Several of the social networking scripts come with a one-time fee, which means you get updated versions as they come but may or may not pay for any support that you need depending on the nature of the support.
I am trying to understand the price structure here which is $89 initially. Which means after the first year if there are two updated versions per year, yearly price will be $89 x 2 . For next 5 years (assuming 2 versions every year) it will be $89 x 2 x 5 = $890 !!
Is there any chance of Support & Updates (6 months) being made Support & Updates (12 months)
I understand that this includes Support and Help-desk but for hobby or small sites with not so much financial backup, and who can do some self-support or support from the open php communities, this amount is really high. To this may be added the cost of some customization or extensions that may not be covered by EasySocial's routine support (maybe or maynot be)
One more question here : Can, for example, version 1.4 be directly upgraded to say, 1.8 or 2.00 directly without any hassle or database problems?
The other issue on price is :
Will it remain same ? Will it remain same if there is change of owners ? (Will code quality and sustained dev be maintained?)
While in open and free community like Drupal or Joomla or Wordpress it is almost guaranteed that the main and actual product will never die, what happens if Easysocial as is now "dies" down the next 4 or 6 or 10 years - the personal cost of resurrection (even if its a small hobby site but a site which is must for me)? I have experience of purchasing 2 scripts in past whose website and support literally vanished afterwards. It happens and initially they looked so solid and trustworthy!
I am not asking about any guarantee as private projects (not backed by open community like the WP or Joomla or Drupal etc) cannot give any guarantee or even if gives, it may not be sustained - the company may be sold, Devs may get better jobs etc etc. I am just asking the opinion.
Thanks very much for your input.
I am trying to understand the price structure here which is $89 initially. Which means after the first year if there are two updated versions per year, yearly price will be $89 x 2 . For next 5 years (assuming 2 versions every year) it will be $89 x 2 x 5 = $890 !!
Is there any chance of Support & Updates (6 months) being made Support & Updates (12 months)
I understand that this includes Support and Help-desk but for hobby or small sites with not so much financial backup, and who can do some self-support or support from the open php communities, this amount is really high. To this may be added the cost of some customization or extensions that may not be covered by EasySocial's routine support (maybe or maynot be)
One more question here : Can, for example, version 1.4 be directly upgraded to say, 1.8 or 2.00 directly without any hassle or database problems?
The other issue on price is :
Will it remain same ? Will it remain same if there is change of owners ? (Will code quality and sustained dev be maintained?)
While in open and free community like Drupal or Joomla or Wordpress it is almost guaranteed that the main and actual product will never die, what happens if Easysocial as is now "dies" down the next 4 or 6 or 10 years - the personal cost of resurrection (even if its a small hobby site but a site which is must for me)? I have experience of purchasing 2 scripts in past whose website and support literally vanished afterwards. It happens and initially they looked so solid and trustworthy!
I am not asking about any guarantee as private projects (not backed by open community like the WP or Joomla or Drupal etc) cannot give any guarantee or even if gives, it may not be sustained - the company may be sold, Devs may get better jobs etc etc. I am just asking the opinion.
Thanks very much for your input.