Subscribe2 v5.4

Version 5.4 of the Plugin is now available for download. This version has been tested on WordPress 2.9.1.

Versiom 5.4 contains the bug fixes and requested feature improvements listed below.

Need help or support:

If you need help to find you way around the many features of Subscribe2 or are finding your way setting it up for the first time you should consider the guide produced independently by the iAssistant. The guide is 40+ pages long and it provides an in depth set of instructions and descriptions of Subscribe2 features.

Version 5.0 introduced a new support model for the plugin. Previous posts explain the issues and my proposed solution. To seek support read the support forum. If you have a bug, please report it on the forum.

If you have an issue that you can’t find an answer for then by all means post your question BUT if you get no response it is because the answer is already available or the problem is pretty unique to your install. In these cases be prepared to pay for assistance – ONLY the plugin is free!

If you use this plugin consider making a donation to support future development!

Subscribe2 v5.3

Version 5.3 of the Plugin is now available for download. This version has been tested on WordPress 2.9.1.

Versiom 5.3 contains the bug fixes and requested feature improvements listed below.

Need help or support:

If you need help to find you way around the many features of Subscribe2 or are finding your way setting it up for the first time you should consider the guide produced independently by the iAssistant. The guide is 40+ pages long and it provides an in depth set of instructions and descriptions of Subscribe2 features.

Version 5.0 introduced a new support model for the plugin. Previous posts explain the issues and my proposed solution. To seek support read the support forum. If you have a bug, please report it on the forum.

If you have an issue that you can’t find an answer for then by all means post your question BUT if you get no response it is because the answer is already available or the problem is pretty unique to your install. In these cases be prepared to pay for assistance – ONLY the plugin is free!

If you use this plugin consider making a donation to support future development!

WordPress 2.9 compatibility

Since the release of WordPress 2.9 about a week ago I’ve been doing some testing looking for issues. Subscribe2 appears to work pretty well with WordPress 2.9 but there are some issues with the cron periodic email events on some servers with WordPress 2.9. This is not an issue in Subscribe2 but a bug in the WordPress code.

I found more details and a fix here as well as details of some other problems.

The bug in Susbcribe2 will be apparent if, and only if:

• You are using Subscribe2 on WordPress 2.9
• You have set Subscribe2 to email notifications periodically on a digest basis rather than per-post
• Your server configuration makes your site prone to the WordPress 2.9 bug

You can try the following fixes:

• Apply the files link at the site above
• Replace wp-includes/http.php with the version in the WordPress trunk code
• Wait for WordPress 2.9.1
• Add define('ALTERNATE_WP_CRON', true); to your wp-config.php file

I compared the files in the first and second options and they look identical to me but you may trust files direct from WordPress more.

Subscribe2 v5.2

Version 5.2 of the Plugin is now available for download. This version has been tested on WordPress 2.8.6 and also briefly on 2.9. Users who feel Subscribe2 is critical to their site should delay upgrading to WordPress 2.9 until more testing is complete.

Versiom 5.2 contains the bug fixes and requested feature improvements listed below.

Need help or support:

If you need help to find you way around the many features of Subscribe2 or are finding your way setting it up for the first time you should consider the guide produced independently by the iAssistant. The guide is 40+ pages long and it provides an in depth set of instructions and descriptions of Subscribe2 features.

Version 5.0 introduced a new support model for the plugin. Previous posts explain the issues and my proposed solution. To seek support read the support forum. If you have a bug, please report it on the forum.

If you have an issue that you can’t find an answer for then by all means post your question BUT if you get no response it is because the answer is already available or the problem is pretty unique to your install. In these cases be prepared to pay for assistance – ONLY the plugin is free!

If you use this plugin consider making a donation to support future development!

Premium Plugin Store

Not long ago WordPress introduced Commercial Themes and a lot of plugin authors have been pondering how to do the same for plugins.

For quite some time I have offered a HTML enabled version of Subscribe2 at a cost of $40US that sends HTML emails to all Public Subscribers and to those Registered Subscribers who opt to get HTML notifications.

Until now I’ve emailed the code direct to people who make the payment but obviously this is less than ideal as most people want the code immediately on payment.

So, I’m please to be able to announce the immediate availability of Subscribe2 HTML at WP Plugins – The WordPress App Store.

