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Updates on Socialee Add-on

In the Devot-ee forums, the developer of Socialee responded to a support request about EE 2.2 support and mentioned that they were no longer actively developing the add-on.

We are supporting it, but have no cause for further development at this point. Given the extensive support we’ve had to provide, we barely break even. When we have another project for which it requires further development then we will certainly do so; as a stand alone project it can not come close to justifying the kind of effort that you might expect from other add-on makers such as Brandon Kelly or Solspace. Our company is focused on client development, not selling modules.

Update: this isn’t really any different than what developers of many add-ons do, so Socialee isn’t an exception here. However, they do charge a premium for their add-on and some customers assume that means it will be updated. We regret the implication otherwise.

There is also an EE Forum thread about the same announcement, which includes a link to a new add-on from Yuri (IntoEEtive) called Social Login.

Social Login enables people to log in into your ExpressionEngine site using their account in social networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc.) Currently only Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are supported. Other sites/providers can be added in the future on demand.

Yuri posted some more information on the add-on at his site ~~and is apparently giving free copies to people in the Pro Network (clever idea)~~ Update: the free copies was only during the beta, which is over.

So, Socialee ~~goes the way of the add-on graveyard~~ is no longer being developed, which is a concern for some people, but a new one rises to replace it. This, I believe, is what one would call an “active and vibrant development community.”

Update: See comments for clarification from Socialee developer.

Posted on Jul 06, 2011 by Ryan Irelan

Filed Under: EE Add-ons, EE Modules

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@Tyler, @Shotwell I don't want to start a flaming here and I know it's a difficult topic. But please notice that my site is a spam-project, so the porn is also a (contextual) citation. And please notice that there is nothing anonym in it, you can get all my personal data there. (now perhaps back to the topic)
Posted by Spamschlucker on 2011-07-07 15:32:15 @Spamschlucker or you're hiding behind the anonymity of the Interwebs. Shame shame. -Tyler
Posted by Shotwell on 2011-07-07 15:22:16 @Spamschlucker - that's easy for you to say. You, nor Ryan, are reimbursing The Shotwell Company for the lost sales because of this citation (that was clearly taken out of context). I think you should step away sir - you speak of "morality" and yet your own site is unavailable due to filters for pornography.
Posted by Tyler on 2011-07-07 15:17:58 Sorry, Caroline, but Ryan did nothing more than cite an unclear statement from the developer and mentioned another product. I think it's very fair from Ryan that he did some updates to his entry and changed the title.
Posted by Spamschlucker on 2011-07-07 15:07:57 I have to admit, after reading this, I'm disappointed in the manner that this blog decided to deliver this message to the community. It reveals the author's opinion that the add-on is too expensive once the heresay is boiled out of the message - and the open discussion about that is probably the most valuable thing here. The community as a whole stands to lose a lot of credibility with talent and future clients when we don't do proper research of our claims. One of the reasons I appreciate developing websites in EE (and sometimes alongside Shotwell as a team member) is the fair outright communication that comes with the territory. We also stand to lose the competition of the add-on market to politics. I truly hope this continues to be sorted out in the manner it currently is. Maybe it's just a symptom that now there's enough addons and developers out there for there to be politics at all.
Posted by Petroglyph Caroline on 2011-07-07 15:00:09 Well, I would like to say first of all that Ryan is not getting anything from me for "trying to sell competitive product" :) What my Social Login module does is letting people log in using social network account. No more. (But no less). I believe Socialee has a lot more to offer and if they're still selling it - then there are probably people ready to pay (and who we are to judge). Solspace's Facebook Connect is also not a cheap one - but it offers a ton of features. The other thing is that many people don't need all these features, and so don't want to pay that much.
Posted by Yuri Salimovskiy on 2011-07-07 14:09:07 Regarding the price of the Socialee addon, I fail to see how is $130 expensive. You are not selling the social integration features to your clients for 130$, right ? How can someone program this feature in 2 hours at $65/h ? From what I know and see in the support forum, there are lots of users that needs support and help setting it up, and it looks like Shotwell has been very supportive of its users. Including a new release to handle EE2.2. The developpers needs to account for that in their pricing. I'd rather pay for an "expensive" addon with support included than for a cheap one where you need to pay 50$ for every question / support request sent to the developper.
Posted by solidgumby on 2011-07-07 13:41:02 New perspective in this doomy discussion: What we are talking about is the question how reliable the addon-scene is. If one buys twice an expensive addon which is stopped to be developed (if it's announced or not, one will notice this anyway) he will stop buying EE-addons. And the whole scene will crush. No problem, btw, with an addon for 20 Dollars. But a problem with an addon for 130 Dollars. So my 5 Cent: If you sell expensive add-ons you commit yourself to develop further. That's a question of morality.
Posted by Spamschlucker on 2011-07-07 12:14:18 Thanks Ryan. Do give me a call (next week as I'm out of the office) if you'd like to chat about the product and pricing. I've tried to explain it elsewhere before but am happy to have that conversation with you directly.
Posted by Tyler on 2011-07-07 12:12:21 I updated the title to reflect our conversation and my clarifications.
Posted by Ryan Irelan on 2011-07-07 12:03:19 " I suggest you just delete this post and replace it with one that says 'socialee developer tells truth no one else is willing to admit!'" Now that would've been a good post, indeed. And, you're right, that most people don't share exactly how they handle development.
Posted by Ryan Irelan on 2011-07-07 11:58:41 "Sounds to me like you
Posted by Ryan Irelan on 2011-07-07 11:57:01 Ryan, you posted a tenuous claim (that development is "ending") which you now acknowledge to be nothing different than other developers. You quoted me out of context. Sounds to me like you've targeted us and our product with negative coverage to make headlines, draw eyeballs and sell yuri's competing product. You want a lawsuit on your hands? (just kidding we wouldn't do that) I suggest you just delete this post and replace it with one that says "socialee developer tells truth no one else is willing to admit!" :) Thanks for clarifying the situation though. And please do contact me if you have any questions next time.
Posted by Tyler on 2011-07-07 11:54:46 Thanks, Brandon. You're correct that Socialee is not an exception but a norm (the only exception being Tyler's frankness about their plans) in terms of development of an add-on. While I disagree that the post was unfair (I didn't get this information from a private email or source but from a public support thread and then an EE forum thread and I posted a direct quote from the developer), I do think I should've highlighted that what they are doing isn't anything different than most developers. That was my mistake and I'll correct with a clarification.
Posted by Ryan Irelan on 2011-07-07 11:40:07 Personally I think the post was a little unfair. 99% of EE add-ons are only maintained as needed; Tyler was just being honest about it. But now it
Posted by Brandon Kelly on 2011-07-07 11:28:45 Tyler, First, I updated the post to mark out the graveyard remark. Thank you for posting a comment to clear that up. Second, I take issue with you somehow accusing me of misreporting information. I copied and pasted exactly what you wrote. If that's not what you meant to say then perhaps you should've said something different. That's on you, sir, not me.
Posted by Ryan Irelan on 2011-07-07 10:12:06 Hi Ryan and co. I'm really glad you bothered to check with us directly about what that meant when we stated that "there was no cause for further development at this point." I guess I should have said "there are no new features in development" as this is far more accurate. Socialee is not dead or in any kind of graveyard, it's jut that it already does everything it needs to do and it does it well. We just released a new version of the add-on yesterday on devot:ee making it compatible with EE 2.2. Keep up the good work gentlemen.
Posted by Tyler on 2011-07-07 09:37:12 That's exactly what drives me mad: They make an addon and sell it VERY expensive. You buy it, 2 weeks later they say, sorry, we don't earn enough money, we stop development. For sure they don't earn enough money - who buys this expensive stuff? Sorry, but I personally will be very careful if I plan to buy something from Shotwellcompany in the future. Regards, stephan@spamschlucker.org
Posted by Spamschlucker on 2011-07-07 03:18:54

