Re. the Terms of the License

[dsts6]

Hello,

I would like to purchase a full license to Xenword. Firstly, if I want to be able to receive version 3.0 when it is ready, and also do brand removal, I assume I'll need the Lifetime License and the Brand Removal, correct?

Secondly, if we find bugs that are not getting fixed, or if Xenword is no longer being supported/maintained, are we allowed to maintain it, fix the bugs ourselves and/or further develop the add-on for use exclusively on our own use?

Many thanks.

 

[LPH]

Hi

I appreciate your questions. They are very thoughtful.

If you have the skills, then it would be great to have you on the development license. This allows access to the development forum, the early alphas, and helps with the direction of the plugin. The branding can be removed with this license. The challenge has been many people signed up on the development license, and moved along after their site was working. That isn't the point of that license -- but okay -- it happens.

In regards to the history of this little plugin, I became sick in the spring. This left me unable to support the plugin. Gracie tried but became tired of the same questions being asked, in which the answers were in the documents. Once it became clear that I needed to do more (but couldn't), sales were halted. Development didn't halt - but this was never made clear. Health is more important than a plugin

Can you fix bugs yourself? Absolutely. And it would be great if the code was shared so that others had access to those fixes. Some share their changes -- most do not.

The code isn't perfect. It's been a journey for me. I had paid someone to build a bridge -- and never received a working bridge nor any of the code. Next, I used someone else's bridge for awhile but it wasn't maintained. Finally, it was time to simply learn PHP and develop my own. The results are XenWord - a work in progress -- and release number 90 is just days away.

XenWord 3.0 is a great little project. I finally (FINALLY) have the activate() function working properly in version 3.0.0.07. Now it's the avatars bug to get fixed. @RLL thinks he's close on the avatar code. A few others have written they are looking into it. If a site is using only Gravatar then 3.0.0.07 works fine -- it's the uploaded avatars in XenForo that aren't being picked up properly.

Hopefully that gives you insight into the project.

 

[LPH]

One more little caveat -- @RLL and I have the development environment setup here:

http://preview.7sm9f3nwe01z6w29cqbotnd801du0udimfajfl66kwjw0zfr.box.codeanywhere.com/

You can see the latest alpha (3.0.0.07) nightly build in action.

 

[danielTMC]

Hi LPH,

Thank you for your thoughtful response. It is much appreciated.

My forum partner and I are working on an XF and WP website, however I don't believe we personally have the coding skills that would justify a purchase of the Development License. However, we have a team of XF-WP coders who are helping us with our coding needs. Can you please clarify that it is ok for the XF-WP developers helping us to fix bugs and maintain the add-on for the purpose of our website? We would definitely like to share any bug fixes with the community as a whole. Also, please confirm that it would be ok with you if the XF-WP developers we work with are allowed to maintain and further develop (including modifying code if necessary) the plugin, in the case that development and/or maintenance of the plugin were to slow or stop.

We are asking this as we have seen developers abandon plugins in the past, and though we have no reason to believe this would be the case with Xenword, we just want to make sure we can commit ourselves to being dependent on this plugin.

Based on the above, please let us know if we should purchase a Developer License, or rather the Lifetime License + Brand Removal (we would probably end up getting the early access license as well).

We're very excited about version 3.0
Could we expect to see it out of alpha in the coming weeks?

Thanks for building this great plugin. It is much needed by the XF community.

 

[LPH]

Plugins / Add-ons can definitely be abandoned. As I've written things now in the licenses, developers are allowed to modify the code, are not limited to site branding, and are able to place the code on multiple sites. However, resale is definitely not a possibility.

Can you please clarify that it is ok for the XF-WP developers helping us to fix bugs and maintain the add-on for the purpose of our website?.

Yes. Other developers are welcome to look at the code and fix any bugs. Again, I'd prefer the code fixes be shared. Some developers work much faster than I am able to develop code -- because I'm a novice learning to program. If they fix something then I'm willing to help pay for it.

To summarize, the correct license for your site is a developer's license so that there is access to modifying the code and no branding is necessary.

Sorry if that wasn't clear.

http://preview.7sm9f3nwe01z6w29cqbotnd801du0udimfajfl66kwjw0zfr.box.codeanywhere.com/ is the 3.0.0.07 code. @RLL is working on the avatars issue. Once it is completed then that alpha will be released (hopefully in days, not weeks).