Follow Up to Revolution Announcement
First off, I’d really like to thank all of you for the comments you’ve posted on my announcement that Revolution is Going Open Source. As much as I wanted to address each of them personally, I thought that writing a follow up post would be more efficient. I wanted to take a little time to help clear things up - it seems that there is a bit of confusion about some things, so hopefully this post will help.
About the current Revolution themes…
As of 12:00 midnight, October 31st, they will no longer be available on the site. What does this mean? It means that you will no longer be able to purchase them, which makes them a bit more valuable in my opinion. This also means that they will NOT be made available on the new site under the GPL. Only new themes will be on that site. So if you think that you should wait until Revolution goes GPL and open source, you will miss out on the existing themes.
What kind of support can I expect for current themes…
The Revolution community is what it is today because of the support that is available. The amount of users who are actively assisting others on the support forum has continually surprised me. People care about one another, and I can personally attest to this for a number of people have thanked me for providing such an incredible experience with support. I only deflect the thanks back to the community because they are the ones who truly deserve it.
Having said that, if you have purchased, or want to purchase a current Revolution theme before October 31st, the level and integrity of support for those themes won’t change. There will be a dedicated section on the new support forum that will allow you to receive the support that you hoped for when purchasing a theme.
I might be going crazy here…
But I am offering support of the current Revolution themes for life. There won’t be any date where I’ll close the support forum or turn things off. It has always been my intention to offer up my themes and support this way, and even though a few things might be changing, you deserve to receive what I have promised.
Even though the current site will be forwarding to the new site, I plan to make the existing support forum accessible (read-only) in some way. There is a ton of knowledge there (almost 40,000 posts) and I feel that current theme users would benefit greatly by still having access to that information. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to leave it at the actual url, or how that will look, but I’ll do my best to preserve that resource.
What about current theme updates…
I will be making theme updates, as necessary per WordPress updates, available for 12 months. This means that if WordPress comes out with a major update that affects the current themes, you will be emailed or notified of an updated version. If after November 1st, 2009, there is a WordPress update that affects the current themes, you can still ask about it and learn how to resolve the issue on the support forum.
For those who’ve purchased the current All-Inclusive package…
I realize that many of you might be asking what this whole transition means for you. Well, the first thing I want to say is that you will receive all of the benefits of the new open source program without any costs. But more importantly, I have plans to develop and release a few more Revolution themes that will be made EXCLUSIVELY to you as a way of saying thanks. Details on that will follow, but know that there will still be some themes that will be released to you and only you.
Last but certainly not least…
Because I explained the value of having/purchasing the current Revolution themes, I wanted to extend an offer for the rest of the month. I am lowering the price of all current theme packages by 25%, and this will be reflected on the website and won’t require a discount code. This will be the adjusted prices until the new site launches.
In closing…
Once again I want to thank everyone for their kind words. If you have more questions, please feel free to leave a comment below. I will do my best to address each one, so there is total clarity in this transitional period for Revolution. And if you want a little more info, you can find it here…
Thank you for clarifying this info…much appreciated, and on my way to purchase before it goes away.
Congratuations Brian. I am continuously impressed by your ability, vision and integrity. I am currently using the “free” Revolution blog theme and I really love it, and I’m thinking about taking advantage of the discount and ongoing support and buying one of the premium themes before they are gone forever. I foresee a fantastic future for you in helping people use Wordpress in new and creative ways. I think you will find that you’ll be bringing in lots more revenue with this new model. Of course, you’ll be working a lot harder too!
Best regards,
Jim S.
Thanks Deb, appreciate it and glad I could clarify for you!
Jim, thanks for the comment. It’s always nice to be affirmed, but more importantly I’m glad you see my vision!
Brian,
Congrats on the move and I wish you all the best.
You’ve definitely given the WordPress market something to think about in regards to charging for high end themes/plugins.
As someone who purchased your themes, I’ll be looking forward to your new developments.
All the best.
Stu McLaren
Thanks Stu, appreciate your previous purchase and your kind words. Alignment with WP and the GPL was our ultimate goal, so we’ll see how others respond.
I must admit you made a good move. I will look into your theme to see how it was made and of course steal the success.
Cheers,
Elena
Very funny Elena, you are far more talented than I, so you don’t need to steal anything!
Well done, Brian. As you and I previously discussed, I’m convinced that this move will bring you far greater returns than ever and I’m really looking forward to watching the new Revolution evolve and succeed. I’ve no doubts on your success - but wish you the best of luck, all the same
Kudos ALL the way around!
Sounds good so far…I’m looking forward to see what the new themes are going to look like. How about a sneak peak?
The All Inclusive package was already a killer deal, as soon as you made it clear that it was a golden ticket to the premium level of your new project. Now, the 25% drop makes it a no-brainer.
Lisa, special thanks to you - like I said to you on the phone this morning, we’ll just have to wait and see how this all pans out. Thanks for understanding my situation, and how it relates to yours.
