MyBB Community Forums

labrocca Wrote:Thanks for the conversation Harry but I am no longer going to respond to you. And I am going to report your name calling and uncivil behavior. I really don't appreciate the personal attacks on my character.

I wish mybb had a post ignore feature.

I dont think my behavior is uncivil. It is no different then your own. You have attacked my charactor as well in this thread and the other. Thus if action is taken i hope it is done fairly to both. Sorry if you cant handle being dissagreed with. Nice way though to try and hush those up who dissagree with you.

labrocca Wrote:Thanks for the conversation Harry but I am no longer going to respond to you. And I am going to report your name calling and uncivil behavior. I really don't appreciate the personal attacks on my character.

I wish mybb had a post ignore feature.

There's an idea for a plugin specially to MyBBCentral users!

DCR Wrote:

labrocca Wrote:Thanks for the conversation Harry but I am no longer going to respond to you. And I am going to report your name calling and uncivil behavior. I really don't appreciate the personal attacks on my character.

I wish mybb had a post ignore feature.

There's an idea for a plugin specially to MyBBCentral users!

Already exists as a plugin from a long time ago.

I don't see why it was necessary for this thread to be turned into the other one that got closed, and then the other one that I closed.

AirborneFive simply wanted to know if you would ever be interested in paying for themes. He even stated "I welcome all feedback, positive and negative, however, let's please keep the thread clean." - How could he be any clearer?

All any of you had to do was state your opinion (maybe accompanied with some reasons why and statistics if you please) without attacking others and their thoughts. Then AirborneFive could have made up their own mind.

HarryWx and others who jumped on board in attacking labrocca's previous decision: You have no control over what labrocca does, as you have no control over what AirborneFive decides.

labrocca: If this does ever come up again - I would appreciate it if you either took it to PM (though I see no point, your decision is made and I have nothing against that) or report the post, as you've done now to bring it to my attention.

Now, if any further posts derail from the original intention of this thread which I've stated above, I will be here to remove them and even report you for a ban of a short period. We do not need this in our community.


Thank you for understanding.

I do understand Rhino and I will be reporting posts that I feel are attacks on me. I will also no longer respond to Harry in threads and I don't waste my time PMing people to argue. I consider the matter resolved.

Labrocca..I'll hopefully be signing up this weekend. =P

Although I do not object to users of good standing making the move to offer paid services (since it is clearly stated that MyBB are not adverse to this, even though this does not necessarily mean they endorse such practice) I would think twice about purchasing a MyBB theme. The price is a huge factor as well as the quality of the template (and if applicable - support) so it would largely depend on what reviews or feedback I heard back about themes and services offered by a third party. Clearly, a balance of free and paid themes seems to strike the right note with most users here.

This balancing-model also works with a fair number of Wordpress users as well I believe, although it does also alienate others.

p/s: With due respect to everyone who has posted here, even if some valid arguments were stated that I do agree with, I do feel that personal attacks are a little unbecoming. I am no saint, but it's difficult to not feel that both 'sides' displayed this behaviour at some point or another.

This thread turned upside down quite quickly and away from the main point of my original post, so please, let's keep it on topic from here on out, as suggested. If replies are not directed towards the original post made, please take them elsewhere or directly to PM.

A small request to be made so that the moderators here don't have to waste their time cleaning up threads, banning and wasting time in general when they could be doing something far more productive.


In regards to the original thread post....

We have already contributed, albeit, a small amount, to the MyBB community by providing a couple of themes. We developed the Concealment theme which is widely used. We also took over development of the MarkItSplashed MyBB Theme. Both of these themes will receive updates once MyBB 1.4.x is released and they will be updated across the board. Both themes will remain 100% free with no intention of changing. They were released free, they will remain free.

In regards to support, support was and always has been provided, though most took it to PM or contacted us directly. Of course, we have no issue with that and welcome the alternative contact methods .


We will continue to contribute to the MyBB community as we feel it is a worthwhile cause, however, we would also like to see more attention drawn to the product and business drives and motivates. Not everyone will be up for paying for a theme, however, take a look back at similar forum scripts in the paid category (vBulletin, IPB etc). When they were first being developed, free theme releases came along with it.

Not too many thought of offering paid themes, styles or skins right off the bat, however, when the idea came along and the quality and support was there (which lacked in free releases), the option of a paid theme, style or skin was taken to much quicker.

Sure, there are always those businesses out there looking to make a quick buck, make promises and then pack up and leave when they've made their lunch money or enough to take their date out to dinner, however, we run a respectable business and honor the promises and guarantees we provide our customers with.

A good 99% of the customers we work with, we know on a first name basis and welcome them in that way, not with the traditional "how can I help you" canned response you general receive.

With that said...

Our projected plan was to go in one of two directions. Full blown paid themes, which would start at a reasonable rate or provide a "theme club" type deal where a small Bi-Annual or Annual fee would cover the member for 6-12 months and any themes released during that time would be made available to them.

We're already aware that there are many talented designers surrounding us, however, each designer is unique in that generally, no two have the exact same style. Take 2 people and give them the same design, each will probably code it differently and both will probably look into the design and see how they can make it better.

We encourage competition as it's a driving force. The free theme releases here at MyBB and elsewhere are great. I'll personally thank anyone taking the time to release a theme myself as it shows someone is taking time away from their schedule and trying to help others.

We're trying to do the exact same, however, taken notice to many theme releases. Free theme releases are often abandoned and left unsupported, not always, but often. While we'll continue to release a few free themes for MyBB, a paid option guarantees longevity.

As I stated in the other thread, if the work in question is quality work and the support for it is top notch support I see no reason to put a price on it.

Not everything in the world is free, this rule applies to the MyBB Modifications and Theming community as well.

It was bound to happen, people need to make money and if they can do that via making plugins and themes for MyBB (or any other BBS for that matter) then by all means, go right ahead.

The fact that MyBB itself is free is irrelevant to the topic at hand, look at phpBB, it's been free forever and sites like eXtreme Pixels are selling themes for $20 to $40 a pop.

And these are quality themes too, not your usual color change/switching some templates around (which are all to common nowadays, but that's a discussion for a later date). I'd gladly pay for something of quality work, regardless of the price of the product it's made for.

Ryan has a point.

I'd also like to add that I'm thinking about starting a little bit of a service myself, but there are 2 ways to get it... You either work for it, or you pay for it.

I'd keep that in mind, because alternatives for those who don't have the money to spare may be just what we need, and for those who would like to take a shortcut can (with money, of course).

Some can call those who charge greedy, but I don't think money is the problem, its just that the job is very thankless. I'm not talking about the 'thanks' posts we get from the users who just stop after they fill their quota to download the theme/plugin. They are as bad as they get... It's like no thanks at all, really. Money is an alternative to a real thanks, imo.
Don't let this upset you, because this is my take on it, as I have firsthand experienced this and believe this is what others may feel, too.