Sorry It’s Not Working For You :(

I do my best to improve the plugin and ensure that it works smoothly, but there are so many usage patterns and software configurations that there’s always going to be a fraction of users who have difficulties.

But… Maintaining a Plugin Takes Time and No One Gives Anything Back!

At the time of writing this, there have been over 20000 downloads and I’ve received a mere $25 in donations. That equates to an hourly rate well under 10 cents.

I used to analyze CSV files, log into people’s dashboards, and write long emails, but I barely ever got a thank you let alone a donation.

Reality Check: Free Plugins Are Not Really Free

The reality is that they either cost the developer’s time, or they cost you your time/money. Since the WordPress community is largely one of taking the developer’s time for granted, get used to more and more developers not bothering with helping you.

You’re Not My Customer Unless You Pay Me So Drop The Attitude

It’s hard to believe, but I occasionally get angry/threatening/bullying messages from people as if I owe them something because my plugin doesn’t work perfectly.

I Gave You A Gift.

If it doesn’t work, then sorry, but I don’t owe you another gift (of my time). You took a punt on my plugin because it was free. If it doesn’t work, then too bad, go pay for plugin or hire a developer to make you one. Harassing me is beyond rude and totally ridiculous. When was the last time you harassed someone who gave you dozens of hours of their time for free?

I clearly state all over my documentation that you should have a full backup of your site so that you can recover from any issues quickly. That advice is true for WordPress in general and has nothing to do with the quality of my code. Please don’t come to me with a story of you wasting 10 hours of your time. It’s your own fault for not having a backup.

So… How Can You Solve Your Problem?

Firstly, if you don’t want to waste time, just go and buy a commercial CSV plugin. In an ideal world you’d use my plugin and donate $10, but in reality no one does that so I can’t devote much time to improving it and instead you’ll probably have to fork out $100+. Shame, but that’s the short sighted nature of the WP community these days.

If You’re A Developer…

Solve it yourself! Most of you are being paid to solve problems for your clients and you’re trying to do so with my plugin (my labour!). Don’t expect me to do your job for you. Most of the time problems are related to your development or your server config anyway.

This is an open source project. If it doesn’t work for you, then fix it, and send your improved version of the code back to me so that others can benefit.

If You’re Not A Developer…

I can’t teach you to program or how to manage your server or how to diagnose problems. If you just want plug and play, then try a different plugin. Consider buying one for $100+.

If for some reason you really love my plugin and must get it working, then perhaps you should consider contacting your developer.

Think This Page Is Over The Top?

Try mowing your neighbours lawn for free for 12 months, and then have him complain about the quality of the job you do…

Thank You To Those Who Have Contributed!

There aren’t many of you, but thank you again.

If anyone else appreciates my plugin and would like to invest in its future, please make a contribution here:

Best Wishes

Paul

28 Comments
  1. Very well said … I hate the people that feel like they are owed something, when they really just have no idea how the entire open source ecosystem works.

    It’s always great when you get those 1 star reviews on plugins because that person just wanted to complain about the FREEEEEEEEE plugin they don’t understand … instead of posting a support request.

    Again, well said and good luck bro, no good deed goes unpunished 😛

  2. Love the plugin thank you! I did struggle a little bit getting it to run no because of the plugin but because of my inexperience but all in all your documentation was great and helped me along the way! Just made a donation. Thank you.

  3. Hey,

    Thanks for the plugin! After an hour of fruitlessly trying to get a coherent export of posts, I installed your plugin and it worked a treat. Donation made!

  4. Very informative and very descriptive of how hard time opensource developers get from the user commnuity, who suppose to give them back support, donations, or even a written Thank You letters or emails/ Testimonials/ Reviews.
    Sorry to hear about those who were not civilized nor polite to you, after all the great work and effort you make to keep the plugin updated and working!

    Keep the great work man! :)

    Mohamed Farag
    Opensource translator

  5. I have not read 1 word that I do not agree with.
    And went immediately to donation page …

    Greet job and thanks for all the efforts !

    And screw the people that dare to complain about it!

    Cheers
    Erwin

  6. Just a small note to say thank you for you plugin!

  7. I hear you… Please don’t be put off by the moaners and bullies. People like me appreciate and pay as we want/need you to carry on developing to make our lives easier. So thanks (on behalf of the non-moaners) and keep on going!

