EP1 – WPwatercooler – September 24 2012

This is the first episode of WPwatercooler.

We recorded our first episode of WPwatercooler today. A bunch of folks from the OC WordPress community got together and joined in.

This episode delves into the complexities of theme licensing, support, and deployment in WordPress. The panelists discuss various aspects, such as:

1. Lifetime Licenses: Some developers have lifetime licenses for themes from Studio Press, Woo Themes, and Elegant Themes.
2. Client Deployment: When deploying a theme for a client, the client doesn’t necessarily have to continue paying for it. The main cost is for support forum access.
3. Support Limitations: Clients don’t get access to theme support under the developer’s license. They would need to buy their own support license.
4. WooCommerce Extensions: The panelists clarify that WooCommerce will not restrict the use of extensions on multiple sites; it’s all support-based.
5. Pricing Models: There’s a debate on whether a one-time payment model is better than a recurring yearly fee. The consensus is that it depends on the scale and type of projects a developer is handling.
6. Child Themes: The importance of using child themes for easier updates and modifications is emphasized.
7. Learning Curve: The real cost for developers is often the time spent learning how to use a new theme or framework.
8. Community and Updates: The episode ends with a brief mention of the WordPress community and upcoming events.

Topics discussed:
Woothemes.
Woocommerce.
InfiniteWP.
pricing models.
Building an managing virtual teams by Chris Lema.
Done Done.
WordPress TV.
OC WordCamp and video uploading.
Crowd sourcing ebooks? Idontgivearatsass@gmail.com
Loud typing! 🙂
Back to woothemes and pricing with developers license and their new pricing model.
Monetizing and GPL.
ElegantThemes
StudioPress – Genesis Framework.
Darthvader on the mic.
iThemes developers suite.
Licensing themes and giving your clients access to forums? Client needs to get their own account with the forum.
Types and Views
Dynamik Theme.
Dealing with Child themes and managed clients.
Avada on themesforest 
Themeforest themes and updates.
Licensing and paying for a theme for a client.
Woothemes is $200 a year + a per month charge.
Pass the charges off to you client so they are kept up to date.
How much are you bringing in? Is this saving you money or time? It’s a no brainer.
There is a value to a solution
Are the themes expensive? For a user it’s steep but for a developer it empowers us to provide more for less.
Client is paying for your expertises AND the theme you use.
Sample content to go along with themes
WooCommerce documentation is good
WordCamp Las Vegas
Adjusting permalinks

Folks around the watercooler (left to right)
Chris Lema, David Jesch, Jon Brown, Jason Tucker, Lucy Beer, Suzette Franck, Stephen P. Kane, Steve Zehngut, Brandon Dove and Sé Reed