How to Successfully Take Over a WordPress Plugin
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Taking over a WordPress plugin is a big deal. You inherit support, ratings, users, and a codebase. Several case studies of personal plugin takeovers with recommended best practices will be demonstrated, as well as an overview of larger examples that have taken place over the years.
How to Successfully Take Over a WordPress Plugin
- 1. By: Ronald Huereca (@ronalfy) HOW TO SUCCESSFULLY TAKE OVER A WORDPRESS PLUGIN WordCamp DFW 2016 - September 24th, 2016
- 2. @ronalfy What do you see when you add new plugins?
- 3. @ronalfy Lots and lots of code
- 4. @ronalfy I mean a 鉛看岳
- 5. Over 40,000 plugins are in the plugin directory Lets break that down
- 6. @ronalfy With over 1.4 Billion downloads* * Adjusted for in鍖ation
- 7. @ronalfy
- 8. @ronalfy How much is the plugin directory worth to you?
- 9. @ronalfy The plugin directory is a priceless resource available with just a single click
- 10. @ronalfy Why do the developers code the plugins? Whats the motivation?
- 11. @ronalfy Developer motivations Coded the plugin for a job Give to the WordPress community R辿sum辿 building Hobby Make Money
- 13. @ronalfy Plugin abandonment Life No exit plan Leaves the WordPress community Support overload No 鍖nancial or development support
- 14. @ronalfy Lets take a look at a few developers
- 15. Matthew Sparrow Member of the WordPress community since 2013 Started coding at 13 Most popular plugin has 90,000+installs https://pro鍖les.wordpress.org/kidsguide/
- 16. Ajay Dsouza Member of the WordPress community since 2003 Plugin and theme developer Core contributor Most popular plugin is on 60,000+ sites https://pro鍖les.wordpress.org/ajay/
- 17. Chris Wiegman Member of the WordPress community since 2010 Security expert Most popular plugin was acquired by iThemes iThemes Security currently has over 800,000 installs https://pro鍖les.wordpress.org/chriswiegman/
- 18. @ronalfy To avoid plugin abandonment, one way is to takeover plugin development
- 19. @ronalfy Taking over a plugin starts with an IM, tweet, support thread, pull request, or perhaps an email Tip: Developers speak in code
- 21. @ronalfy My plugin takeover experience started with ignorance
- 22. @ronalfy Disable Plugin and Theme Updates
- 23. @ronalfy Disable Updates Manager This plugin did almost exactly what I was trying to do
- 24. @ronalfy Disable Updates Manager Had 10,000 + installs Did almost exactly what I needed it to do
- 25. @ronalfy A brief history of Disable Updates Manager Started by a 13 year old developer in September 2013 Was originally designed to stop all plugin and theme updates Was aided by a second developer to add more options Was left to maintenance-limbo in December of 2014
- 26. @ronalfy Rather than compete, I decided to collaborate In February of 2015, I emailed Matthew
- 27. @ronalfy His Response Was Very Positive Hello Ronald, The plugin that you made looks very professional and well made. It is funny that you contacted me because I was just thinking of redoing the Disable Updates Manager plugin. I would love to have some help redoing it. Your plugin would be a great addition to it. Let me know if you would like to help, Matthew
- 28. @ronalfy Thus Began the Collaboration We renamed the plugin Easy Updates Manager We created a YouTube Channel We began re-coding the plugin We created documentation We started testing like crazy
- 29. @ronalfy Easy Updates Manager Today
- 30. @ronalfy Easy Updates Manager Has over 90,000 installs Averages 7,000 downloads per update (record is 8,989) Averages 400 downloads per day 70 5-star ratings with a 4.8 average Roughly 5-10 support requests a week
- 31. @ronalfy Gravity Forms Google Analytics Event Tracking
- 32. @ronalfy The takeover started with a pull request
- 33. @ronalfy Hi Nathan, I just wanted to let you know I'm interested in submitting a pull request for your Gravity Forms Event Tracking plugin hosted on GitHub. I wanted to gauge interest, so I submitted a ticket. If you could take a look at it, I would be most appreciative. Thanks! Ronald Huereca
- 34. @ronalfy The plugin chugged along and then this happened
- 35. @ronalfy @ronalfy I don't have time to work on this as I'm no longer really working with wordpress or even PHP that much. Do you want to take ownership of the repository? https://github.com/ronalfy/wordpress-gravity-forms-event-tracking/issues/23
- 36. I took over the plugin and tried to give it away @ronalfy
- 37. @ronalfy Gravity Forms Google Analytics Event Tracking Today
- 38. @ronalfy Gravity Forms Google Analytics Event Tracking Has over 9,000 installs Averages 30 downloads per day 13 5-star ratings with a 5.0 average Roughly 1-2 support requests a week
- 39. @ronalfy Thats just my 壊岳看姻霞
- 40. @ronalfy There are a ton of WordPress developers out there
- 41. @ronalfy Lets look at some larger examples
- 42. Forked from Jigoshop Acquired by Automatic in May of 2015 Powers ~30% of all online stores Has over 1 million installs @ronalfy
- 43. Acquired from Yoast in April of 2016 Has over 1 million installs @ronalfy
- 44. Acquired by Automattic in August of 2014 Rolled into Jetpack March of 2015 Jetpack has over 1 million installs BruteProtect @ronalfy
- 45. @ronalfy Remember, developers speak in code Start with an email and a pull request Help out with support Asked to be added as a GitHub contributor Do the hard work (testing, code reviews) Use your network Dont be afraid to fork