All posts filed under: Business

Thoughts on the attack on WP Engine

Published by Richard Best

Downward criticism of community members The WordPress community is no stranger to one of the project’s founders criticising those he considers to be behaving egregiously. Those of us who have been using WordPress for a long time will recall the strong and sometimes prolonged criticism of the likes of Chris Pearson, Envato, GoDaddy, and others. But arguably they all pale in comparison to the attack on WP Engine at the most recent WordCamp in Portland, Oregon (made all the more bizarre by the fact that WP Engine was sponsoring the event and had numerous staff attending). In days gone by, most criticisms arose from perceived violations of the GPL or other open source licensing arrangements. In many cases, the criticisms were understandable. If you use WordPress and violate the GPL (by, for example, not licensing modifications appropriately when you distribute them), then you shouldn’t be surprised if someone complains, even loudly. The attack on WP Engine The attack on WP Engine was of a completely different ilk. After explaining the ‘tragedy of the commons’, Matt …

The perils for plugin businesses with no or minimal terms of use

Published by Richard Best

WordPress is a fantastic content management system. In the some 18 years that I’ve been using it, I’ve seen it go from a glorified blogging engine to a fully fledged content management system. I’ve seen the development and growth of theme and plugin businesses, and I’ve witnessed and contributed to the often arcane debates about the GPL. Through this site, I’ve also tried to help WordPress theme and plugin businesses with the various legal issues that can crop up in the use of WordPress and the running of their businesses. I will soon be launching my own plugin business. The plugins that will be available for purchase all revolve around Gravity Forms (an awesome plugin that I’ve been using since 2010). If you’d like to be told when I launch, feel free to sign up here: In the past I whipped up an automated terms of use builder for theme and plugin businesses (you had to purchase the ‘business package’ of A Practical Guide to WordPress and the GPL to get access), and I’m using …

Commercial theme suppliers selling themselves short…

Published by Richard Best

The backstory This isn’t a legal article. It’s more about marketing. Let me tell the backstory. I’ve been looking around for a particular type of WordPress theme for a specific purpose. It’s a niche kind of site and there aren’t many solid contenders. I’ve found one contender on ThemeForest and another on a commercial theme supplier’s own website. I’ve found it difficult to choose between them, despite their significant difference in price, because they both have their pros and cons. But the main reason I’ve not chosen one over the other yet is because neither supplier is doing a sufficient job of marketing their product. I can see how your themes look and try out your demos, sure, and one of you has some moderately good documentation that’s accessible without purchasing the theme, but neither of you show enough detail as to what’s under the hood. In particular, you’re not showing potential customers the level of customisation available through the customizer or other theme options. Unlike some of your competitors who (in my view) have …

Discouraging public redistribution of commercial themes and plugins – poll results

Published by Richard Best

Background Back on 4 August of this year, I published a post called Theme and plugin shops – Discouraging public redistribution – User poll.  The poll that was included in the post sought people’s views on the reselling of commercial themes and plugins. It did this because people’s views on this issue are relevant to the inclusion of a contractual mechanism I’d proposed for theme/plugin shop terms of use. The contractual mechanism I’d proposed would seek to discourage purchasers of a commercial theme or plugin from making the theme or plugin available on a website for download by others (whether for free or a charge), even when the theme or plugin is 100% GPL-licensed. The proposed term would say that, if a customer decides to make your commercial theme or plugin available on a website for download by others, you may exercise a right to deactivate their access keys (if that’s how you’ve set things up) and to terminate their access to support and updates. I explained why, in my view, this sort of clause …

Protecting WordPress consultancies with terms of business

Published by Richard Best

Let’s take a look at WordPress consultancies As readers will know, the WordPress marketplace comprises a wide range of business types, including: development and design agencies; theme and plugin shops; website generation platforms; app platforms; and consultancy businesses. For this post I want to focus on the last of these: WordPress consultancy businesses. These are the sorts of businesses that provide the likes of: commercial advice and coaching in relation to WordPress-related businesses (think Chris Lema); advice and training materials on how to “become an exceptional WordPress consultant” (WP Elevation) or on how to “kickstart your WordPress business” (Matt Report Pro); and WordPress workshop and on-site training services (like BobWP). These kinds of businesses do not necessarily provide any development or design services (they may do as separate services but that’s not my focus here). Rather, their services are more commercial, strategic or educational in nature. If you own or work for such a WordPress consultancy, you may have asked yourself about the kind of contractual terms you should be putting in place with your …