The new year has started, and I would like to talk a bit about the goals I have for Dev4Press in 2020, what you can expect to get: new plugins and addons, new and improved pricing, changes in existing plugins.
The year 2019 was a successful year for Dev4Press, and I want to continue that trend in 2020, and right from the start, there are many new, updated and interesting things planned.
New and updated Plugins
Last year, Dev4Press offer was expanded with GD Mail Queue (Free and Pro versions), GD Security Headers (Free plugin), and GD Members Directory for bbPress (pro plugin). This year, I have plans to add two more Pro plugins related to bbPress. I can’t say much about them right now, but both will be focused on features that were requested multiple times, and both will do things that right now don’t have comparable plugins on the market. Both plugins will be Pro.
As for the existing plugins, January and February will be in the sign of the GD Rating System plugin. As previously announced, major version 4.0 will be released in early February, and the first beta version is coming next week. It will be a significant update to the main plugin and all the addons; it will bring massive performance improvements, many new features that were all requested by the plugin users, and two new addons. The Free plugin version will be updated and based on the Pro 4.0.
After the rating plugin, February will see the new GD bbPress Toolbox Pro and new GD Topic Polls Pro. Polls plugin is of a very special significance because it will be the first plugin fully rewritten to use PHP autoloader and namespaces. All other plugins will follow it’s lead, and most plugins will be rewritten in a similar way this year, and the next.
The next few months will also bring updates to various other plugins, including GD Quantum Theme for bbPress, GD Press Tools, GD Security Toolbox and more. I don’t have exact dates, but, if you are familiar with Dev4Press, you know that new releases are coming out regularly for all the plugins.
Website and pricing changes
The first major change coming on Dev4Press will happen in the next few days, and it will be in the form of a website update focused on refining the current Dev4Press experience. The custom-built plugin controlling the Dev4Press website has been updated and it is now using autoloading and namespacing, and it will bring somewhat improved website performance too.
And, finally, this update will bring updated prices for all the plugins, mostly driven by the analysis of the activity in the past year, customer surveys and trends in the global WordPress community. More about that will be explained once the new pricing and updated licensing go into effect next week.
Support and Documentation
One of the areas that got a lot of updates last year was the knowledge base, but that is not enough. This year will see a lot of updates in that regard, and all plugins will get new video tutorials during the first 3 months of 2020. Various updates to support forums are also planned for later this year.
And, as always, if you have any suggestions, any additional questions, please let me know.