John, I’ll probably throw a teaser screenshot up within the next week or so.
Donnacha, thanks for saying what you did. I’m glad some people are seeing the value of what I’ve offered up!
Thanks for the update and I’m proud to be a dev pack license holder!!!
Hey Brian, I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you for the great Revolution Wordpress theme. I have deployed it on my site and it looks great! Just what I was looking for. Thanks.
Matt
Hi sir,
I believe that your new open source model is a fantastic idea. I myself am starting into the wordpress themes market and I was wondering if your new program will accept contributed themes.
cheers!
Affiliates? How will they be affected by the new program?
Should we still promote the “old” program?
Will there be an affiliate program associated with your new theme?
Thanks!
Brian I want to say thank you for the great, and seemingly tireless, support + work you put into the Revolution theme (I have loved mine since the moment I saw it, and even more after I installed it).
That you are going to an open source model also warms my heart <3
Looking forward seeing what comes in the future~
Lynn, since we are still going to be offering packages that are for purchase, the affiliate program won’t change. On 11/1, all you’ll need to do is go into your E-Junkie account and find the new links.
Allison, you are certainly welcome. We are very excited to provide our themes under the open source model, and think that users will thoroughly enjoy the services and packages we’ll have to offer.
Hi there. Just to clarify …
The all-inclusive is buying all the packages? Also will the forum be open for Q&A up until 31st October? There is a question I wanted to ask about modifying the themes that I was hoping to get an answer to prior to purchase!
I was planning to purchase during October so I’m glad you gave us advance warning as I love Revolution but I hadn’t decided whether to purchase a single theme or multiple themes for multiple sites.
Hi, well 31. October is the day of the deads. Then they came out of the graves. That is the day you shouldn’t go up to the mountains - you know? Well we are not superstitiously, but it is better not the provoke the destiny. You never know.
You didn’t really have another date?
Thanks Brian for clarifying my question on the original post. I appreciate all you have done for your themes. It made me understand better how Wordpress work. I searched for a long time and purchased a few other themes and it all came down to your pro theme.
At first I thought that it would be too hard to use for a beginner, but after a week or so playing with it, it was positively the right move for me. It made me work harder at understanding how everything works together. Eventhough my blog is still under construction, it’s 80% done and i’ve already received lots and lots of kudo’s.
thanks again
dear brian,
thanks a lot again for your work, the perfect support in your forums and that brilliant idea, what you´ve explained yet.
Thank you for clarifying this info especially for those, who have purchased your themes. now anything is clear an i´m still waiting for the day of the new revolution…
regards from germany
Talia, yes, the current forum will be open for questions, but you can always contact me directly if you have any pre-sales questions.
Patrick, my pleasure. I really try to code my themes in a way that makes it easy on people new to php/WordPress easy to work with. And when people run into things they don’t understand, they are always welcome to ask questions in the support forum.
Burk, again, glad I could clarify!
Hello Brian!
I did by your themes a few mounth a go, and i just wanted to make sure that i have all the updated versons of the current revolution theme pack.
Is it possibe to download them one more time?
When i did bye tehm i got an email with a link i could use two times, i just downloaded once, but i cant find the email.
And thanks for some pretty great stuff! And i’m really exited that the Revolution Theme goes open source!
Best regards,
Øyvind Fjæråsen
Webdevoloper in Norway
Oyvind, check your email. Just sent them.
Wow Brian…you covered all the bases, very well thought out. If anything I never doubted even for a moment your integrity and hope that with so many asking a variety of questions you never doubted that for a moment. I am looking forward to seeing the next phase…its like watching one of our favorite shows and your in that cliff hanger phase. New season to continue…..
Susan, new season… being an TV addict, I can certainly relate. I’ve been salivating for the season premier of Lost, so I can understand how you feel. Thanks as always!
WOW! I came to the site because I wanted to set myself up as an affiliate and now I see this incredible news. Congratulations, Brian; in a way I feel like I’m part of this exciting new direction. Can’t wait for 11/1.
Thanks Brian!
That was fast!
Cheers!
Øyvind
I hear ya’ about lost, Brian. I’m waiting on 24. Man I wanna be Jack Bauer when I grow up!
I’m still a bit confused about the fate of the existing user forums for the soon to be discontinued “premium” themes. You state, “I plan to make the existing support forum accessible (read-only) in some way.”
Read only? Then how would a user of those themes ask new questions?
Are you intending to have a new user-forum on the new site open to all or is this where the fees start to come in to play? Or is a section of the forum going to be open to all, with a pay-only section for your “personalized” support?
Funny when how you try to clarify things sometimes things become more murky.
What do you recommend to someone who wants to become a NEW Revolution customer??
Would it be worth it to purchase before Nov. 1 to have a professional theme, or are the “new themes” going to be as eye appealing.?
