You would’ve noted recently that we’ve added support for two 3rd party WordPress plugins – GravityForms & ScribeSEO – to all of our themes and when we announced it, we also included special promotions from the developers responsible for them. You would’ve also seen that we included affiliate links (in our favour) if you decided to take us up on the promotions on offer.
So whilst most of our users jumped at these promotions and were very complimentary about the value that we had added to our themes; some of you were more reserved in those opinions and felt that our strategies in this regard were a bit spammy. Considering that we’ve never been a company to shy away from criticism, we wanted to take some time and explain our strategy in this regard:
- We are being very exclusive & selective in terms of which 3rd party plugins / services we decide to recommend to our users. If it doesn’t add significant value to your WordPress + WooThemes experience, we won’t recommend it.
- These won’t happen often; it is pure coincidence that we announced the GravityForms & ScribeSEO support so close to each other and it is only a result of us working on these for quite some time and then finishing both so close to each other.
- The plugins offer significant value that we can’t replicate directly within the WooThemes environment and it’d not be a very viable strategy on our part to try re-invent the wheel. These plugins specialize in what they do, which means we can focus on our core business (themes) too.
- We are using the affiliate links both to track conversions (and thus your interest in these plugins) and to generate a secondary revenue stream. In relation to our core income stream (from our themes), this would be insignificant, but the revenue generated here can also be directly re-invested in some upcoming development projects that we have planned (read: further value for you).
So as you’ll see there’s nothing sinister at play here, and we have our users’ best interest at heart. We realize that all of these things may seem to deviate from our core business and that you actually want to see more themes, but we truly believe in extending the value available to you within our existing themes collection. So support of 3rd party plugins like these is just one of those ways that we hope to expand & extend your value, usability & awesome experience with WooThemes.
45 Responses to “Adding 3rd Party Value”
I can’t believe what some people whinge about!
For mine, I’m happy to know who you guys are working with, and if the offer or the opportunity is good, I’ll invistigate it. If not, using the delete key is neither stressful nor strenuous.
shame that you even need to explain this! keep up the good work.
Well, it’s not a shame as much as it is another opportunity to interact with the people we love most: all of our users. We believe in being as transparent as possible and by explaining this, we are both being transparent and we’re paving the way to add further value in this regard going forward.
I always wondered how WooThemes would tackle integrating more features into WordPress.
WooThemes seems to have struck a good balance between building your own features (wooNav which is now wp nav menu) or referring to other good plugins (Gravity and Scribe). Quite rightly you can’t reinvent the wheel.
Perhaps when Shopp gets a bit more mature, you’ll do something Shopp should have done already – make a super slick theme for the Shopp plugin.
Shopp has been on a radar for a while now, but let’s just say that we’ve decided to go the reinvention route. Teasers: http://dribbble.com/players/mjepson
WooShop / WooKart?
Looking good
Maybe.
I am hoping we get news for release before 10 weeks from now!
The ETA on the news depends on how much you guys badger us…
Very sexy! Looking forward to this. WP CLD has a few clients itching for a cart solution.
Badger away?! Can’t wait! TeamWoo!
This has to be one of the most exciting themes that you guys have coming out. Please make this your next release
I’m with Chris on this! Just can’t wait!
One thing I’ve recommended on another site, I’ll recommend here, too:
It appears that a search of Shopp pages will only return Shopp results…and if you have a site search also, that will only return site results. In other words, you can use the same search widget on all pages of your site – and search for the same word or phrase – and Shopp and your site won’t blend together in the results. In the store = Shopp results. Out of the store = page/post results.
This is, of course, very bad usability.
I believe their support might offer some sort of workarounds in the PHP…I haven’t fully looked into that for a site I’m building that currently has that problem (I looked at some Shopp showcase sites, and it was the same there, so I don’t think it’s me)…but…
If I am correct about this, and I think I am, I recommended that you talk with the Shopp people about this and try collaborating them to get a “when you search anywhere in the entire site, you get the entire site’s search results” hard-coding for WooThemes/Shopp going. This integration might (1) drive more Shopp people to WooThemes and (2) cut down on the support queries you’re likely get about this in the meantime.
Surely a reinvention implies all kinds of functionality goodness
Especially if the words reinvention come out of Adii and the WooTeam
@Keith – I think you have noted a few very valuable points there and we’ll definitely be considering those in our development. And as @Nick has mention… We don’t plan on actually using Shopp, but we’re working on some…
Give us a few weeks to show you what we’re planning…
We (our web firm) are happy to see you partnering with these type of plugin providers.