Guides and Stats

The new support forum appears to be working and I think (so far) it is saving me time – time will tell if this trend continues. But something that may help further is a comprehensive guide to Subscribe2 produced independently by the iAssistant.

The guide is 40+ pages long and it provides an in depth set of instructions and descriptions of Subscribe2 features. I have had a very small part in the production of this guide (mainly pointing out additional areas of functionality and clarifying how some things work). It has been written in an easily understood manner that the novice will comprehend. I hope you will consider using this guide if you are struggling to start using Subscribe2.

And since the release of version 5.1 has bumped the download counter past the 200,000 mark and there have now been more than half a million visits to this site I guess there are quite a few of you who will find this guide worth every penny!

Subscribe2 v5.1

Version 5.1 of the Plugin is now available for download. This version has been tested on WordPress 2.8.4.

Versiom 5.1 contains the bug fixes and requested feature improvements listed below.

Obtaining Support:

Version 5.0 introduced a new support model for the plugin. Previous posts explain the issues and my proposed solution. To seek support read the support forum. If you have a bug, please report it on the forum.

If you have an issue that you can’t find an answer for then by all means post your question BUT if you get no response it is because the answer is already available or the problem is pretty unique to your install. In these cases be prepared to pay for assistance – ONLY the plugin is free!

If you use this plugin consider making a donation to support future development!

Subscribe2 v5.0 [u]

Version 5.0 5.0.1 of the Plugin is now available for download. This version has been tested on WordPress 2.8.4.

Versiom 5.0.1 contains bug fixes for the menu system that were introduced by changes in version 5.0.

Obtaining Support:

Version 5.0 introduces a new support model for the plugin. Previous posts explain the issues and my proposed solution. To seek support read the support forum. If you have a bug, please report it on the forum.

If you have an issue that you can’t find an answer for then by all means post your question BUT if you get no response it is because the answer is already available or the problem is pretty unique to your install. In these cases be prepared to pay for assistance – ONLY the plugin is free!

If you use this plugin consider making a donation to support future development!

Support for Subscribe2 – Update

If you saw my post from about a month ago then you are already well aware of my increasing frustration with respect to supporting the Subscribe2 plugin. In my musing over what to do about this situation I stumbled across this old post from Skippy. This post announced the transfer of Subscribe2 from his stewardship to mine and he makes the following comment:

As an aside: useless bug reports — those reporting “It doesn’t work!” with no other details — contributed greatly to my abandonment of subscribe2. Please don’t wear Matt down with the same.

Well, this got me thinking, you see I gave Skippy (Scott) my word that I’d support the plugin and I have always hope I’ve been principled enough to keep my word. So, support will continue BUT it will no longer be free. I’m hoping that demanding a fee to provide support will encourage people to read the documentation provided and spend more time searching for an answer to their question.

I’m still astonished that so many people apparently have virtually no understanding the free software does not also mean free support, free customisation or free fix-my-problems.

So, the next release of Subscribe2 (Version 5.0) will be available shortly. At that time this site will become an announcement site only, comments will be disabled. A support forum is already online and I will be monitoring it to populate it with more questions and answers and this will also be the place to report bugs.

Support for Subscribe2

Many users of Subscribe2 post comments commending the outstanding support that is offered on the plugin and ruing the fact that this does not happen more. The sad fact is that a great number of the comments posted are either issues that have already been discussed many times over and the answers are already available, or they are requests for custom changes from the default plugin for an individuals benefit.

Recently, the folks at WordPress have reviewed their software licence and introduced Commercially Supported Themes on the main WordPress.org site. They have also introduced enterprise-level support for large-scale users of WordPress.

So, that leaves me wondering how to handle the continued support of Subscribe2. You see, much as though I think I should support my plugin and help people to use it as best they can I am often left bewildered that it seems to be overlooked that both the plugin and the support are currently FREE. And yet the level of functionality and support seem to be more consistent with that of software that has been bought!

Perhaps I should start acting more like other plugin authors and provide little to no support. Maybe I should direct everyone to the ReadMe and FAQ section of the website. Perhaps I should start charging for my assistance.

I really don’t know for sure what will happen next. I think I have decided already to start directing queries to the FAQ and ReadMe more however when I’ve done this in the past it really doesn’t save me any time – I still have to make the comment and I still usually get a follow up reply.

So, what would you do if you were me?