[wp-forums] Doing it for free.

[TechGnome]

Michael B wrote:
> The positives I think have already been discussed.  The negatives, well,
> I'll just give an example of something I experienced yesterday, and then ask
> aloud how would that be handled in this situation.  It comes down to where
> is the line drawn, and how will the users reaction to the line being drawn
> effect the program.
>   
As long as the line is established and made public ahead of time, I 
don't think 99.9% will mind.

> I get an email via my contact form from my site.  Someone's stumbled upon a
> theme I've re-released.  Says they don't know what to do with it.  I explain
> it's a WP theme, where to put it, how to activate it.  They've no clue what
> I'm talking about.  A few more emails are exchanged, I learn someone they
> hired set up the software and and a custom theme, all they've ever done is
> blogged.   I express my desire to walk them through the whole thing, even
> upgrading their site from 1.5 to 2.x.  I also give them the option of me
> doing it for $25 if they don't want to be bothered, including creating a
> custom header from the .psd file the theme comes with.  They take the $25
> option, send all the ftp and login info.  I discover they are using a plugin
> that is dependant on user level, research the plugin, find a 2.0 v, back up
> their site, upgrade, install theme.  There was a problem with SK when
> upgrading, causing me to re-import the database.
>   

<big ol' snip>
The difference between upgrading and installing fresh to get someone up 
to  speed on using  WP. Also, as Podz pointed out, there would be a 
limit on what we will do, and it will be agreed upon BEFORE any work is 
done. After that, then they are to use the forums. Give them a limited 
list of themes and plugins, they get to pick two to start with and 
that's that.
> My point is, I can easily see that happening with the free install/upgrade
> offer.  And so when that line is drawn, what will the reaction be, and how
> could that effect the positive publicity being sought?
>
> The other concern I would have is that it becomes a free service for splog
> farmers.
>   
If they aren't getting any juice from the forums, who are we to judge 
what people do with their blogs? If this is going to work, we cant' be 
judgmental about what people are doing with their blogs. It's their 
blog, let them do with it what they please, as long as no laws are being 
broken. Besides, does it really matter?


--tg


> I don't want to sound as if I'm shooting an idea out of the water, just
> worried about certain instances.
>
> Michael
>
>
>
>
> On 4/19/06, Craig <nuclearmoose at gmail.com> wrote:
>   
>> On 4/19/06, Podz <podz at tamba2.org.uk> wrote:
>>     
>>> This is something I've wanted to do for ages and in the light of a
>>> certain post or two..
>>>
>>> Could we offer - through the forums - free installation?
>>>
>>>
>>> +1.
>>>       
>> I think that there could be a system set up that will work. It will take
>> some thought, but it's doable.
>> Craig.
>> _______________________________________________
>> wp-forums mailing list
>> wp-forums at lists.automattic.com
>> http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-forums
>>
>>     
> _______________________________________________
> wp-forums mailing list
> wp-forums at lists.automattic.com
> http://lists.automattic.com/mailman/listinfo/wp-forums
>