Spamschlucker — 03:18 on 07.07.2011

That’s exactly what drives me mad: They make an addon and sell it VERY expensive. You buy it, 2 weeks later they say, sorry, we don’t earn enough money, we stop development. For sure they don’t earn enough money - who buys this expensive stuff?

Sorry, but I personally will be very careful if I plan to buy something from Shotwellcompany in the future.

Regards,
stephan@spamschlucker.org

Tyler — 09:37 on 07.07.2011

Hi Ryan and co. I’m really glad you bothered to check with us directly about what that meant when we stated that “there was no cause for further development at this point.” I guess I should have said “there are no new features in development” as this is far more accurate. Socialee is not dead or in any kind of graveyard, it’s jut that it already does everything it needs to do and it does it well.

We just released a new version of the add-on yesterday on devot:ee making it compatible with EE 2.2.

Keep up the good work gentlemen.

Ryan Irelan — 10:12 on 07.07.2011

Tyler,

First, I updated the post to mark out the graveyard remark. Thank you for posting a comment to clear that up.

Second, I take issue with you somehow accusing me of misreporting information. I copied and pasted exactly what you wrote. If that’s not what you meant to say then perhaps you should’ve said something different. That’s on you, sir, not me.

Brandon Kelly — 11:28 on 07.07.2011

Personally I think the post was a little unfair. 99% of EE add-ons are only maintained as needed; Tyler was just being honest about it. But now it

Ryan Irelan — 11:40 on 07.07.2011

Thanks, Brandon.

You’re correct that Socialee is not an exception but a norm (the only exception being Tyler’s frankness about their plans) in terms of development of an add-on.

