outerspice said
I run a multisite network and when I install the plugin and click Save User Settings on the Envato Toolkit page I get the following error:
The requested URL /wp-admin/network/options.php was not found on this server.
Thank you for reporting this. We’ll look into it and get back to you.
sevenspark said
I agree that this will cause extra confusion on an already confusing issue for some buyers. I believe that a large number of customers are unaware of licensing restrictions (either because they don’t take the time to read them, don’t understand them, or make inaccurate assumptions based on the licensing options from other theme vendors which may be more lenient), and for those customers it will seem that this plugin gives them tacit permission to install the theme on any of their sites, as many times as they want (it’s reasonable to conclude that if a piece of software provided by a company allows me to do something - i.e. download a product to multiple sites - that I’m within my rights to do so. Otherwise, it would be restricted, right?)
For the customers who understand the license, they will either choose to follow it or not - and there’s nothing we can do about that (via this plugin at least), so it doesn’t concern me. What does concern me is confusing buyers who are already unsure of their usage rights after purchasing a license. I have had plenty of customers using a product on several sites, and once I asked for their licenses, they were surprised to hear that they were doing something wrong.
Basically, I think it’s a mistake to assume that all customers understand the licensing; and therefore it’s a bigger mistake to indirectly (and inadvertently) imply that multiple installs of a single-use license is acceptable. I think some basic DRM needs to be implemented before this becomes official - even if it’s just a simple alert rather than a programmatic restriction: “You have already installed this theme on another site, please note that each license is single-use”. Not trying to be negative, but I think it’s important to have this conversation before things are made “official”
I really appreciate your feedback. We’ll give this some further thought and see if we can come up with a good solution.
sevenspark said
Also, separate question: is this compatible with plugins (CodeCanyon)? If not (I assume it’s not), is that an intended feature down the road?
Thanks for your hard work, guys! We all just want to make sure that these solutions don’t have too many negative side-effects
Currently this only works for themes on ThemeForest, but yes, we do intend to add support for plugins from CodeCanyon down the road too.
sevenspark said
To address another point, I believe there is some confusion here (re: @dyspersion) - I think that uploading the separate theme file will now be mandatory, however integrating the library is not yet a requirement. Is that correct? The former makes sense, the latter wouldn’t.
Ah, well picked up. You are correct, it is only uploading a separate theme file that is now mandatory. Use of the plugin and/or library is not mandatory.
Parallelus said
It would be helpful if you can clarify what is mandatory if anything.
I estimate I’ve had 10 requests in the last 3 years for automatic updates. As far as I’m concerned this is not even close to a top priority for the marketplace. It feels a lot like a waste of resources unless there are future plans related to this which I’m not aware of.
The current system protects against overwriting modifications. Not to generalize too much, but most WP users aren’t all that knowledgeable when it comes to coding. If they make a customization it’s likely they won’t realize it can be wiped out by 2 clicks to update the theme. This is further exaggerated when a developer uses a theme and turns it over to a client.
For the time being, if we’re not forced to participate in this, I would rather not. Over time I might test it with new themes but currently I feel the system we have is working. Put an automatic backup/restore system in place along with the update and I’m all in.
Hopefully I’ve clarified this above on what is mandatory.
Perhaps we could implement some kind of warning for users when an update is available to let them know any customisations will be lost. I think this needs some more thought also.