

and this registration form:

http://support.wpbakery.com/in-stock-license/

this explains everything needed to include a plugin in a theme for resale here on TF

Aislin · August 19, 2015, 11:07am

Is there any similar function for Layer Slider?

pixelsq · August 19, 2015, 11:25am

This will hide the auto update message:


add_action('layerslider_ready', 'my_layerslider_overrides');
function my_layerslider_overrides() {
    // Disable auto-updates
    $GLOBALS['lsAutoUpdateBox'] = false;
}.

But it looks as if it’s not possible to hide all messages.

Version 5.2.0 or newer will only warn users about the feature requirements instead of completely hiding the auto-update box. This helps users avoiding difficulties if they have a separate license for LayerSlider and would like to use this feature.

Aislin · August 19, 2015, 12:05pm

PixelSq said
This will hide the auto update message:
add_action('layerslider_ready', 'my_layerslider_overrides'); function my_layerslider_overrides() { // Disable auto-updates $GLOBALS['lsAutoUpdateBox'] = false; }.
But it looks as if it’s not possible to hide all messages.

Version 5.2.0 or newer will only warn users about the feature requirements instead of completely hiding the auto-update box. This helps users avoiding difficulties if they have a separate license for LayerSlider and would like to use this feature.

Thanks.

Theme_Paradise · August 19, 2015, 12:29pm

dedalx said
Many plugins already have this.

Revolution slider: set_revslider_as_theme();

Visual Composer: vc_set_as_theme(true);

PixelSq said
This will hide the auto update message:
add_action('layerslider_ready', 'my_layerslider_overrides'); function my_layerslider_overrides() { // Disable auto-updates $GLOBALS['lsAutoUpdateBox'] = false; }.

Thanks for your information!

wpbakery · August 19, 2015, 2:06pm

Personally I think that, something should be done with pricing/licensing model when plugins from CC are included in TF themes. Hiding activation messages will improve end users experience, because many of them believe that they “buy” plugin together with the theme purchase, but on the other side it will hurt plugin developers, because they will loose extra exposure to the end clients. In my opinion, more standardized message eg, “everything is ok, but consider purchasing direct license” is a win-win scenario.

Dream-Theme · August 19, 2015, 3:02pm

wpbakery said
Personally I think that, something should be done with pricing/licensing model when plugins from CC are included in TF themes. Hiding activation messages will improve end users experience, because many of them believe that they “buy” plugin together with the theme purchase, but on the other side it will hurt plugin developers, because they will loose extra exposure to the end clients. In my opinion, more standardized message eg, “everything is ok, but consider purchasing direct license” is a win-win scenario.

That’s basically what I’m saying

Regarding pricing. Todays pricing allows more authors to use plugins in their themes. But obviously price is to low for themes that earns thousands of dollars weekly. IMO monthly dev license renewal would be fair.

Dream-Theme · August 19, 2015, 3:04pm

kotofey said
dedalx said
Many plugins already have this.

Revolution slider: set_revslider_as_theme();

Visual Composer: vc_set_as_theme(true);

+1

Seems like nobody didn’t read user’s manual of these plugins.

Great! -2 plugins! How many there’s left on CodeCanyon?

wpkoder · August 19, 2015, 3:18pm

Revolution slider and Visual composer released lot of updates but many authors don’t try to read their manuals and launching the themes in old way.

Gareth_Gillman · August 19, 2015, 4:00pm

imho plugins shouldn’t be in themes, authors should make a theme compatible which then shows on the “compatible with:” information and then the buyer can decide to buy the plugin for the theme, which brings the following benefits:

Plugins are separate from theme so buyers get license for plugin from the author without asking author (and updates are directly from the plugin author)
Envato make more money, instead of 1 purchase of the plugin for a theme, buyers buy separate license for the plugin
Authors don’t need to support / fix / update someone elses plugin
It actually makes the themes better as a theme can’t be built on a plugin exclusively so themes will go back to being about design and not “plugin stuffing”
Authors can’t try and outdo each other with “get $600 in free plugins” as they will all only be able to say "we are compatible with xx theme (like you already do for woocommerce etc)

jonathan01 · August 19, 2015, 4:25pm

Gareth_Gillman said
imho plugins shouldn’t be in themes, authors should make a theme compatible which then shows on the “compatible with:” information and then the buyer can decide to buy the plugin for the theme, which brings the following benefits:

Plugins are separate from theme so buyers get license for plugin from the author without asking author (and updates are directly from the plugin author)

Envato make more money, instead of 1 purchase of the plugin for a theme, buyers buy separate license for the plugin

Authors don’t need to support / fix / update someone elses plugin

It actually makes the themes better as a theme can’t be built on a plugin exclusively so themes will go back to being about design and not “plugin stuffing”

Authors can’t try and outdo each other with “get $600 in free plugins” as they will all only be able to say "we are compatible with xx theme (like you already do for woocommerce etc)

Yup but it’s one of the many reasons ThemeForest became successful for Envato (bundling of stuff at low prices). Unfortunately, as many have tried before, including myself, they will not change on the subject of allowing this even though all your points are very valid and have been mentioned several times.

Dream-Theme · August 20, 2015, 3:17pm

Gareth_Gillman said
imho plugins shouldn’t be in themes, authors should make a theme compatible which then shows on the “compatible with:” information and then the buyer can decide to buy the plugin for the theme, which brings the following benefits:

Plugins are separate from theme so buyers get license for plugin from the author without asking author (and updates are directly from the plugin author)

Envato make more money, instead of 1 purchase of the plugin for a theme, buyers buy separate license for the plugin

Authors don’t need to support / fix / update someone elses plugin

It actually makes the themes better as a theme can’t be built on a plugin exclusively so themes will go back to being about design and not “plugin stuffing”

Authors can’t try and outdo each other with “get $600 in free plugins” as they will all only be able to say "we are compatible with xx theme (like you already do for woocommerce etc)

That’s how things should be in the perfect world. Such world does not exist, unfortunately.

In reality this will make 99,9% of authors not competitive: you cannot just go and build your own page builder or super-awesome slider. And buyers will not want to spend $150+ on something they are getting for $60.

Astoundify · August 20, 2015, 6:03pm

We do not bundle plugins with our themes and clearly state on the sales pages that plugins are not included, our sales are doing well (Power Elite Author) which is what most theme authors will say their fear is, if they do not bundle plugins with the theme package they will lose sales.

You guys might want to read this when you have time: http://listify.astoundify.com/article/260-why-does-this-theme-require-plugins

Cheers! Adam