I got an email asking about whether people had to pay again if they wanted an updated version of the theme. That got me thinking about the logistics of paying/not paying on updates. For now, I am going to make the download available for 30 days after it is purchased. That way, if you purchase a theme and I update the theme within 30 days, you can get the new version for no charge.
I don't plan on making overly frequent updates so you are not going to have to spend a dollar every few days to get the new version. Unless there is major issue that requires and update, I will probably update every few months and clearly explain what the update is for so you can decide whether or not the new download is necessary.
Twitter will be the best way to stay on top of updates.
Please be patient, this is new and I know a little unpopular with some people. I am trying to make all sides happy which is hard. Remember, you can still get the free version of my theme from AMO.
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If you would like to contribute as I attempt to expand please use the donate button above. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
About Me
I am a former high school math Teacher, a husband, and a father of two with one more on the way.
I graduated with a degree in Physiological Sciences from the University of Arizona. I followed that up with a masters of Arts in Teaching degree from George Fox University with an endorsement in Advanced Mathematics.
After teaching math to high schoolers for five years, I was recruited to work for the web browser Flock after they saw the work I had done on the side developing themes for Firefox.
My work includes Aero Fox, Aero Fox Silver, Aquatint Redone, Aquatint Black, Abstract Classic, Abstract Zune, Bible Fox and many others.
Unfortunately, due to the recent drop in the U.S. economy, I was laid off from Flock after only five months following major payroll cuts. As I continue to develop themes for Firefox and now Flock, my hope is to be able to turn it into a business developing high quality user interface for browsers and websites. I love doing this sort of thing and appreciate the feedback and support I have received from users.
This site will mainly be for updates as I work on maintaining and improving my themes. I have added a discussion forum to my main site, www.virtusdesigns.com, as well for people who want to post comments, start discussions, and help out with troubleshooting issues.
You can also follow updates from Twitter
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Installing Files
My recent updates and all themes from this point on will be in xpi format. This allows for automatic installation upon download making it easier to get the themes.
Some of my themes are still jar files. To install a jar file
First save the file to your hard drive. Then, open Firefox/Thunderbird>Tools>Add-Ons. Drag and drop the .jar file in the theme window and click install. Select the theme tab and click on the "use theme" button. Restart Firefox/Thunderbird to use the new theme.
Some of my themes are still jar files. To install a jar file
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- My Thoughts (9)
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19 comments:
That idea is not OK man, give people that buy the theme for 0.99$ a special code that they can update, or let them be e pay register user so you can help the people better with update's. I think you will lose a lote of user of your theme (me incl).
Peace
And the FREE theme wont work right, WHITE status-bar, WHITE scrowl-bar, WHITE option menu (all like default theme) Damn man, deliver better work before you ask money.
Damn
Danny,
I have provided the "better" work. That is what the premium theme is. That is the fully skinned theme. That is the theme that I have spent hours upon hours developing and improving.
You are right about the "free" theme, that does maintain some of the default features. I implemented the toolbars, tabs, and the main look of the browser. The rest I left default because each of those things require recoding the files and each thing you change requires changing other features.
All of this takes enormous amounts of time. When you start talking about creating websites with user registration, you are talking about major web development using databases. That kind of work costs thousands of dollars. A friend of mine is a web programmer and charges a minimum of $7500 for websites that start getting into that type of development.
I have put a lot of work into this and I am asking each individual for $0.99. If you believe that is unreasonable, that is your choice. I am sorry that you do not want to use my themes anymore because I have asked you to contribute a dollar for the time I have put into this.
Well, let me tell this, let say that 50% of 4,899,238 downloads of 3.0.1 will pay you 0.99. that make 693,000 $ is that not enough to make a data base site. You force user to buy your theme for 0.99, to get a nice looking theme (not the bull-shit with white status-bar).
But oke, i will buy the theme 1 time and will share them over the web in torrent format and will send them to people that want them. maybe that will bring you to your knees to stop act like a money maker.
And please stop using GOD for your promotion, Prince does that better then you.
2 all the people, keep good eye on piratebay & demonoid, there i will shere the theme's.
Danny,
Send me an email. Write me at brett at virtusdesigns dot com. I will give you a free copy of whichever theme you would like.
Wow...this just gets more and more ridiculous. So...I buy the theme, and thirty-one days later you release a new version that fixes a problem with the original. I have to pay again?
Booooooooo!!! Charging for this is a HORRIBLE idea. This will totally pull the rug out from under your success and progress with the Firefox community. Hinting and even requesting donations to cover your time and expenses is one thing, but a mandatory charge to use your theme is completely antithetical to what Firefox is all about.
I've been so happy and thankful for your themes, and speading it like crazy to everyone else who has seen it on my machine. But I'll have to digress now to the next best freely-developed theme out there.
99 cents is nothing. ill pay 99 cents for every update. i owe you guya alot for sharing your talents. for themes or softwear. thanks a lot.
