Thank a plugin developer today

Today is “Thank a Plugin Developer” Day.

Please go over the list of plugins you are using and send something via PayPal to as many as you can. If you need the donate link for a particular plugin and can’t find it, leave a comment and I’ll find it for you.

Recently I went through my list of plugins and sent $5 each to about seven different plugin authors. And it’s not the first time I’ve done it. It isn’t much, but if everyone did that, imagine how much better those free plugins would be.

The business model for most plugin developers becomes unsustainable very quickly. They develop a plugin, it gets wildly popular, and suddenly the support costs go through the roof. Since the plugin is free, this means the plugin either gets ignored, passed off (or sold) to someone else (who ends up charging for it) or the plugin author grudgingly supports it, all the while getting more and more disenchanted with the whole process.

Don’t let that happen with the plugins YOU use and rely on for your blog.

How many of you reading this use WP Super Cache, or Contact Form 7, or WordPress SEO and haven’t donated anything? Don’t be that guy.

Even minor plugins that are used by a small number of people go through the same exercise, on a smaller scale. Everyone wants help customizing or using a particular plugin, but as soon as you (as a developer) mention money, most people take off running.

And here’s a message to you plugin developers as well: when I send out donations, less than half of you respond with a “thank you”. It pisses me off to the point where I want to post your name. So please take the time to send an email to those who donate to you — don’t make it less rewarding to help out.