What changes will 2023 hold for you and me

Geschreven door: Ruud van Lent Gepubliceerd: 13 december 2022

Categorie: Communicatie

TrendingHits: 787Leestijd: 02:59

When I started Online Community Hub more then 7 years ago, I wanted to give back to the community.
I wanted my extensions to be available for everybody and priced my extensions very low. Some extensions I gave away for free, also as a form of marketing to gain traction in the big Joomla market as a new developer.

Price is what you pay, value is what you get...

In the last 7 years a lot has changed; not only in the world but also in the Joomla community.
What I experienced is that the people I priced my extensions at a very low price for are not the people who buy them; the vast majority of The Joomla community is looking and asking for free extensions: for building their personal website or brochure site for their company.

The people who do buy my extensions always tell me that the value they get from using them is way bigger then the price they pay. 8 out of 10 of my customers install my extensions on multiple (even on 100+) sites. Sites they develop and maintain for their customers.

Next to that, the past years my work shifted from only building extensions and websites to also work on custom extensions and customizations to existing websites: helping Agencies to better serve their clients.

The costs of some extensions are to high…

Joomla4 didn’t have the positive impact I was hoping and rooting for. What I hear also from other extension developers, is that the customer base for Joomla4 is currently down to approx. 25% of what it used to be. This number is backed by the official Joomla statistics. Maybe things will change when Joomla3 will be deprecated and unsupported in august 2023, but around that time Joomla5 will be out and will be needing vast investments (again) to get the code for extensions up to par with that version, a version that is likely to slice the installed based even further.

Kill your darlings...

Starting January 1st, 2023 I will be giving back to the community in a different way, not via giving away free extensions but by contributing (time / code) to other Open Source projects.
This will impact my current extensions offering: my extensions need to be at least break-even when it comes to costs / time spent. I will also be increasing the subscription fees for existing extensions so that the value added is more aligned with the price paid and my costs involved to maintain, support and extend these extensions.

The following extensions will be deprecated or changed:

    • Deprecated, support will end (when Joomla3 is EOL (End Of Life)) on August 17th, 2023:
        ◦ ochJSsocials LIGHT
        ◦ ochSEO|SMO Toolbox
        ◦ ochGotNews
        ◦ ochStrictRouter
    • Changed, per direct:
        ◦ ochLogFiles: currently free for everybody, will still be free but only available for customers with an active subscription to one of my other extensions.

New pricing model extensions per January 1st, 2023:

^{* Displayed prices are excluding VAT.}

Thanks for your continued support

I would like to thank you for supporting me the past years, either via subscribing to a free / paid extension or for hiring me as a developer for your own project. By doing so you helped make Online Community Hub what it is today.

Happy Holidays to you and your family / loved ones.
Feel free to reach out, via email or on the forum.

Regards,
Ruud.

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Geschreven door: Ruud van Lent

Pro-BloggerTop BloggerThought Leader

With a solid background in ICT (operational, tactical and strategic) and years of experience in the community life, I see in communities and community thinking the future for companies.

This future requires another way of thinking and doing; both for executives and employees. It's not about me; it's about you. Your well-being and your (personal) growth.

'What comes around - goes around'

In the world of communities, the old 'management laws' no longer work and are even counterproductive.

I coach leaders and organizations in their quest for how new and servant leadership can contribute to communities and community thinking, and as a result to the growth of the organization.

I do this from the following initiatives:

• ruudOntwikkelt | Leadership coaching and Organisation development
• Platform Lerende Leiders | The #1 Community for and by Leaders
• Onlinecommunityhub | It's all about the Community...