I am very happy to announce that the Revolution Two open source theme site has officially launched! Yes, I had mentioned earlier that it would launch midnight on 10/31, but I figured I owed you all an early release.

First things first…

The current Revolution theme site is going to stay open until 12:00 midnight CST 10/31 as promised, I just felt that since I had delayed so many announcements before, that an early launch would make up for it! As you can see, at the moment, we are launching with 10 themes - I’ll shortcut those demos below:

• Revolution Code Blue
• Revolution Code Gray
• Revolution Code Red
• Revolution Church
• Revolution Lifestyle
• Revolution Charred
• Revolution Chrome
• Revolution Black Canvas
• Revolution Office
• Revolution TV

Keep in touch…

You can follow on Twitter the Revolution Two open source theme project, as well as sign up for the eNews & Updates newsletter that will send you notifications of any theme releases, as well as some very helpful WordPress tips.

For repeat clients…

As I have in the past, for anyone who has purchased any current Revolution themes, we will be offering a 25% discount on the purchase of any of the Pro or Pro Plus membership packages. Please contact me for that discount code.

Becoming a member…

All of the themes on the new site will be made available under the open source/GPL license. However, we are going to offer a yearly and lifetime membership plan, that will include benefits to all themes. (meaning you won’t have to purchase a plan for each theme.)

Here are some of those benefits:

• Unlimited support answered by our experts
• Learn customization techniques with our detailed theme tutorials
• Professional design services available by our list of recommended designers
• Discounted general consulting rates
• Increase your search rankings with a link from the Revolution site directory

Why you should become a member…

Have you cobbled together your blog, but not satisfied with how it looks? Are you spending too much time “looking” for help? Do you have design or WordPress questions? Are you looking for guidance so that you can take your blog or websitge to the next level? Do you want to see how others are using their theme? Do you lack the time to do-it-yourself and want to hire an experienced designer/customizer?

We understand the frustrations that novice and even knowledgeable site owners have from our past experiences and through helping countless Revolution members. Thankfully, you have an alternative through our Pro and Pro Plus support plan packages that will empower you to get your blog or website up and running.

Current theme support…

The current theme support forum will also stay open until 12:00 midnight CST 10/31, but the new support forum is already open and awaiting current theme support. That means that if you are a current theme user, we encourage you to register for the new forum, and begin asking your current theme support questions over there.

A note for affiliates…

Another aspect of the current business model that has been questioned is the affiliate program. Since we are still planning on offering paid packages on the new site, the affiliate program will still remain. Your same E-Junkie login will apply, there will be new affiliate links in your account that you can use to update the ones you are currently using.

In addition, we are very happy to announce that we are changing the commission payouts from 25% to 30%!

In closing…

We are very proud to invite you to visit the Revolution Two project - new themes, open source, another Revolution. At the moment Jason and I already have another 4 theme concepts in the works, and plan on offering a multitude of quality WordPress themes. You will see different styles, layouts and many more things that will be incorporated into our themes as times goes on.

We look forward to seeing you on the new site!

There are still a number of questions relating to the open source project that have been asked by people, so I wanted to write another pre-launch post to help clear things up. Hopefully this will make some more things clear.

I wanted to explain the business plan a bit, since this is something that most people are confused about. All of the themes on the new site will be made available under the open source/GPL license. However, we are going to offer a yearly and lifetime membership plan, that will include benefits to all themes. (meaning you won’t have to purchase a plan for each theme.)

Here are some of those benefits:

• Unlimited support answered by our experts
• Learn customization techniques with our detailed theme tutorials
• Professional design services available by our list of recommended designers
• Discounted general consulting rates
• Increase your search rankings with a link from the Revolution site directory

The affiliate program

Another aspect of the current business model that has been questioned is the affiliate program. Since we are still planning on offering paid packages on the new site, the affiliate program will still remain. Your same E-Junkie login will apply, there will just be new affiliate links in your account when the new site goes live.

Current theme and open source theme support

There will be a section on the new support forum that will be dedicated to current Revolution themes. This will be made available to anyone who has purchased a current theme. There will also be a section on the support forum that will include open source theme tutorials, as well as a section for open source theme support. This will be made available to those who have purchased the current theme All Inclusive package or purchased either the yearly or lifetime membership plans. Contact me if you are interested in upgrading to the All Inclusive package.