Honestly it is a bit tough sometimes to separate the wheat from the chaff when it comes to WordPress plugins, and having your stamp of approval on these providers means a lot. If you were recommending services / plugins that were not up to the standards of WooQuality, it would be a different story.
Unfortunately I was unable to get approval to get Scribe and Gravity yet, so I missed out on the promotion – but our business will probably be using each extensively in the future.
That is our thinking as well; especially now with the rise of commercial plugins. Scribe & Gravity are two plugins that we use ourselves, which is why we can definitely recommend it.
No harm in promoting two great plugins and using affiliate links.
I have not used ScribeSEO before… but have been using Gravity Forms for the past 6 months and I personally think no other WordPress forms plugin matches it. It’s just great to see support for the popular plugin built into some Premium Themes. I hope other theme authors will follow suit by adding support for Gravity Forms.
Most WordPress blogs around use affiliate links to promote things they like and I don’t see why WooThemes as a business can’t do it either. As long as WooThemes continue to offer great products then they should not need to explain their motives on why they show support for certain Premium plugins (and using affiliate links).
I run a WordPress related business also and I use affiliate links here and there for products I like and support. I would never advertise or show support for a product that I was not happy with or have never used.
Thanks for the support! This is very much our thinking as well and if there’s a great plugin that we can promote, we’ll definitely do so in future!
>So as you’ll see there’s nothing sinister at play here, and we have our users’ best interest at heart.
I’ve never thought otherwise. Keep up the great innovative work!
No problems here either guys. In fact I purchased Gravity Forms partly on Woo’s recommendation.
In regards to your e-commerce plans, don’t get me wrong, it sounds great and all, but wouldn’t it be easier/better to build a blogging system on top of an already existing (and stable) e-commerce platform rather than create something on top of WordPress which is designed solely for managing content.
Yes and No… It would be easier to integrate with an existing e-commerce platform BUT we won’t be able to support it, nor make it tailor made to our specifications. It makes more sense for us to build it ourselves so that we can properly support it and mold it to the package that suits you best. WP won’t be a limitation in this regard.
Good luck
I am ultra-interested in seeing what you guys come up with in the ecommerce department.
With regards to your affiliate stuff, its all cool as long as it adds value (and it does add value in this case).
Gravity Forms are amazing (second only to Woothemes, of course) and have made my work with Woothemes and WordPress incredibly more efficient and productive. Hooray!
Now, should I check out Scribe?
We definitely recommend that you have a look at Scribe, as it is a really great service if you’re keen on improving your SEO value.
These blog posts matter. Thanks for making the effort.
I’m in favour of the 3rd party plugins being supported – I get the reassurance that the plugins are going to work with my WooTheme and any problems will be handled by a Nina!
What’s not to like about that?
Assuming you meant “Ninja”…
But a “Nina” sounds pretty sexy too…
I appreciate the fact that you all took the time to write this post. I’m a very satisfied Gravity Forms and WooTheme customer, but it’s this kind of availability and transparency that will keep me coming back.
I personally love the integration now offered and am excited to see more! Looks like you’re headed right into the heart of my current difficulties. The e-commerce world.
Depending on the client, I have to choose a completely different solution to meet the needs. This means I’ve had to get familiar with several different systems. The idea of learning a new one (which really, you all can’t provide everything for every conceivable situation – just looking at payment gateways as an example) is rather daunting, but WooThemes continually exceeds my expectations so I’ll be following closely. Thanks again for your excellence and pushing the boundaries of what the word “Premium” means for WordPress.
Something Woo & in the commerce space is coming soon!
I think Gravity was a perfect choice as a third party support option. I use it myself.
But … you can’t possible support every popular plugin.
Nope, we won’t be supporting every popular plugin, but we will be highlighting & supporting the odd plugin that offers immense & unique value.
I think the 3rd party plugins are a great idea.
It is a great idea.
I already use Gravity forms and subscribed to your brilliant ScribeSEO offer.
Some of us are always on the lookout for Premium Plugins that solve problems or add opportunities and if our theme / framework supplier is working with those plugin suppliers as well then so much the better.
Are there perhaps any premium plugins that you can see us supporting in future? Or maybe even develop within the WooHQ?
Will the shop/ecommerce be a theme unto itself or something you can bolt on to another woo theme?
In the longer term: both. Updates in the next couple of weeks…
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