I understand open source allows many options, but what if I just want simple “turn key” that looks great?
Thanks,
Jon A.
Michael,
I think the support forums for the current themes will be open for awhile, and after sometime will become read only. Chances are any questions you’ll have will be answered by the time they are read only, so you can search the archives.
Even if that is not the case you can e-mail me with questions and I’ll do my best to answer them.
And you guys talking about the new TV season and not one of you mention Chuck!?
Michael, on 11/1, the current support forum will become read only, and the new support forum will open. On the new support forum, there will be a section exclusively for the current theme support. Anyone who has purchased a package thus far, will be able to post in that section at no additional cost.
The rest of the new support forum (which will be new theme support, theme tutorials, ways to get a theme customized and some other things) will be available to people who purchase a package (one-time fee, and will be ridiculously priced low). More or less, for about the price of a single-use license on one theme, you’ll get access to the entire forum for the new themes. Keep in mind the new themes will be free, so this will be an incredibly good offer.
Jonathan, if you like the look and want to use any of the current themes, then I would recommend purchasing the All Inclusive package before 10/31. Since the themes won’t be available after that, it’s best you do it before they become unavailable.
In terms of the new themes, they should be more appealing than the ones now. Jason and I have learned a lot the past year, in terms of new tricks, what users want, etc and the new themes should be better than ever!
great moved. I’m always a fan of Revolution theme. It is amazing that it is open source now.
Brian, you’re obviously a better businessman than I am because I’m still scratching my head a bit on the change. Nonetheless, I wish you guys the best and look forward to the new themes which will exceed my expectations.
I do have one request for the old themes: Is there any way to port over the site showcase gallery to the new site, even though it will show some of the old themes. I’ve received quite a few clients from my Rev them custom sites featured there (Revolution original theme at http://www.SundaySalon.com and the real estate theme at http://www.MiamiAngelProperties.com) and I’d hate to lose future business.
Frank, ah, I’ve been trying to figure that out - in terms of what to do with the showcase since new themes would be coming out. Perhaps what I can do is create a page on the new site that has all of the icons to sites using the old themes. I really do want to keep everyone happy in this transition, and if it means a little extra work to create a page and import those images I’ll do it.
Great move! I have a few pre-purchase questions, where’s the best place to ask them: forum or a comment? Your contact page is down for obvious reasons so I didn’t know the best way to send you a few direct q’s.
I thought about your addiction to Starbucks and you should think about. Here we have a good alternative to that:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5NuuHxVhwI
We developed that when Hitler cut us the supplies. And it worked very well, the people became much more creative with it and had no stomach problems at all. Try it.
SmockLady, just contact me through the Revolution site contact form!
Yes. 5:30 in the morning is too early for this. I’ve had coffee now and am more awake. I saw that after I commented. Will do. Thanks.
Will there be an option on the GPL themes to have our own copyright in place without links to Revolution? Whether you charge for that option or not, please keep in mind it is much needed when developing sites for clients.
Brad, the new themes will be released as GPL, which means you’ll be able to do that. (and understandahly so if you intend on using them for client sites!)
Thanks Brian, will test your theme .
Revolution theme is really a great theme : )
You rock, as always Brian! Your all inclusive package has ALWAYS been a bargain and now it’s even more so!
Well, after 8+ years with my website I decided to switch over to a WordPress platform. Less than 6 months ago I bought the Revolution theme and started learning code so I could use it. However, I did not know at the time that come November 2010 there would be no more theme updates (to keep pace with WordPress updates). I need a theme that includes WordPress related updates, and for my long-term personal use.
Will there be an option for a refund or credit to buy support on the new GPL themes if we wish to change over to the new themes? Would it be permissible to sell my Revolution Pro Media theme in the support section? Thanks.
Brian,
I wanted to suggest that you come up with a good Wordpress theme for attorneys, CPAs, and other professionals. I think it might be a winner for you.
Regards,
Jim S.
Brian,
I posted this on Jason’s site also, but thought I’d crosspost here to make sure the message gets passed on.
For those of us who are running multi-purpose sites, it would be very helpful to have a single theme that runs: the wordpress blog, a video channel as a section of the blog and have the theme extend to the bbpress forum.
I use all three of these functions but they are not coordinated as a single theme. As I move to an online revenue model with adsense and purchased advertising, I would have a much more professional presence with a single theme across the enterprise.
Thanks for the consideration.
Mark Miller, Founder and Editor
EndUserSharePoint.com
I, too, would like to see if my all-inclusive themes are all up-to-date as I missed a few downloads. Is it possible to download them one more time?
I am still not sure if I should buy All Inclusive templates now,and get all of the new templates for free. Do you have an indication of pricing for new templates.I know it is under GPL, but surely there are going to be components that we need to pay for.
What do you plan to do about the phpBB templates? Will there continue to be matching templates for the new WordPress themes?