Revolution Going Open Source
I have teased you all long enough, and for that I apologize. The post title says it all - Revolution is going open source. This means that all themes will be released under the GPL license and in compliance with standards set forth by WordPress.
Before you make any comments, please read this post in its entirety…
As of 12:00 midnight, Friday October 31st, the themes that are currently available at the Revolution theme site will no longer be available. Ever. This was a decision that I made in order to protect the integrity of the current themes and the conditions under which they were released. Over the past year I have built a community of Revolution users, and to freely offer up those themes would be completely unfair to them. My community matters to me, and this is how I have chosen to handle current themes.
Please keep reading…
So what does this mean? It means that as of Saturday November 1st, a completely new Revolution site will launch - call it the second coming, or what you will. There will be a new set of themes on that website, which like I said will be made available under the GPL license. There will be an option to purchase packages which include support, tutorials, access to customization and a few other things.
I do want to point out, as promised to users who’ve previously purchased the current Revolution themes, that there will be a section in the new support forum where we will continue to support those themes.
Now there’s more…
Jason Schuller, who runs WP Elements as well as created the Featured Content Gallery plugin, will be teaming up with me on the upcoming Revolution project. His creativity and resources will be a huge asset to Revolution and the community. He and I will both be developing themes, and all of them will be made available on the upcoming site. He also has plans to develop more plugins, which will all be housed on the site as well.
Many of you know that a few weeks ago, Jason flew out here to Chicago so we could discuss some things. Well obviously it was all about working together, and our desire to build something in the WordPress community that would be really big. The reason for the delay in our announcement was a result of something I threw out there to him - only hours before he was to fly back to Seattle. “Hey man, what if we released all of our themes open source?” Thus the delay…
Why the change of heart?
This one is really simple - more than anything, Jason and I want to develop a resource and community that is perfectly aligned with WordPress. Both he and I have been fortunate enough to leave our day jobs within the past year and have developed our own media companies. None of that would have been possible without the existence of WordPress, which is solely built and supported by the open source community.
It only seems fair that we abandon our current premium theme models, and begin a new way of doing business. I contacted Matt and Toni to see if they would be gracious enough to carve out some time to meet with us, so we could ensure that our business model was in compliance with standards set forth by the authors of the GPL license as well as with WordPress.
Let me be clear with something…
The new Revolution project will be developed and supported by Jason and I - along with a few other people. We are not partnering with WordPress, nor are we going to be employed by Automattic in any way. This is our project, and our trip to San Francisco to talk with Matt and Toni was only to discuss our plan, and to get feedback from them.
For the current All-Inclusive members…
I wanted to add that anyone who has purchased or upgraded to the current Revolution All-Inclusive membership, you will automatically inherit the ability to receive the aforementioned theme package benefits at no additional cost. This is our way of saying thanks for what you’ve spent already.
In conclusion…
So that pretty much sums it up - of course there are a lot of little things that I’m not including, more details will come out when we unveil the new site. Feel free to blog about this on your site, or spread the word. We really want to be transparent with our plans as much as we can. Thanks for your patience and feel free to ask questions in the comment section below.
* Special note, that the affiliate program will remain intact and the 25% on purchased packages will remain the same.
Follow this discussion in other places…
Ooh, I wonder what a collab between Jason + Brian would look like. My blog http://torley.com uses Jason’s On Demand, while my wife http://ravenelle.net totally and independently opted for Revolution. I thought that was sort of a neat connection… *awaits further news*
Brian, do you think it might be possible for me to have an interview with you for my website JungleJar.com? I’d like to touch on a few things with you, namely you going open source with your Revolution Theme packages.
I tried looking about for an email address, and now that I think about it…it’s probably Brian@BrianGardner.com, but you seem to be fairly up to date with your users comments right here.
Anyway, if you want to drop me a comment here or an email to Christopher@junglejar.com to let me know either way, that would be fantastic.
Take care.
Hey, I’m probably asking a question that you’ve been asked a dozen times, but are you saying that your old set of Revolution themes will be free as of October 31st? I have been trying to find a theme that would make our church’s youth group website NOT suck, but it just seems like most wordpress themes suck, so if your themes were available, that would certainly raise the bar quite significantly.
Let me know!
Very interesting stuff Brian. Your work along with Jason’s is really unbelievable and you are both very talented. I am very excited about this upcoming change and cant wait to jump into the new site and feel out the new themes and services. Best of luck to you guys! I’ll be staying tuned.
-Jon
Interesting post… pretty excited to see what comes out on Nov 1.
At the same time, I really dig what’s up now.