While I disagree that the post was unfair (I didn’t get this information from a private email or source but from a public support thread and then an EE forum thread and I posted a direct quote from the developer), I do think I should’ve highlighted that what they are doing isn’t anything different than most developers. That was my mistake and I’ll correct with a clarification.

Tyler — 11:54 on 07.07.2011

Ryan, you posted a tenuous claim (that development is “ending”) which you now acknowledge to be nothing different than other developers. You quoted me out of context. Sounds to me like you’ve targeted us and our product with negative coverage to make headlines, draw eyeballs and sell yuri’s competing product. You want a lawsuit on your hands? (just kidding we wouldn’t do that) I suggest you just delete this post and replace it with one that says “socialee developer tells truth no one else is willing to admit!”

Thanks for clarifying the situation though. And please do contact me if you have any questions next time.

Ryan Irelan — 11:57 on 07.07.2011

“Sounds to me like you

Ryan Irelan — 11:58 on 07.07.2011

” I suggest you just delete this post and replace it with one that says ‘socialee developer tells truth no one else is willing to admit!’”

Now that would’ve been a good post, indeed. And, you’re right, that most people don’t share exactly how they handle development.

Ryan Irelan — 12:03 on 07.07.2011

I updated the title to reflect our conversation and my clarifications.

Tyler — 12:12 on 07.07.2011

Thanks Ryan. Do give me a call (next week as I’m out of the office) if you’d like to chat about the product and pricing. I’ve tried to explain it elsewhere before but am happy to have that conversation with you directly.

Spamschlucker — 12:14 on 07.07.2011

New perspective in this doomy discussion:

What we are talking about is the question how reliable the addon-scene is. If one buys twice an expensive addon which is stopped to be developed (if it’s announced or not, one will notice this anyway) he will stop buying EE-addons. And the whole scene will crush. No problem, btw, with an addon for 20 Dollars. But a problem with an addon for 130 Dollars.

So my 5 Cent: If you sell expensive add-ons you commit yourself to develop further. That’s a question of morality.

solidgumby — 13:41 on 07.07.2011

Regarding the price of the Socialee addon, I fail to see how is $130 expensive.

You are not selling the social integration features to your clients for 130$, right ? How can someone program this feature in 2 hours at $65/h ?

From what I know and see in the support forum, there are lots of users that needs support and help setting it up, and it looks like Shotwell has been very supportive of its users. Including a new release to handle EE2.2. The developpers needs to account for that in their pricing. I’d rather pay for an “expensive” addon with support included than for a cheap one where you need to pay 50$ for every question / support request sent to the developper.

Yuri Salimovskiy — 14:09 on 07.07.2011

Well, I would like to say first of all that Ryan is not getting anything from me for “trying to sell competitive product”

What my Social Login module does is letting people log in using social network account. No more. (But no less).

I believe Socialee has a lot more to offer and if they’re still selling it - then there are probably people ready to pay (and who we are to judge). Solspace’s Facebook Connect is also not a cheap one - but it offers a ton of features.
The other thing is that many people don’t need all these features, and so don’t want to pay that much.

Petroglyph Caroline — 15:00 on 07.07.2011

I have to admit, after reading this, I’m disappointed in the manner that this blog decided to deliver this message to the community. It reveals the author’s opinion that the add-on is too expensive once the heresay is boiled out of the message - and the open discussion about that is probably the most valuable thing here.

The community as a whole stands to lose a lot of credibility with talent and future clients when we don’t do proper research of our claims. One of the reasons I appreciate developing websites in EE (and sometimes alongside Shotwell as a team member) is the fair outright communication that comes with the territory.

We also stand to lose the competition of the add-on market to politics. I truly hope this continues to be sorted out in the manner it currently is. Maybe it’s just a symptom that now there’s enough addons and developers out there for there to be politics at all.

Spamschlucker — 15:07 on 07.07.2011

Sorry, Caroline, but Ryan did nothing more than cite an unclear statement from the developer and mentioned another product.

I think it’s very fair from Ryan that he did some updates to his entry and changed the title.

Tyler — 15:17 on 07.07.2011

@Spamschlucker - that’s easy for you to say. You, nor Ryan, are reimbursing The Shotwell Company for the lost sales because of this citation (that was clearly taken out of context). I think you should step away sir - you speak of “morality” and yet your own site is unavailable due to filters for pornography.

Shotwell — 15:22 on 07.07.2011

@Spamschlucker or you’re hiding behind the anonymity of the Interwebs. Shame shame.
-Tyler

Spamschlucker — 15:32 on 07.07.2011

@Tyler, @Shotwell

I don’t want to start a flaming here and I know it’s a difficult topic. But please notice that my site is a spam-project, so the porn is also a (contextual) citation. And please notice that there is nothing anonym in it, you can get all my personal data there.

(now perhaps back to the topic)

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