Membership price plans

There will be two options for the open source project theme membership - a yearly Pro plan, and a lifetime Pro Plus plan. The yearly Pro plan will cost $99.95/year and the lifetime Pro Plus plan will be $149.95/lifetime. Please keep in mind that these will include the aforementioned benefits for all themes that will be made available on the new site, which in my opinion is money well spent to those who purchase them.

A bit on the open source themes

I’ve been asked by a number of people about the themes that we are going to release on the new site. These themes will be the same quality, if not better as the ones Jason and I have previously released. It appears that we will have about 10 themes ready for our launch, and hope to release at least one theme a month, if not more. Categories of themes that will be released will include blog themes, magazine themes, media themes, photo themes, professional themes and video themes.

In closing…

I have appreciated all of the comments, suggestions and criticisms that have been made since I announced that Revolution was going open source. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a blog post that had close to 350 comments on it. I understand that there really isn’t a good way to make an enormous change like this without having a smooth transition that appeals to all people.

Please understand that I’ve really tried my best to make this change and have it be as fair as possible to all people involved.

One of my favorite movie scenes comes from Days of Thunder - rebel race car driver Cole Trickle (played by Tom Cruise) shows up to test drive a car, and while he’s driving, he tells his crew chief that he’s “dropping the hammer.”

What he meant was that he getting ready to slam on the gas and hit top speed. Now that I’m back from my cruise, I’m in that same spot, and ready to drop the hammer on the open source Revolution project.

While I was gone, I received a ton of comments, and as much as I’d like to address them individually, I cannot. If you posted a comment that required a response, please do me a favor and contact me with your question.

As for the vacation, it was really good and well-needed. The weather was great, mainly sunny and in the upper 80’s - perfect cruise weather, and being able to spend an entire week with Cory Miller and his wife was very cool. Before I get on with business, here’s some fun pics from the trip:

• Cory and I atop the pool deck minutes before setting sail
• Catching a wave on the “Flow Rider” which is on the top deck of the boat
• One of the reasons they suggest not trying to stand while riding a wave
• Me, my wife Shelly and son Zach at the dinner table on Formal Night
• The world’s largest cruise boat, Liberty of the Seas
• Zach and I killing time with an iguana and parrot before we swam with a dolphin
• Zach and a couple of mates during the Pirate Parade
• Cory and I getting ready to dig in and eat some dinner

Back to business… well I just got off the phone with Jason, and we’re still on track for the unveiling of the new site. As of right now, it looks as though we’ll be launching with a number of various themes to offer - including blog themes, magazine themes, media themes, photo themes, video themes. We’re both very excited about the coming week, and look forward to seeing how all of you use the themes.

I’ll probably be posting on Monday with more on the Revolution open source project…

Many of you know that my wife and I are avid cruisers, so I wanted to make an announcement that I’ll be away and unavailable from Friday October 17th through Sunday October 26th.

I’m writing this to explain why I won’t be able to answer email, any comments on my blog or posts in the support forum. But no worries, I’ll do my best to address these when I get back.

Updates on Revolution… Jason and I are currently working on the development of the new site, and we will have at least 6 themes available upon launch. They will include the 3 that I previewed here on my site, as well as the 3 that he previewed on his.

I just wanted to wish you all the best, and if you want to know what I’m doing or where I’ll be over the next week and a half, you can follow me on Twitter - that’s where I’ll post little updates while I’m gone. I’m actually really excited since we are going to be sailing with Cory Miller and his wife, which should make this a really fun trip.

Last but not least, I wanted to send a shout out to my good friend David Adams of Escalate Media, who recently launched a women’s portal website, Totally Her, which is powered by WordPress. For those who think that WordPress is only for blogs, this site proves otherwise.

Moving back in the direction that you’re used to is the final sneak preview #3 of the upcoming Revolution themes. Keep in mind that there will ultimately be more themes available, but I thought you’d enjoy one last teaser.

Here’s a final sneak preview of one of the Revolution themes that will be open source - as you can see, it’s going to be ideal for grungy/media type sites. Also, if you’re looking for sneak previews of themes that we’ll have available on new site, go here.