Introducing Soliloquy Support Tokens
Soliloquy support tokens are used to submit support tickets for any inquiry you may have regarding Soliloquy.
Existing customers will be grandfathered in, so don’t fret if you are already a license holder.
The way support is handled for Soliloquy has been updated to use what are called support tokens. Support tokens grant you the ability to submit a support ticket that will be answered by someone of the Soliloquy staff (namely me). One support tokens grants you the ability to submit one support ticket.
A complimentary support token is issued at the time of purchase, and any subsequent tokens require a separate purchase. Watch the video below to view a demonstration on how support tokens work (click on the HD icon for the best viewing experience):
Why Support Tokens over a Yearly Fee or Free for Life?
It’s simple. With a yearly fee, users who never ask for support are punished, and the 20% of users that create 80% of the tickets get an incredible deal at the expense of supporting other users and developing and improving the plugin. Nobody really wins in that situation.
I also tried free support for life for ~4 months. At the current rate, it will take about 3 months before I spend my entire day doing nothing but support. That means no development time for Soliloquy, and it also means that I would need to hire for extra support. After more numbers crunching, I would begin losing money in less than a year and be forced to stop support altogether. Again, no one wins and Soliloquy really suffers as a reliable product.
With support tokens, nobody is punished for purchasing the plugin outright. You get one complimentary support token to get you started, and those that never need support can continue going about their business. The folks that do need additional support can purchase more support tokens and receive dedicated support (real support from the guy who made the plugin) that adds value to their business. Everybody wins!
The change has been reflected as of today, and all current customers have been credited with one support token. Future purchases automatically include a support token, and if you choose to upgrade, you get another support token with it!
Automatic updates are still for life – only support is affected by the support tokens.
Ultimately, this change benefits you because it ensures that Soliloquy will continue to be developed and maintained as a viable and reliable product in your arsenal. I will be able to continue building out and improving on the best responsive WordPress slider plugin out there, and you will continue to receive all of the benefits from it. 🙂
To ensure that the community gets the full benefit, support tickets (where appropriate) will be turned into documentation that is listed on the Docs section of the website. Docs will grow quickly, so you should turn their often to see if your question has been answered before submitting or purchasing support tokens.
Jared Williams
Hey Thomas!
Like I said on Twitter, I know there may be some users who do not like this change but I completely understand why you needed to change the way support currently works, and support you 100%!
I bought the Dev License a while back and have used Soliloquy without any issues. In fact, I am one of those users that you mentioned that has never asked for support. I guess that’s a testament to how great your plugin is.
I want to see Soliloquy continue to be developed not only for sites I build, but for the clients using it.
Your time is valuable and the time you have saved me with this plugin is incredible.
I have no issue purchasing Tokens in the future and wish you all the best!
griffinjt
Thanks Jared! That really means a ton, and I appreciate you sharing your thoughts. We are all in this together!
griffinjt
Thanks John!
Elisa
Thanks for all your help. I was literally adding images to a slideshow for my own site redesign (finally) and thinking how funny it is that I only use your slider now, can’t imagine using anyone else’s.
-Elisa.
griffinjt
Glad that you choose Soliloquy as your slider – rock on!
John Turner
Good call, in the end this is the best option for continued development!
griffinjt
Thanks John! I believe so too and think all parties will benefit from it in the end.
PhilJ
My concern with this would be that people will expect a lot when they pay to open a ticket. If their request is beyond what you are ready to support (IE “Build my website!”), will you refund them their ticket cost? What is the thinking for those types of situations?
griffinjt
People already expect a lot when support is free. 🙂 There is not much more to expect with paid support either. While purchases have a 30-day money back guarantee, support tokens are non-refundable once purchased.
Chris Lema
I agree with this 100% and just wrote about segmentation, including a reference to this article. Great work! Keep it up! http://chrislema.com/not-all-customers-are-equal-butterflies-barnacles/
griffinjt
Thanks Chris!
Jon Brown
I chimed in privately, but I FULLY support this change (even if I wasn’t grandfathered in). I far prefer a model where updates are free for life and support is paid per incident.
For small developers to try to guess what support load will look like and average it out over all users is just crazy… as are some of the the support requests I’ve seen from some people…
griffinjt
Thanks Jon!! 🙂
grapplerulrich
What are using for the Support Tokens system?
Scott Kingsley Clark
@griffinjt:disqus I’m also interested i knowing what you’re using here. I’m trying to figure out a similar solution and am bouncing between ideas right now.
griffinjt
I built a custom Zendesk App to handle the interface, and then it connects remotely to my API server where I check against what the user has entered to see if it is a valid token.
Scott Kingsley Clark
Sounds cool, I may not end up doing the token model but if I do I may have to bug you for a peek at the code 🙂
griffinjt
Fine by me – I don’t mind sharing it. Makes support much easier to track, and you ensure that paying users are being supported properly. 🙂
Sofia Goznik
Hi, I think I have messed up my slider by way of changing my photo name, I have tried to change it back but have forgotten what they were named in the first place, I think it was C1, C2, etc… can anyone please help me. I cannot get in touch with my web designer. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
dev
Do I have to buy/use a token in order to ask a question on the community forum? If so, I think it is a poor business model. I can understand you wanting to charge for YOUR time, but perhaps there are people in the community who are willing to help others?
dev
Does this mean I have to pay $9 to post a new question on the community board?
dev
Maybe it is just my old eyes, but now I find a “Ask a Question” button on the community site. I swear I did not see it yesterday. Was it there? Am I going crazy (or blind) 🙂 ?
griffinjt
I saw your comment and forgot to turn back on community postings when I was making the updates for support tokens. You can submit forum topics again, and no, you weren’t going crazy or blind. 😉
BossLady
Given that this plugin is:
1 – Responsive;
2 – Can do posts, pages, custom posts, and a mix of all of those;
3 – Has amazing add-ons;
4 – Has worked out-of-the-box with everything I’ve ever put it on;
5 – Has tons of short tutorials and code snippets all over this website;
You’re darn right you should be charging for support. I can’t imagine the amount of time you’ve put into this plugin and at some point you’ve gotta pay the rent. People want way too much for free these days.
And I get it. There’s no way to predict exactly how your business is going to work until you just jump in and get started. A business model is an ever-changing thing, especially in the beginning.
I say good for you. It means you have a great product and people are flocking to it left and right.
griffinjt
Thanks so much for the awesome comment! 🙂
cooderbrown
I read Tom’s newsletter, last month, regarding paid support. I promptly wrote him back and said “Awesome – go for it!” and basically “To h*** with the naysayers.”
I explained to him that, coming from a Joomla background, the best Joomla developers charge for their support.
Why do I WANT to give money away when so many extensions are out there for free? It’s easy – SECURITY.
The majority of developers who we monetarily support routinely provide: more solid updates and especially more responsive support. The faster I can get an issue solved, the quicker I move onto another money making project for myself. It’s win-win.
Good Luck Tom!
griffinjt
Thanks chief – really appreciate the comment and love!
Phil Derksen
How did I miss this when it was first announced!?
In any case, great idea and I’m curious how well it’s received and works out, both for you and your customers, in the long run.
Rachel Cowan
I bought Soliliquy yesterday. Paid for support tickets are fine by me. Except I didn’t get a complimentary support ticket with my purchase. Did you stop including this with purchase?
Kevin Michael Gray
Thomas I’m a huge fan of this! You definitely deserve to be paid for your time… I’m curious though. The pricing on the website still offers “One Year of Support” or “Lifetime Support” did you revert back to the old support model… if so why?
Matteo Raggi
how much cost a support token?
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