Fails to deliver on a simple premise

  • btaadmin

    (@btaadmin)


    1 month, 2 weeks ago

    Moving simple manual tables to a payable plan is failing on the promise to deliver a simple table in a few clicks promise.

    I’ve been using a small handful of very simple tables over the years, just to find out that they are now inaccessible. Not only on the front end but also on the back end. And the reason? Pay up! no more manual tables on a free plan. You can stick that where the sun doesn’t shine!

    I wouldn’t have a problem with more complicated database connections, but a manual table with a couple of columns and a bunch of rows? That smells of price gouging.

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
  • Plugin Support Milos | wpDataTables

    (@milosjovanovicwpdt)

    1 month, 2 weeks ago

    Hello,

    Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback.

    We would like to clarify a few important points:

    • Simple Tables and Manual Tables are two different features in wpDataTables, with distinct functionalities and technical implementations.
    • Simple Tables (which can be manually edited on the back-end) have always been part of the free/Lite version of wpDataTables. These tables store their data in the WordPress database in a JSON format — not in separate database tables.
    • Manual Tables, on the other hand, create a stand-alone SQL table in your WordPress database, allowing you to define custom columns and rows with database-level structure. Manual Tables always required server-side processing (SQL queries in the background) and have been part of the Premium (paid) version of wpDataTables since its earliest releases.

    This has not changed recently — it has always been the case.
    For example:

    • More than 14 months ago, in this Lite Support Post, we confirmed that only Manual Tables support custom columns and are part of the Premium features.
    • Another support post explains the behavior when someone attempts to load a Manual Table after switching from the Premium to the Lite version — resulting in the “Unknown table type” error, which occurs because the Lite version does not support Manual Tables.

    In other words, if you previously had access to Manual Tables ( if we understood what you described), this indicates that you had installed the Premium version of our plugin at some point.

    When downgrading to the Lite version, it is expected that features exclusive to Premium — such as Manual Tables — will no longer be available.

    We have always been transparent about these limitations, including stating the Manual Tables as a Premium feature exclusively on the Lite Plugin Description Page and in our Documentation.

    We fully understand how important access to simple, manually editable tables is, and that is why Simple Tables remain part of the free version.

    However, features involving database tables and server-side SQL queries, such as Manual Tables, have always been reserved for Premium users.

    We strive to maintain a fair balance between free features and advanced capabilities reserved for the Premium license, without removing existing free functionalities or forcing upgrades.

    Thank you for giving us the opportunity to clarify this.
    We hope that, in light of these clarifications, you might consider updating your review.

    If you have any further questions about Premium features or plans, feel free to reach out to our main Support team — you can easily contact us through the chat box on the bottom right corner of our website. We’ll be happy to assist you.

    Kind regards,
    Milos — wpDataTables Support Team

    Thread Starter btaadmin

    (@btaadmin)

    1 month, 2 weeks ago

    Dear Milos,

    Thanks for your reply. However, some of your assumptions are plainly wrong. I’ve never had a premium version of your tables. But instead I have migrated from version 2.8.3., where “tables created manually” were supported without a subscription. These are server-side tables in SQL, as I have just checked. They didn’t have scaled down functionality, like your “simple tables” have now. For instance I was able to apply extra classes on the table in a manual mode, but I cannnot do the same on a simple table. That, if you excuse me, is an intentional design decision created to make simple tables less desirable and to force users to cough up for a subscription.

    Personally, speaking on behalf of our users, I couldn’t care less how you store the data in the database. For me the desire was to be able to create a table on the front end, as my page builder didn’t offer the functionality and I didn’t want to be creating them completely by hand, as the tables might need to be edited by a non-technical staff.

    So, currently I have the decision either to use an old version 2.8.3, which supposedly has vulnerabilities as warned by Wordfence. Or migrate my basic tables to csv/simple tables. Though I’m also discovering that some functionality in csv tables has now been hidden behind a paywall (as compared to v 2.8.3).

    I appreciate that you developers need to make living, but $87/annually is a steep price to pay very basic functionality and literally no feature development for the most basic table creation.

Viewing 2 replies - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
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