Hello,
As you may know, I have acquired addons from different companies these past 5 years or so, like the following:-
- RWExtras
- StackManiac
- RapidWeaverPro
- Tsooj Media
- SeyDesign
- Nimblehost (excluding Armadillo and Waterfall)
- Henk Vrieselaar
These were not addons or companies given to me for free. I engaged in formal business agreements with their past owners. Because I wanted to offer these addons a safe home and promised to continue maintaining and supporting them.
As part of the contractual agreements, I have tried to update as many of the addons as possible and re-list them on websites like ThemeFlood, Stacks4Stacks, SeyDesign, RWExtras and RapidSearchPro.
Many thousands of customers have successfully requested free updates for all that I have updated.
We have handled the updates efficiently; through means of requesting proof of purchase from customers and providing qualifying customers with 100% coupon codes, normally valid for 48 hours. These coupon codes have allowed customers to re-buy updated addons they need and add them to their Paddle accounts for prosperity.
Itâs worked great, because lots of people have been able to make contact and get hold of free updates. Paddle does a really good job of centralising addon purchases and making them available at anytime.
However itâs reaching the point now that there is an increasing amount of extra administrative work required in receiving âproof of purchaseâ from customers by email, sending out update instructions and generating 100% coupon codes.
Sadly some of the customers we are dealing with are not as friendly or as honest as you might expect all RapidWeaver users to be! Itâs rare to get a âthank youâ back in exchange for providing free updates. We get zero revenue for providing these updated addons - which in some instances are entirely new addons with only their name remaining unchanged. Some of the issued coupon codes we send out do not even get used.
This post is to announce that the âgrace periodâ or âupdate windowâ closes on 1st January 2019.
After this date, any addons purchased from the above named companies and not already listed in your Paddle account will no longer be eligible for coupon codes or free updates.
I have thought about this long and hard. And consulted with others. The consensus is that some of these named companies were taken over more-than 5 years ago! I am of the opinion that a majority of customers who are still actively using these addons and retain an interest in RapidWeaver have already updated long before now.
A line needs to be drawn and we need to set a definitive deadline for issuing free updates. Things are getting quite messy and not always especially pleasant to deal with.
Of course, this will not effect addons that are already listed in your Paddle account or the smaller incremental updates you get automatically in RapidWeaver. This post is mostly targeted at the âunder the radarâ customers who may not have already transitioned their past purchases across to Paddle yet.
I hope all readers of this discussion understand the need for this cut-off point to be set. The big administrative saving it brings ensures more time can be dedicated towards actual development of RapidWeaver addons. Lots is planned for 2019. Do take advantage of this final free update window, before it closes for good at the end of December.
It has been decided to do it at this time of year, because typically client workloads are less and the holiday period is a good opportunity to weed-through those old receipts and download links.
If you need help or have further questions, please get in touch by email. Advice is always available.
-Will.