I think I need another 2 weeks and then the first beta version of Family Tree PHP 1.0 will be released. However, I have just decided on a major change, which some of you will probably not enjoy so much. I have decided to stop giving the script away for free.
My reasons for this are the following:
- The script is getting more and more complex and it takes ever more time to develop it further and keep doing this right. If I want to keep doing this, I need to get some money out of it. Otherwise I cannot justify spending this much time and need to start spending it on doing something else.
- There are not enough donations coming in to provide this money.
Some of you have suggested that I should ask money for support only, or offer a paid hosting solution, or else. I have considered this, but I have decided not to go this way, because I think it best to seek a correlation between the quality of the script and the money I get out of it. If I should get my money from support or hosting, it would be in my interest to make the script more difficult to use or to install, so that more people would need support or special hosting. I have seen this already with donations: the more problems there were with the script, the more users were willing to donate. When the script became more stable, donations became less and less. So this would not be good, not for me, neither for you. We all want a high quality script, that is easy to install and easy to use. When each user pays a small price for the right to use Family Tree PHP, I can afford to spend more time developing. And it will be in my interest to keep you all happy. It will be in my interest to keep the group that needs support as small as possible, and no longer the other way round.
About the terms: I have decided on a price of 14.95 EUR. Registered users will of course get free updates and bug fixes untill version 2.0 is released (which will not be within a year) and will then get a special upgrading price. Anyone who provides a complete translation for version 1.0 may use the script for free and there will be a 30 day money back garantuee for everyone.
I understand that I will now lose some of you as users. I hope most of you will accept this decision and stay using Family Tree PHP for a long time to come. Anyway, I am looking forward to your reactions.
I suspected this was coming and think I would pay if the edit mode works well. I’m happy with the software so far. It is not as obvious how to respond to beta testing …
I am glad you are happy enough with the script to pay.
Bugs can be reported via the forum and error reports can be send to me via email (as described in the error reports you get, or automaticly by the script). The only difference between ’stable’ and ‘beta’ versions is that in ‘beta’ versions it is more likely to find bugs, because they have not yet been tested as much as ’stable’ versions.
Gerrit, I think you have made the right decission, after all 14,95 Euro is a small price, and if you keep you’re promise that we only have to pay this once a year, I have no problems to pay you something for you’re great work.
Can we also pay through Ideal?
Gerrit what is happening with the sub domains on voorouders.net, people get free space and free use of the script, is this changing to? It would not be fair to other users who have theire own space some else where, and must pay in the future for the use of the script.
I think I will be able to offer Ideal too.
For now I am planning to keep the subdomains at Voorouders.net for free. The users there have some limitations (ads, no ftp, only 8Mb per gedcom/multimedia upload, less customizable, etc). And I can use these installations for pre-beta testing, as I am doing now with version 1.0, because I can monitor them closely and intervene immediately, which has already resulted in many bugs being fixed that would otherwise have remained in the beta release.
That make sense, I didn’t know the Beta was already installed there, after do some little testing there, it would be help full I think there would also some documetation made availleble, for using the forms to fill in the info, by the way great work so far.
If it’s no longer for free, you’ll have to change the header of your website, the description on the homepage, etc.
Right now it says “free” all over the place and I think that’s misleading.
The current version, 0.6, is still for free. When version 1 is tested enough to be declared stable, then version 0.6 will no longer be available and then I will change the headers.