  8. I’ve been stuck moving exporting/importing data to several custom post types. I bought a plugin to do that and it failed miserably.
    Your plugin worked nicely. The plugin and the ranting deserve at least 15 bucks. It’s not so much, but at least it will increase your hourly rate :)

    For something to read that make sense (I’m a plugin developer too).

    Have a nice day.

  9. Your post was linked to from the Advanced WordPress group on Facebook which is why I am here. You are a hero my friend. Very, very well said. I am going to donate even though I don’t use your plugin and have never heard of it. Your post is what a large number of “users” need to hear.

  10. Hey Paul,

    I’ve decided to start the #WP543 campaign to give back to awesome developer like you. More at: https://www.facebook.com/groups/advancedwp/permalink/934583183270563/

    Thanks!
    Bowo
    p.s. I’ve donated of course. Your next drink is on me. 😉

  11. I’ve never used your plugin or taken an ounce of your time until now. I donated $5 because of the content of this page – it’s awesome.

    Indeed a very large portion of “users” need a slap across the face to remind them of things freely given & gifts taken for granted. Sadly, it’s also while forgetting that without such openly provided gifts of code, they wouldn’t be calling themselves ‘web designers’ or ‘business owners’.

    I’ll be giving your code a run, but support is not something I ask for if I haven’t paid for :) Cheers to you mate.

  12. Donated! Love this plugin, love the CSV field to WordPress field mapping. Thanks a lot.

  13. Hi Paul,

    I tried many plugins to export / import csv but yours are simply the best and the only one that works for me.

    I just donated 10 bucks to you. Keep up the good job.

    Regards,
    Gunawan

  14. Hey Paul,

    I just fired up your plugin and it allowed me to move forward with some notification functionality on my site. I appreciate the work you put into the plugin and I sent ya 5 bucks, have a beer on me!

    Take care

  15. Tried making it available through GIT?

  16. The thinking of many of us! cheers!

  17. I haven’t even really used this plugin yet and I want to donate just based on this page. I LOVE it..,the page, not the plugin…yet. Hours searching for one that seems to have what I’m looking for and I have a good feeling that tomorrow will be the day I finally get to import files properly. :) Nice job on the rant, I’ll be back tomorrow with 10 skins if all goes as anticipated.

  18. Awesome tool! Donation sent.

  19. Hi, I am sorry, I sent an email before I read this page. Thank you for all of your work on this plugin, I have just made a donation.

    Best wishes

    Clive

  20. Hey Paul

    I left a review and just sent a $10 donation. I’m so glad I found your plugin and didn’t waste my money on a paid plugin which had fewer features than yours. I was having a hell of a time exporting some posts which had HTML and being able to select the delimiter, and enclosure character was a big plus. Simple design, easy to use and does what anyone needs to import / export posts and pages in WordPress. Thank you, enjoy a drink or two on me.

  21. Paul,
    I don’t know whether your plugin will work for my purposes or not, but I LOVE your rant about the leeches in this world. I’m a total newbie to the dev world, just trying to learn what I can by example and truly appreciate the hard work of people like you. It’s a bloody shame so many people have the “gimme” attitude and refuse to even consider paying for something that was the result of another’s hard work. I view it as a gift and a bargain at your suggested $10. Please accept my paltry contribution and my hearty thanks!

    Best Wishes!

    Mark

    • Thanks Mark! Very generous of you! Hope it does what you need and I hope you get some usage out of it.

      Best wishes

      Paul

  22. Paul,

    Thank you SO MUCH for this plugin!! It has been FOUNDATIONAL in my ability to add and edit bulk posts to http://www.recoveryaudio.org.

    The site is new and climbing up the search engine rankings and traffic has been on a steady slope up – it is getting traffic in large part because of the depth of content I’ve been able to add due SOLELY to your plugin. To add posts one at a time… It would have never happened.

    I owe you many thanks – as does the community the site serves. I couldn’t find how to make a donation a couple of months ago – please drop a link for donations on this page.

    Thank you again!!

    • Thanks John. Shucks! Appreciate the donation and the plug. While the plugin made it easier, I’m sure the success of the site is mostly due to the fact that your site is there to help people, as well as the quality of your content. It looks like a fantastic resource for those interested in AA topics.

      I didn’t think it appropriate to add a donate button here when I initially wrote this post, but I guess there’s no harm in adding one. Thanks for the feedback/suggestion.

      Paul

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