Can you set up a test/staging WordPress sites in seconds? Yes, with qSandbox you can.

So you were thinking of writing a WordPress plugin? Awesome!I am assuming that you've read how to create plugins and looked at the source code of some simple plugins. Great!

Here are a several things to consider before starting

  • What are you going to build & is there really a need for this kind of product? (tough one)
  • How should you name the plugin?
  • Support: Are you going to be maintaining the plugin in the future?
  • Business: What is the business model?

The questions above are very important to ask yourself before doing the work.We can create many products but if no one wants them that means that we haven't used our time well. The good thing with programming is that whatever you create it's not a total loss. The code can be recycled and reused in a different product.

What are you going to build & is there a need?

This is a very tough one because when we are about to create something we try to convince ourselves that this would be a cool product.In some cases that's true but we have to be honest with ourselves and answer this question:Are we building this product because:We like the idea and the implementation excites us?
OR
We've done (some) research which proved that there is a need for that product?There's (almost) no right or wrong answer but the results will be different in each scenario.From my experience I can tell you that the products for which I've done some research have gotten a lot more downloads/sales. At the time of this writing I've created about 60 plugins (some are free, premium and the rest are done for clients).

Are there any other plugins that do similar things?

If yes, it might be a better option to become a contributor to another plugin rather than releasing it yourself.

Yes, won't be *driving the bus* but you can learn a lot by contributing to another project. That also helps creating nice professional contacts.

How should you name the plugin?

If you've used WordPress for sometime you'll be tempted to start the plugin name with WP or WordPress.I've done it. I admit it. As far as I know now using WordPress in the plugin name will most likely result in a rejection.Plugins are tested before they appear in the WordPress Plugin Directory.

After my 6th or 8th plugin I decided to put my company name in front of each plugin name. There's huge benefit. People will start recognizing the name (eventually). Another huge benefit is that you can setup an alert at WordPress.org forums to be notified

when somebody mentions your plugin. All I had to do is to set an alert for "Orbisius" to get all of the notifications for most of my plugins.

Here is why it is important to name the plugin properly.Several years ago I chose a name that was trademarked. It was 2am and I didn't think it through that much.That wasn't the only issue. I named the plugin DigiShop and there is a shopping cart with that name. This was confusing people. My plugin was getting more and more popular and that caught the attention of the trademark holder who filed a DMCA take down notice.WordPress.org team removed my plugin and then they notified me. This was too bad because the plugin had about 7,000 downloads.I was preparing to launch extensions for it. When WP team deletes your plugin there isn't a way to push a release to the old users.I had to resubmit the plugin under a different name: Orbisius CyberStore.

Support. Are you going to be maintaining the plugin in the future?

Are you going to provide support?
If yes, where should your users seek support?

In the beginning email is fine BUT I highly recommend that, at some point, you switch to a publicly accessible support forum e.g. using bbPress or using WordPress's plugin forums.

People will keep asking for the same questions over and over.

The reason that I suggest forum is that it is a scalable way to provide support.

If you track your time (I use toggle by the way. It's great.) you know that writing a support email takes between 4-30 minutes. It also takes at least another 5-10 minutes to switch to a different task.

Your goal should be to not repeat yourself as much as possible.

When you switch to forums is going to be empty. This will cause people to still email you their questions. You may have to manually create the forum posts and create user accounts on behalf of the users.This, however, will make it easier for future users to post in it when they is some activity going on there.

In an addition to the forum you can have a nice and long FAQ page and/or articles that cover the top 20 questions that people might ask.

If you include videos or screencasts that will really help reduce your users help themselves and thus reducing the support requests.

The less time you have to provide support the more time you'll have to focus on improving the product or marketing it.

What I am suggesting here is to make as much information available and accessible to as many people so you can dedicate more time to the most important things.

Some developers go the other extreme. That's when they only provide paid support.

I am on the fence about this one because providing support has its benefits. You can listen to what your customers like, don't like or want in your product.

That will influence the future of the product.

Of course that there are times that you should make an exception and allow your customers (paid or not) to contact me via email especially if they have to send me some sensitive information such as logins or links to their products.

Business Model

Everybody loves free software but development, support & marketing takes time and money. We have to value our time more than anything because we can never get it back.
Note: Donations ares NOT a viable business model!!!

If your plugin is going to be free you then must have a full/part time job that pays for your expenses.

Lots of people think that charging for a product is bad thing. That's zero based thinking. They tell themselves "If I win somebody else has to loose". Not at all.

If you believe that your product that can solve your clients problems then both sides gain value after the transaction. It's not just one side that benefits.

It took me lots of time to feel OK for charging for my products.

In the beginning plugin sales can pay only for the hosting but over time it could grow and become a full time income if you do several things right (more on this in the future).

Another important reason is that you should (or must) have a business model is when you receive some income from your work that keeps you motivated to improve your product and release new ones.

There are lots of plugins in the WordPress plugin directory that don't get updated. Why? Because their creators are busy doing work for other people to support themselves.

Those old plugins have good ideas but they will eventually become vulnerable because they are not maintained.

Note: if you happen to abandon a plugin put it on github and update the readme requesting a new maintainer. That way users will be aware that they are installing a plugin that won't be updated.

Here are some ways how to make money with your WordPress plugin.

  • Pro version
  • Paid Extensions
  • Support - Free (Forum based) & Paid (Priority Email/Phone)
  • Links to "Hire Me" page so people can hire you to customize the product for their needs.

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