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valendesigns / option-tree

Theme Options UI Builder for WordPress. A simple way to create & save Theme Options and Meta Boxes for free or premium themes.
GNU General Public License v2.0
609 stars 181 forks source link

is OptionTree officially dead? #207

Closed bitcommit closed 10 years ago

bitcommit commented 10 years ago

I'm very sad to see the OptionTree project being abandoned, as it doesn't seem updated anymore (it was tested up to WP 3.6 while we're already at WP 3.8) and many promised features haven't been released either (ON/OFF button, Gallery, etc.).

Considering that the author has left Envato, and that OptionTree didn't receive any update since then, I believe that we can definitely consider this project dead.

Derek, I think it would mean a lot if you made a public statement about the future of OptionTree. Some authors are relying on it heavily and it would be respectful to make a clear statement whether this is the end (which is OK, but at least we know that we need to look for alternatives) but please just let us know for sure if we need to look for alternatives today.

Thank you and good luck with any other project you might have

valendesigns commented 10 years ago

I have made a public statement already in another issue.

valendesigns commented 10 years ago

My first priority is feeding & housing my family and until my theme framework is done and I'm selling themes and making money again don't expect to much from me here. OptionTree is not dead and if you want to jump ship because I've not updated it since September that's totally your choice. I'm focused on getting my business off the ground and OptionTree is a part of that business so it will be updated. If it was dead I would be writing new code to replace it and that's not happening. I have the features you mentioned above already coded but I do not have time to switch focus to OT right now. I can't risk my future during such a critical time, it would most certainly not be in my best interest.

bitcommit commented 10 years ago

Thanks for your reply, I fully understand.

I feel like if you become an author and start to sell themes, then improving OptionTree will be like helping your competitors.

My understanding is that you've already made quit a few improvements to your local copy of OptionTree but won't release them to the world as you keep them to yourself (to have an advantage over your competitors).

This isn't crazy and that makes perfect sense, I would do the same!

Anyway I think it can't work out, and the only way OT could survive is by going commercial. Why not sell it on Codecanyon? I would pay for it! (but only if priced correctly, like $30 - $40 for resale license).

Good luck to you whatever you decide!

valendesigns commented 10 years ago

New features will be added to OT. I'm not holding code back at all. What I'm holding back is doing anything other than get my code cleaned up so I can finish the theme I'm working on and launch my updated web site.

You'll get the typical new features and I don't mind if we're competing, there's enough for everyone. However, my theme core will be a bit more in-depth with some not so typical goodies and you can always buy a copy and see what I did if you feel OT is lacking in the feature department in the future.

When things settle down and I have content out there you can bet OT will be maintained along side what I'm doing. And hopefully one day I'll be able to hire folks and have other developers working on the code base, as well.

bitcommit commented 10 years ago

Ok thanks for the reassurance! I hope you'll have plenty of success and that it's the beginning of a long successful way for OT as well.

Cheers

bitcommit commented 10 years ago

I'm sorry to re-open this but we can't help but notice the lack of update and support for the latest version of WordPress. There are many UI bugs with the new WP 3.8, and many of announced features have been missing for a long time (Customizer integration, On/Off switches, WP Default Color Picker, Media Uploader to select multiple images at once to create a slider or gallery, etc.).

There are alternatives growing up as we speak (runwaywp for example) that offer Customizer support, Completely Automated Exportation Process, etc. and I'm seriously wondering if I should start switching to these alternatives or if I should wait for OptionTree to get better... right now all my themes are based on OT meaning that they all have visual issues in their Theme Options page, and this is an emergency to fix! We either need more contributors on this projects, or either switch to another framework that is better maintained perhaps :( :-1:

valendesigns commented 10 years ago

You know today is Christmas right?