Here’s the deal Brian: I’m developing a site for a student group soon, and I love what’s currently up. We’re also strapped for cash, so if there’s a great chance we’ll love what drops Nov 1, we’d rather wait it out, save our budget, and use a free theme (possibly paying for some support). If there is any substantive change in design philosophy/aesthetics/ease-of-use, I’ll need to grab the current all-inclusive bundle.
What would you (of course I don’t need to add ‘honestly’ here
recommend?
Brian, Congratulations on choosing this route !
Will you be holding any “Last Day Moving Sale” at steep discounts for the existing themes, theme sets ?
It might be nice to do something like that, both for you and for the community of theme developers / end users
I strongly feel you’re still ahead of the pack when it comes to premium themes. I think many others may end up following in your footsteps.
Wow great news :). I hope you will be more success and get lots of idea for next released themes. I really likes some of Jason idea @ WPElements, and now he join with you, woow :).
As someone who invested in buying a small piece of your genius, I’m really looking forward to seeing what the new collaboration brings forth.
Being the ultimate procrastinator, and now having seen this post, do you recommend I go ahead and buy the all-inclusive package before 10/31 or wait for the new GPL themes?
Thanks for shafting those of us who bought into the concept of an All-Inclusive package to help fund new theme development.
It sounds like you’ve taken that money and spent some time developing new themes that anyone can download. (after promising us we’d get these themes as part of our payment and some exclusivity versus the stuff that appears on every free theme website)
Also sounds like this new stuff will be very similar to the existing revolution themes in terms of layout, style and functionality. (i.e. it wont be very difficult to alter a new GPL release to look much like the current magazine theme)
I can understand why all the freeloaders are excited by this news of course. I’m not impressed.
Speaking as a person who purchased the all inclusive developers pack…after reading some comments I felt reassured that despite the upcoming change on Nov 1 - I was still making a sound decision in purchasing the package. But, I must say it doesnt feel good to read this post written by one of your site moderators Brian. It makes me feel as if what I bought is not even as good as what will be available come Nov 1st. Now I am unclear as to what the advantage was in my purchasing the all inclusive. (See the quote below from a “senior moderator”)
“Thu Oct 16, 2008 11:43 am Profile Craiger Online
Senior Moderator User avatar
Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2008 11:46 am
Posts: 2416
Location: Lake Simcoe, ON, Canada & Las Vegas, NV
Post Re: Can others give me their open source Revolution theme?
http://www.briangardner.com/blog/revolu … source.htm
http://www.briangardner.com/blog/follow … cement.htm
The Revolution Themes will not be available after 10/31. They will never be sold again, but as Jeff stated, their licenses remain intact. Anyone caught giving them away will be taken in the back alley and thrashed with wet noodles,
seriously…
When the new site is launched, there will be a whole new group of themes which will be available under GPL license. I have seen them and they are even better than the current set. Plus, BG & JS have a long list of future themes.
what i really need to know is… are the premium sites available right now BETTER than what will be coming?? I really want one, but I don’t know if i should wait or not.
please contact me.
Brian,
I’ve been hooked on your site and business since I started to think about creating a robust online magazine. When Nov. 1 comes around, I look forward to being one of your first “new” customers. As noted, I am one who is a bit lost on exactly what going open source actually means to me. What I do get, is the continued dedication to quality and customer service.
Best,
Peter
Dude, can you save a spot for me to get my hands on those 10 themes if I don’t get the $299 by the 31st?
Let’s just say that I **ahem** got conned in 2 real estate deals down here so NO FAT COMMISSION CHECK. Luckily my buyers didn’t fork out any dough or I’d be in deep doo doo for selling land that belongs to someone else. Doh!!!!
Brian thanks for doing this. I learned how to design for WordPress from your Revolution Themes. I’m excited that your going open source will allow many more designers to be able to work with the future themes that you and Jason cook up. Congratulations on the new venture. I’ll pray that it is a good one for you both.
This is so nice, it is almost unbelievable. I was considering buying an existing Revolution theme but I guess the wait till November 1st will be worth it. All the best!
Brian, I’m sure you’re tired of hearing this, but you’re the bomb! I’ve been a fan of your clean coded themes since the beginning, and I’m currently shopping for a new theme to relaunch my site as more of a total Web site than the current blog feel it has now.
Can’t wait to see what you and Jason have to offer! Cheers!
Just spotted this news. Since my website is “The Open Source Report” you can probably guess that I think this was a great move for you. Congratulations!
