Thread

Thinking of buying a few modules from Solspace. However ‘pricey’ (depending on who is looking at it) they are, I am more concerned about this third company company.

At the moment, I am very interested in using their tag and user modules. Having said this, how far will their support go? What if one day they stop developing the modules and move onto other projects?

Not to mention the release of EE2.0 coming out soon. Will they enable their modules to work with this new system?

I still feel, as a client who paid for EE Commercial, that EE should develop their own version of these modules and possibly others instead of having a third-party company take care of this.

Solspace is very, very reliable. In fact, I believe they’re the only third party vendor with a “certified” EE add-on on the EE site (the certified add-on is the Tag Module).

I use Solspace add-ons regularly in sites I develop for clients and I don’t hesitate to recommend them to others.

As far as them making their add-ons work with EE 2.0, only they can answer that, but I can’t imagine they wouldn’t. You should drop them an email and ask. I think it’s a perfectly valid question/concern.

I wanted to add that I’ve found Solspace to be great. I have several modules installed on my site purchased both by myself and by a web developer. While I was initially a little gunshy due to the cost I found them to be worth it because of the quality of the modules and their customer service. Their customer service is the best I have ever experienced from a software company (both on and offline).

Allow me to be the Devil’s advocate, albeit minimally.

I do use Solspace modules on almost every site. I find a few of them to be overpriced ($50 for the rating module, or $70 for the AJAX Related Entries?) - but that’s just my opinion, and frankly it depends on the job whether something is worth it. The User module is steep, but always saves me time. I wish I didn’t have to rely on it (or Freeform, for that matter) but such is life. Volume discounts would be nice…

I’ve had some issues with getting answers on their forums in some cases, but maybe I’m just spoiled from the fast response times on these forums, which is where I spend most of my time. They’ve mentioned that Freeform Pro was to be coming out - but that was months ago.

Anyway, whatever beefs I might have with Solspace - I do use their add-ons on almost every build, and I’ve even been able to write custom extensions that hook into them (Freeform has a couple hooks you can tie into, which I’ve used to do some extra email stuff).

I’m sure they do pretty well there, and I don’t believe they are going anywhere for some time.

I agree that they are expensive and have only paid for the tag module, but I got good service. I’ve looked at the freeform module, which is free I believe, and couldn’t figure it out. Maybe I’m just waiting for the lightbulb moment.

What’s this user module got? I’ve heard a couple of good things about it recently.

Reliable? Definitely
The service is excellent.

Its really just a matter of is it worth the money for the project you are doing.

The user module is a great tool. It allows you to edit member information from templates. I used it to create a member account area where members can login and change their member details.

I would agree with most of what’s been said.  I wouldn’t worry about service and/or reliability.  From the video of SXSW, I remember Derek (I think it was him at least) saying that he converted SolSpace’s Tag module from 1.x to 2.0 (in a hour, no less).  I don’t know if that implies that EL is absorbing the Tag module into EE 2.0.  But, regardless, I think that does guarantee the longevity of the Tag module at least.

I can’t imagine that SolSpace won’t update the rest of their extensions/modules and most of their plugins to 2.0.

My only compliant, as has already been mentioned, is their price point.  Like Ryan, I do wish I didn’t have to depend on the User module.  At 90% the cost of a EE Personal license, I have trouble justifying the costs.  But, nonetheless, I do use it often because overall it saves me time and that means a higher return for me in the long run.

My question’s are with the upgrade policies…

I know this is more a solspace question, but if I were to purchase solspace’s user module and everything goes 2.0, would I need to pay for an upgrade for this already price-hefty module?

Kevin, I’ve not heard any discussion regarding price upgrades for the User Module when EE2.0 comes out. You might want to email Mitchell about it directly, or ask in their forums.

Hi everyone! 😊

We appreciate all the feedback/testimonials. Thank you! 😊
Obviously everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and not all can be pleased, but we definitely try to keep all of our customers happy. 😉

To answer a few of your questions:

At the moment, I am very interested in using their tag and user modules. Having said this, how far will their support go? What if one day they stop developing the modules and move onto other projects?

Kriz, we offer full support for all of our software. I can also assure you we have no plans of “exiting” the ExpressionEngine add-on business. In fact, we’re actually renewing our focus onto our Software. We also have an extensive amount of future modules in the works.

Not to mention the release of EE 2.0 coming out soon. Will they enable their modules to work with this new system?

All of our software will be made compatible with ExpressionEngine 2.0. We’ve actually hired an additional developer to help us with this. I cannot say whether or not the software will be all converted by the time ExpressionEngine 2.0 is officially released, as that depends on how early we receive a developer copy. But I can assure you our software should be all converted shortly after the release of ExpressionEngine 2.0. And by “shortly,” I mean no later than 1-2 weeks, though I believe it will be sooner than that.

There will also be no additional charge or upgrade fee to access these compatible versions.

I have zero complaints with Solspace. I’ve used Freeform, User, Rating, and Favorites. Pie Man can confirm this, but I’ve had A LOT of support questions in the forums and I can’t think of any instance where I’ve not received a reply.

A definite plus from me too. Solspace are brilliant, the support is excellent and the software is amazing. They’ve got their own mini community too in their forums which is great too.

Best wishes,

Mark

Thanks guys 😊

No thank you! 😉

You do a great job over there, keep it up 😊

Best wishes,

Mark

Awe shucks! :red:  haha