Well, it looks like the illiterate constituency is firmly in your corner.
Bo:
I am very disturbed, saddened and angry at your scheme to charge for your work. Firefox is an OPEN source project. That means that we all contribute our time freely and voluntarily for the common good. Not to put money in our pocket. I for one have spent countless hours developing and assisting in the development of extensions and themes. You may recall that helped you with the development of your first themes. In fact my name ("naddude" is on the first Abstract theme the one you "took over".)
Therefore I can no longer support you and your "scheme". To do so would be the death of open source. I will be removing all your themes from all the PC's and Macs in our family and businesses. I will notify all my friends and associates to do so and I will file an official complaint at Mozilla. I will also post the on all your theme postings on AMO. I hope you will reconsider the consequences of your actions.
I am sorry that you feel that way but your statements are not entirely accurate.
If you believe that the developers at Firefox are creating their browser for the "common good" you are very mistaken. Firefox is open source and free to the user but the idea of the developers behind the project is to make money. Firefox earned a reported revenue of $75,000,000 dollars last year.
They are not doing this because they just love making browsers. As far as open source, that does not mean "free" in price but "free" in ideas and the ability for anyone to view the code and use it freely to develop their own ideas.
Everything on the internet with these sites such as Firefox, Google, Yahoo, Myspace, and so on is absolutely to put money into the pockets of the developers. They have the ability to provide products to the consumer while making tons of money through advertisements. I do not have that luxury and cannot continue spending the time needed to make my themes as high quality as possible without charging. $0.99 is not unreasonable and is quite common in the download world of music, ringtones, and so on.
This is not a "scheme" concocted by me to rob people of a dollar but to continue providing high quality themes. I will continue to offer a version free of charge via AMO for those who do not want to pay.
Bo:
Couldn't disagree with you more. If everyone charged for extensions and themes open source would be dead. SO I hope everyone boycotts you and your "project."
I also hope that being a "spiritual" person you understand karma.
You sir are propagating bad karma. If it is too much work to develop themes....then just stop.
But do not hold us hostage.
I think you are being a little dramatic here. Charging 99 cents for a complex add-on that require extensive css coding is not going to destroy open source software.
Why don't you let the market decide if what I am doing is wrong or not? If what I am doing is wrong, people will not pay for the download. If they decided that my product and service are worth 99 cents, they will pay. If they refuse to pay then I will have to stop charging.
That is called free market capitalism and that is how things work. Firefox and the other services are making huge money. If they stopped making money it is a guarantee that they cease to exist. Look at what happened to Netscape. Netscape turned into Firefox and they found a better way to compete and generate revenue.
I am doing what I can to make Firefox even better and will see what happens of all of this. It could turn out well, it could fail. In the meantime, I will continue to produce and support high quality themes and offer a free basic version on AMO for those who don't want to pay. If they are unhappy with the basic version, there is nothing stopping them from taking the basic source code and putting a fully skinned version together on their own. For those that don't want to do that or don't know how, I have done that work for them and ask for 99 cents for the time I spent to do it and maintain it. That is not unreasonable nor immoral as some have called me.
So far I have had a very positive response from most people because I am going above and beyond to make sure my themes are high quality and that they have quick support and a community of users to help them with issues.
Bo:
You just don't get it. You developed your themes in and on an open source platform with the help and support of the community. Now you are saying here is a neutered version of my theme but if you want the real deal pay me! It's a betrayal to the community! I personally regret helping you in the past and I hope other developers do not follow in your foot steps or it is the end of open source. By all means "exploit" your profits but stay out of AMO.
I'm glad that I have copy of your theme before Firefox 3 was oficially released, where scroll bar and some other shit are blue/black and I'm going to use it until you come back to free distribution
"That is called free market capitalism and that is how things work." Bo.
So then I guess all of us in the Firefox community who have helped you along the way with your development can look forward to a piece of your profits. I look forward to hearing from you as to how much you will contribute and when.
I'm not agree with the idea of a paid theme. Also, the new theme for FF3 is not good. The buttons in the new download window are the standard from windows and not the blue oval buttons that were before in FF2. It is not good as the old version, and even if so, I rather prefer to change to another theme that paying for this one
I bet you were very popular when you were working for Firefox 2. In a good way. Now you are working not for Firefox 3, but for you. And you are even more popular. In a bad way. At least 95% of your former fans of your themes will probably wait for a user to buy it and then put it on a functional link that actually works. So far I have seen 2 for AeroFox, but they failed.
On another topic now. Imagine that you are the head of Google or Firefox. You decide to release a new version. You only coded it so a window opens and then it is just a hideous blue screen with a few borders, but you can't read anything for the theme. You don't just drop a big community!
Oh btw, I would of bought it. But I don't trust your site. I only trust "Firefox" for addons.
again love your work, i guess you need a cell phone for twitter. sorry dont have one. cant afford to use my lan line as well.
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