[buddypress-trac] [BuddyPress] #2708: Update recommended plugins list in readme.txt

[buddypress-trac at lists.automattic.com]

#2708: Update recommended plugins list in readme.txt
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 Reporter:  DJPaul        |       Owner:  boonebgorges
     Type:  defect (bug)  |      Status:  reopened
 Priority:  major         |   Milestone:  Future Release
Component:  Core          |     Version:
 Severity:  major         |  Resolution:
 Keywords:                |
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Comment (by foxly):

 With regards to the link http://codex.buddypress.org/releases/1-5-plugin-
 compatibility/ in your previous TRAC post:

 Your plugin was marked as a "commercial" because, once a user reaches a
 certain level of traffic, they have to pay to access your API. Although
 your plugin page states that you offer a "Free API Key for personal use"
 and you've updated your plugin page with the text "Now free for everyone
 for a limited time", you're still selling a commercial service: access to
 your API. Without access to your API, the plugin stops working.

 Being a commercial plugin is usually a good thing. It means you have a
 source of money to pay developers to keep updating your plugin, and it
 means you have a group of paying customers that you're accountable to. For
 a site owner, that means your plugin is far more likely to be kept up to
 date and working. Of the "free" plugins we tested, over 60% had at least
 one significant problem on BP 1.5. Of the "commercial" plugins we've
 tested, 100% either worked on the first try or were fixed within a matter
 of days.

 If large numbers of users are contacting you asking "When do I have to
 start paying to use this plugin?" it means that you aren't doing a good
 enough job of explaining where you switch between "free" and "paid". You
 need to define *exactly* when you start charging people money in a way
 that's not open to interpretation.

 BAD:
 "Free API Key for personal use" ...(what is personal use?)
 "Now free for everyone for a limited time" ...(what is a limited time?)
 "Free if you make less than $200 a year from your site" ...(how do you
 check?)

 GOOD:
 "50,000 free API hits per month."
 "Completely free until March 31, 2012"

 Take a look at the examples below to see how big companies like Google,
 Amazon, and Pusher explain the pricing on their API's:

 EXAMPLES:
 [http://pusher.com/pricing]
 [http://mailchimp.com/pricing/]
 [http://aws.amazon.com/cloudfront/pricing/]
 [http://code.google.com/apis/predict/docs/pricing.html]

 Overall it looks like you've worked hard on your plugin and are starting
 to establish yourself in the BP community. Once you've updated your
 documentation to clearly explain your pricing structure, you'll probably
 start to see a lot more people trying your service.

 Thanks!

 ^F^

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://buddypress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/2708#comment:25>
BuddyPress <http://buddypress.org/>
BuddyPress