Thanks for the update, Gary. Some things I think a lot of folks would like to see is the default provider list. I know I’ve complained about it in the past, but have since learned to use a CSV to control the list.
Another featured that would be great to have is the ability to eliminate the “Country” dropdown from the admin side. I only deal with clients in the US, and to be able to bypass that completely would be great in terms of how we are structuring our UIs.
Speaking of the backend — the ability to send the SMS emails without requiring them to be tied to a post would be great. We’ve used some SMS email plugins in the past that allowed the WP admin to create groups of users (ex: employees vs. customers) to be able to message. That could be cool.
Lastly, Textburst and Clockwork now have really reasonable pricing for sending actual SMS as it pertains to the US — THANK YOU! I can see huge potential for monetizing this plugin with a pro version or simply including an API activated “true SMS” option. There really aren’t that many affordable SMS services with clean interfaces (on the SMS delivery service side OR WordPress side) that cater to US-based customers. I know we could sell your service to our customers better if Mediaburst considered adding that feature.
Yeah I agree with your comments in general. Quite a few users have asked for the ability to eliminate the country dropdown.
We have spoke internally about a plugin that would allow you to create groups of users for SMS purposes and send a generic text to. But I admit if we did that it’d be a separate plugin that used Clockwork, and hence charged for per text sent.
We’ve also discussed the “paid for” option of the notifications plugin, we never specced it fully and the discussion was around; is it a separate plugin or upgrade/ configuration of the existing.
Anyway, thanks for the kind words about Clockwork and Textburst, we are working flat out on both products to make them easier to use and more accessible to all.
We’ll keep you posted on this plugin status.
We’ve also discussed the “paid for” option of the notifications plugin, we never specced it fully and the discussion was around; is it a separate plugin or upgrade/ configuration of the existing.
Gary, I think that Formidable Pro has a pretty good model, in terms of what I’ve seen for a free/paid plugin. Using the free version you can build contact forms with limitations. Buying a license and entering a unique key in the plugin’s global settings, you’re able to re-download the “full” version of the plugin, overwriting the free version, and you’ve got full capabilities.
I think you guys could pull off something similar, that is license-key- or API-key-based, and you could potentially provide premium updates via something like http://wp-updates.com (I’ve never used them nor am I affiliated with them; it’s just a pain to keep plugins current across dozens of sites when you have to FTP the updates individually).
At any rate, I do a lot of work for mainly restaurant clients who like the SMS feature. If you guys have any questions on the designer/developer end about what clients are asking for or what we tend to encounter, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Sorry, forgot to add that post category filtering for SMS would be extremely prudent. Not every post should get texted.
Thanks for your useful suggestions, hifidesign. I’ve just posted about an update to the plugin here: http://wordpress.org/support/topic/updated-plugin-available?replies=1#post-4964188