Aw nuts, I found the Revolution themes after seeking out the theme that Leo Laporte was using for leoville.com. I was all ready to hit the buy button for a theme and I have allocated my Sunday to figuring it out. Now I’m not sure what to do. Would doing that get me access to the forums if I decided next week to try a different ‘free’ theme? I do like the plain vanilla Revolution theme but by next week it will be gone.
What’s a bloke to do?
“And to be clear, users of current themes will have free access to the “current theme” support on the new forum. Should they choose to want support for a new theme, they have 2 options. 1) download it freely and be on their own, or 2) purchase the theme package which includes the support for that theme.”
This clarifies it for me. Just finished reading through most of this thread and am about to head over to the follow-up thread. By then I won’t have too much time left for doing the new site anyway and will have to wait until next weekend, by which time the new themes will be out! Just have to quell that impulsive nature of mine.
I can’t believe I stumbled upon the Revolution themes and Word Press one week before the new themes and business model are released! I simply can’t afford to pay twice though and I know that I will need support, so it’s probably best for me to hang fire and see what’s coming. I did know of Word Press of course, but I’ve never done much more than install it.
Here is my question one of the big reasons for using your themes was the updates for life so what happens now when WP updates and the theme breaks. is that it or will there still be support on getting it fixed or updated ?
Brian, in your comment: “I wanted to add that anyone who has purchased or upgraded to the current Revolution All-Inclusive membership, you will automatically inherit the ability to receive the aforementioned theme package benefits at no additional cost. This is our way of saying thanks for what you’ve spent already.”
Does this mean we will have free access to use new themes that are produced by you and Jason? I have a developer package with you and with tv.elements by Jason.
Well I would just like to say good going Brian and Jason, I purchased the magazine theme, and didnt even know anything about HTML and look at my site now… http://www.flavourmag.co.uk - I personally cant wait to see what is to come, and have my money ready because the truth is that the featured content gallery is the one thing I didnt know how to add to my theme lol.
Im expecting some amazing themes with everything I need to make my site great and I can’t wait to visit the forums too.
p.s. Any chance of adding forums to your news themes, all inclusive?
Congrats Brian! Thanks for keeping the Rev themes and their integrity intact going forward. We are still developing a few sites with them so glad some support will still be there.
I think open source will be a great way too to go for you cause I know you and your themes will be even better in the future, and I like open source too.
Gents, congrats on your new way of doing business. I think it’s a good move, I’m a major supporter of open source! I’m glad I found Revolution and I’m glad to be part of the original “All Inclusive” club.
Good Luck,
Peter
Goodluck with you new business Brian! I’m curious to November 1.
Five more sleeps!
I’ve been really impressed with Brian’s themes and have happily recommended them to others via forums. The sneak-peeks look sensational and I’m looking forward to putting the new releases into action!
Cheers from Melbourne, Australia …
Hey Brian, I tried to read all the posts to make sure you hadn’t already answered my question, so sorry if you already have.
I understand that under your new model you will be charging for support, tutorials and “access to customizations”. That’s the part that I find confusing. Does this mean there will be some extra features for customization that can be purchased? Or, does it mean that if the theme needs customizing, we have to hire Revolution to do it.
As someone who purchased a Revolution theme and customized it for my needs myself, I’m curious. Thanks.
Sadly now if you want any of the revolution themes (even if you intend to pay for them) you can’t. So now everyone has to turn into pirates if they want them.
Not everyone will have the cash to make this “mad dash” to buy all the themes they want. I think this is a very shady tactic to make some last minute cash. At the very least you could leave them for sale until the end of the year. Moreover I would like to see Revolution themes continue in some fashion….just quitting development on them when in fact your still developing themes seems silly. Its not like you announced your gonna be a plumber instead of a theme developer.
Should I wait for Open Source or buy a package up to this date?
I’m thrilled what’s comming out! I hope it’s not so good that I’ll ditch my current Revolution Theme
Best Regards from Germany
Markus
I must say, I cannot share everyone’s excitement on Revolution going Open Source.
I purchased the Revolution Themes because they were unique and stood out among the rest.
Now everyone is going to have a theme equal to or better than what I payed good money for. Makes all of my work obsolete.
Does not seem fair in my book.
@RS - I agree.
RS & Peedy - how many projects have you done using any of the Revolution themes?
Can you confirm if I have just wasted my money purchasing a Magazine theme and why you are offering the existing packages still today 29th October, if they are to go oprn source on the 1st November. Am i missing the point or what?
You say these existing themes will be unique? and worth more in the future?
Can you explain why I should purchase today if they are to be open source by the end of the week.
