Dear WordPress, please give it back.
I was wondering why it has dissapeared. I hope it gets available asap because Ive been hearing good stories about this plugin!
From author’s website:
Note: As of November 18 2010, this plugin’s download button on WordPress.org seems to be broken. I’ve mailed them numerous times about the problem but they’ve yet to reply. Hopefully it will be resolved soon.
If you’re eager to get started in the interim, you may purchase the Premium version below, which will temporarily include both the original plugin and premium addon. Please do not contact me asking for a free copy; a better idea would be to contact WP and encourage them to resolve whatever bug seems to be affecting their site.
Since this is the first I’ve seen such a problem on wp plugins, I am tempted to think that the author is just trying to make money in a very dodgy way. Otherwise, I can’t see why he just doesn’t put the free version available for download on his site.
You’re welcome to think what you want, but it would be pretty dumb for me to post a public question to WordPress about replacing a plugin that I somehow removed myself (which I’m not even sure is possible). Just so you know, I’ve thus far emailed them at least 10 times about it and they’ve replied exactly twice. The most recent was 6 days ago:
“Hi,
I am really sorry for this ongoing problem. It is something that is proving a lot harder to track down than initially though.
It is being worked on…I do apologise for this.
Mark”
The problem seems to fluctuate between the plugin being gone entirely, and the download button resulting in a 404. If you have some constructive recommendation about how I can get it back up via their official repository I’d be happy to try it.
I don’t have any recommendation to fix the problem on w.org, of course. I don’t manage the system. A part from: open another account for the plugin and start over.
I do have a recommendation, though, to avoid people thinking what I thought: make your plugin available for download from your website.
That’s what I’d have done straightaway, don’t see why you shouldn’t. The «I’d really prefer not to lose my 40,000+ download count» excuse is quite childish compared to the fact that you are basically forcing people to buy the premium version while the plugin it’s gone from here.
That’s it. If you won’t do that, you are of course free to do whatever you want to do, but I will as well be free to continue thinking what I’ve already stated above.
Cheers,
V.
Done, but I’d mention that claiming I might care about losing a 40000+ download count is “childish” is pretty shortsighted, particularly when one of the main search criteria is by download count, when there are plugin author rankings by cumulative download count, and when when I’ve already gotten dozens of job offers on account of this. If my motive was really to make the plugin all-premium I could’ve just done so outright and saved a lot of hassle. In truth I just never imagined it could take WordPress >3 weeks to get around to fixing this, and thus assumed that the lack of a free public link would only be an issue for days at most.
Your plugin is famous enough for people to google for it directly. When you fix the problem, I am sure your plugin will have become even more widespread.
