Skip to content

Mega Release!
Compare
Choose a tag to compare
@vovafeldman vovafeldman released this 13 Dec 23:27
· 2921 commits to master since this release
1.2.1.5
0c132a5

Better Upgrade Flow

With the new SDK, users no longer need to deactivate the free version before activating the premium one. This is a huge improvement to the after upgrade user-experience that we are really proud of making it happen! (Kudos to @fajardoleo).

We updated the after upgrade admin notice and also the emails will be tweaked for users that are running the new SDK during the upgrade.

Obviously, a seamless experience would be automatically installing the premium version, but unfortunately, it is still against the wp.org guidelines.

Better Control for Usage Tracking

Users that opted-in can now disable/re-enable usage-tracking by clicking on a new link in the plugins page named "Opt-Out/In". The opt-out click will trigger the following confirmation message:

image

If the user opt-out it will be tracked with a new event labeled `install.disconnected' that you can see in the user's profile page on the Freemius dashboard.

Users that skipped the initial opt-in will be now able to click the "Opt-In" link in the plugins page to redirect to the opt-in screen.

The opt-out option will only be available for free users to maintain premium plugin version updates from the API. Also, if the user opted out and later upgraded, they will be automatically re-opted in for the same reason.

In addition, we added a special method that returns a magic URL that you can add to your settings and re-prompt the users that skipped, to opt-in again (Issue #42). Here's the simplest usage:

<?php if ( my_freemius()->is_anonymous() ) : ?>
<a href="<?php echo my_freemius()->get_reconnect_url() ?>">Re-Connect</a>
<?php endif ?>

Trials for Everyone!

We made a huge update in our trial mechanism which was only working for opted-in users so users who've skipped can get trials as well. Here's how this mechanism works:

  1. After 24 hours from the plugin installation (or update with Freemius for the first time), a promotional admin notice will appear with a trial CTA:
    image
  2. If you want the trial to work for the skipped users, since we can't pull any data from the Freemius API, you'll have to add new special params we've added to your init_sdk method. The easiest way would be to login to your Freemius Dashboard, and copy the updated code from the SDK INTEGRATION page.
  3. In addition to the admin notice, the Upgrade submenu item will change it's label to Start Trial and the color will match the blue color of the promotional admin notice:
    image
    And if you have a top-level menu item, it will automatically add a pretty counter to even attract more attention:
    image
  4. When the user clicks on any of the buttons, the pricing page will load in trial mode and will identify if the site is eligible for a trial based on the WordPress home URL, allowing the same user to start a trial on multiple sites.
  5. Clicking the trial start button will prompt the user with a confirmation dialog box, a contextual "opt-in" modal that explains the user why we need to capture his data:
    image

If the user confirms, they will be opted-in, and the trial will start right away.

Testing The Trials
Instead of waiting for 24-hours to trigger the trial promotion, we've added a new button to the Freemius Debug page which you can click and will start the promotional notice right away (if eligible):
image

Also, the multi-site license prices are now hidden when viewing the pricing page in trial mode.

100% Coupon Code ;)

After numerous requests, we managed to prioritize this use-case, and it's now fully supported (both from within the dashboard + Freemius Checkout).

Editable Billing Business Information

So far users billing information was only editable in the Freemius Developer dashboard. We noticed it triggered support tickets, especially from European business customers, asking to update the billing information on their invoices. Therefore, we enriched the billing tab on the account page so customers can update their billing information themselves to get rid of those support requests and make it "self-served":

image

Conversion Optimization

We changed the default color of the Upgrade button to light green. It will only affect non-paying users:
image

We've experimented that with RatingWidget and noticed better conversion. And it makes more sense, simply more people notice it :)

You can easily modify the color to whatever you want by adding the following CSS:
.fs-submenu-item.pricing.upgrade-mode { color: yellow }

WordPress.org Compliance

Due to recent updates in the .org guidelines, we approved a new default opt-in message for new users directly with the review team:

Never miss an important update -- opt-in to our security and feature updates notifications, and non-sensitive diagnostic tracking with freemius.com

It took us a while to get to this messaging, as you can see, it highlights the benefits of opting in, instead of asking a favor.

Other

  1. This version introduces new filters enabling an override of all sticky messages (messages with a "dismiss" button). The filters structure is sticky_message_{$messageID} and sticky_title_{$messageID}. You can add those filters with my_freemius->add_filter().
  2. Added a downgrade button to premium add-ons in the Account page.
  3. API Connectivity issues admin notices will be now also shown for users running a premium code version. These notices are an important feedback mechanism that outputs the reason for the connectivity issue and provides troubleshooting solutions (when possible). We still haven't figure out what to do when domain lookup is failing. We were sure it's cURL specific issue, but after doing some debugging on a customer with that problem, also the WordPress native "streams" HTTP API fails for the same reason. We understand it's annoying and adds some burden to the support (we feel you). That's still a work in progress...
  4. Bug Fix: WordPress core changed their wp_nonce_url() which causes a redirect to an empty page after activating a license using the link from the plugins page.
  5. This SDK introduces a new permission request that will be added by default to the opt-in screen:
    image
    First of all - it's a great way to set expectations with users by letting them know that your product will periodically show admin notices. Secondary... I can't tell yet, but we are cooking a new revolutionary killer feature! (in stealth mode).

Official release notes: https://freemius.com/blog/december-2016-wordpress-skd-release-notes/

Assets 2
Loading