Can you just clarify for me, thanks
I’ve been studying Internet Marketing for 2 years! Talks about cautious! I’ve been looking for good WP themes for about a year. NO ONE has logged the time I have in searching for themes. Brian… I have to say your themes are in a class by themselves!
I can’t wait to see what the future holds.
I’m not sure why it matters how many projects they have done? The simple fact is, anyone who purchased a developer’s pack, such as myself, has essentially had their semi-unique site designs given away now for free.
As a collective, we have paid money, invested into development, and have now had it handed over to the community at large for free, thus completely devaluing any uniqueness the premium themes once offered.
Sadly, as a fan of Open Source, I would have been 100% entirely supportive of this move had I not seen some of the themes offered at Revolution Two. To tell existing customers that no existing themes will be offers as Open Source, and then turn around and post a theme that is near identical an existing premium theme, albeit with some different colors, is simply incredible.
You’ll have to excuse me if I find that pretty insulting and don’t share the level of excitement of the freebie crowd.
Brian,
Can these themes basically work as my website. I don’t know html, and want to make sure these are very turnkey to build out. Is that the case?
Thanks!
Andrew
RS,
How can you pay $80 for a theme and expect it to be unique?
Sometimes you have to give credit where it is due.
I’m not sure Brian has had to deal with anyone as stubborn as myself, but after having the opportunity to communicate with him recently, I am admittedly quite impressed with his dedication to customers — not to mention his ongoing commitment.
Suffice it to say, in this day and age of greed and walking on people, it was refreshing to encounter someone who stands by his words with regard to customer satisfaction.
Thanks for going above and beyond, Brian.
hi people,
i’m confusing a bit with the situation with R2 themes. Prevoiusly were said about going the Rev themes to 100% open sourse under the GPL and it looks like Rev themes go for free download, share and change. But i see other business plan here and can’t understand where is an open sourse here?
Brian, is it correct that the previous Revolution themes are not available anymore? Or are you going to make them available under the GPL in the future?
The reason for my asking is that I’ve been browsing your site for a few days, looking at the different themes and pondering whether or not to buy a package. I see that the new “free” templates are different from the “old” Revolution themes, which I liked better to be honest.
Thanks in advance for your answer. Have a great day!
Being new to developing my own websites and blogging for that matter, I was excited to stumble across your Revolution themes. When I read last month that your themes were going ‘open source’, I was eagerly awaiting November first so I could download and take the necessary time to figure out how your Magazine theme functioned. I currently use Wordpress and I’m learning something new all the time with every new version that seems to come out every other day.
Anyway, I was slightly disappointed to see that your initial announcement wasn’t all that accurate and that the themes are being provided in a membership fashion. I have no problem purchasing a quality product like yours seems to be, my concern is my own lack of knowledge and understanding of code and development and although I’ve somewhat figured out how to manipulate and customize the Wordpress themes, your Revolution themes seem much more complex and difficult to manage. How friendly and understanding is your support and are they able to assist someone like me who is motivated to learn, but just lacks the foundation a lot of users already posses? Thanks for your time.
Well Brian, when you announced that your Premium themes would be open source, I thought that all the premium themes that were displayed before November 1st were going to be free to download. It appears to me that what you have for download is nothing as to what I thought was going to be available. Yea I am not sure what your idea is of GIVING away the Premium Themes, but then say they are not going to be available on the site, just didn’t make sense to me. I suppose this is good for the developers who bought them!
I am not sure what you are trying to do here, but the impression most people got is that the themes (all of them) were going to be free. And all the people that bought themes from you in the past are not happy either.
And this business adventure you are on, are you going to be making Premium themes and where is the web site to see these at????
You went through all these arrangements to give something away, but yet I don’t see it!
I’m not really sure who is getting the shaft here, your loyal customers or you yourself!
You do good work, and you and the people that work with and around you do also. I just hope, that what ever the heck it is your trying to do, works out.
Now don’t forget I want the link to your new business venture for the new themes.
Sorry, Brian,
I was under the impression that the old Premium themes is what was going to be available. “I guess the open source part got me confused.” So what you are saying is the themes for download are new themes. I guess I read into your posting wrong. I was looking forward to trying some of the Premium Themes I seen on the old Revolution site before November 1st. I do apologize for my not understanding, I guess I got my hopes up too high.
Just that your work is so good I guess my mind was in the wrong format!
Are you going to be posting new themes with examples similar to what was on the old site? What I am asking is are you staying in the Themes area of your work, like before, just new Premium Themes?
I hope all works out for you and your partners on your move forward.
Thank you, Jake