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I sent them a typo on their website and it was fixed in minutes. I didn’t get a discount for my editorial services though.

Seriously, I’ve had a couple email exchanges and got my answers quickly. I haven’t purchased anything, since like someone above mentioned, the price is dependent on your project as to whether or not it’s fair. Since I only run personal sites I can’t justify the expense. Or I could, but I have other things I would like more first (Coda, Acorn, etc.).

Since I am only a hobbyist it’s a bit nuts for me to consider some of these. Especially since I tend to move sites in and out of the Multiple Site Manager. I asked if they had plans to come out with a non-commercial license, but was told no. I also believe the modules are licensed per site (but could be wrong), so it quickly become prohibitive if you want added functionality to all your sites.

I haven’t read anything bad about them on these forums and a few times people sent me their way for features I wanted.

My worry at this point, since a feature set for EE 2.0 hasn’t been announced, is that a module will be folded in, or at best become redundant.

Speculation only, but I could see EE 2.0 having some kind of tag cloud function built in, or a rating module. It would kinda suck to spend the $90 for these two to only have them folded in. It would also be kind of crapy if EE did this, since it might alienate a developer, but at the same point these seem like obvious enhancements (and in the software world I can point to a few hundred examples of an add on function becoming the default through purchasing of the company or just adding in competing functionality).

At this point I am saving my pennies for EE 2.0, will wait to see what it offers, then look at my current projects to decide if I am interested in adding “ratings.”

And before anyone get bent out of shape, I am not trying to imply that a developer shouldn’t charge whatever they think is fair. I’m not saying anything is overpriced or that they should offer varying licenses. I am just saying for me, and especially with 2.0 pending, I have either made the choice I’d rather keep my money, or wait to see what comes with 2.0. Who knows, maybe Solspace will write a new module that is EE 2.0 and does something I can’t live without.

Speculation only, but I could see EE 2.0 having some kind of tag cloud function built in, or a rating module. It would kinda suck to spend the $90 for these two to only have them folded in. It would also be kind of crapy if EE did this, since it might alienate a developer, but at the same point these seem like obvious enhancements (and in the software world I can point to a few hundred examples of an add on function becoming the default through purchasing of the company or just adding in competing functionality).

And before anyone get bent out of shape, I am not trying to imply that a developer shouldn’t charge whatever they think is fair. I’m not saying anything is overpriced or that they should offer varying licenses. I am just saying for me, and especially with 2.0 pending, I have either made the choice I’d rather keep my money, or wait to see what comes with 2.0. Who knows, maybe Solspace will write a new module that is EE 2.0 and does something I can’t live without.

This too, is where I stand. Solspace has some really useful modules that I can see myself using in certain projects. However, with the upcoming release of EE 2.0, I may just have to wait, to see what new features / modules come bundled with it.

Its too bad we cant get a glimpse, even if it is a small one, on the modules that may be coming out with EE 2.0

Its too bad we cant get a glimpse, even if it is a small one, on the modules that may be coming out with EE 2.0

Or just built in features. Would be nice and exciting to know a bit of what is planned.

Like Janet Jackson said, “What have you done for me lately?”

And no, I don’t expect any announcement on what’s coming.

And no, I don’t expect any announcement on what’s coming.

Which is extremely sad.  In theory, I agree with the no-roadmap, no release dates, etc…  But, I think EL has botched up this release in being so closed off on what’s already finished.  A lot of us depend on EE for a lot of things.  It would be nice to be able to plan accordingly.  There should be a middle ground between setting a release date and being completely quiet about the features of the product.

Anyway…I’m getting off-topic.

On the topic, SolSpace = amazing.  Regardless of price, they fill lots of huge gaps in EE’s functionality.  So, thank you to Mitchel, Pie Man and the rest of the SolSpace team.

[Note: This is my personal opinion, not the party line (hint: there is none). Yes, I am an EL employee, but I am also a freelance EE developer.]

But, I think EL has botched up this release in being so closed off on what’s already finished.  A lot of us depend on EE for a lot of things.  It would be nice to be able to plan accordingly.  There should be a middle ground between setting a release date and being completely quiet about the features of the product.

I don’t feel that way. It’s been said before, but just to repeat: EE 1.6.4 continues to work for me, and will for quite some time. It is supported, updated and kept current, and if we didn’t know about the upcoming new version, we’d be going about our business as usual. Which is exactly the way it should be.

I don’t need a feature by feature run-down. I know it will be based on CI, which excites my inner geek to no end, and the control panel (an area that I always found lacking in usability to some extent) will be vastly improved. Everything else, we’ll just see.

I am cool with that.

I too am cool with waiting, since even if the upgrade price is modest I’ll probably end up having to budget for it.

This said, it is a product people are obviously excited about. Screen shots of the Control Panel are well and good, but I think most people are more interested in seeing a final feature set announced, a developer release, a new release timeframe, and a pricing/upgrade chart.

It would be nice to know what we will be getting when we do upgrade.

And I realize my interests as a consumer don’t have to jive with the interests/strategies of a company.

I don’t want to see EE 2.0 being the next Vista. Multiple missed ship dates, and the final product not bearing much resemblance to the initial promise. If the only way to get it out is to drop a bunch of the functionality and features, I don’t want to see that. I also don’t want to see it become vaporware with several missed deadlines.

Another set of screen casts showing where it’s at and what it will be able to do could go along way toward reigniting excitement and getting people to salivate again.

It would also be cool to know why it was delayed. A few blog posts detailing the difficulties encountered might help people understand why EE didn’t ship in summer. I’m not a programmer, but I do understand sometimes things aren’t as easy as they seem at first.

This all said, I’d rather the developers spend their time working on the product rather than putting together pretty presentations.

I know, I’m the most critical cheerleader there is. I love the product and know I don’t use anywhere near its full potential, but like a kid I want more!

I agree with every point that Christopher makes.  The desire for more information on EE 2.0 has very little to do with the adequacy (or inadequacies, as it may be) of the current branch of EE.  If nothing else, the excitement for EE 2.0 is testament to the how great of a product EE currently is.

I can appreciate suspense and surprise as a marketing tactic.  It works!  But since the announced delay, I think that tactic has run it’s course.  My once intense excitement for EE 2.0 has not become mixed with slight frustration.  I guess I’m a little frustrated that it’s delayed but more so that EL has kept so hush-hush about it.

That’s what I meant by a botched release.  Not necessarily that it’s late.  That kind of stuff happens, it can be understood.  But, the lack of information released about the product creates more confusion, frustration and doubt about the product (at least for me, and I’m pretty sure for others) than excitement.

1) Solspace is, in a word, amazing. I count on them in running Gear Live as a business, and in some ways, they are a partner. Love them.

2) EE 2.0. Not getting more info about it, I can see how that can hurt the overall EE ecosystem. As some have said, why pay for a Tag module today when EE 2 might have Tag built-in? Of course, who knows if that is the case? What would be nice is a simple, we are trying to work on these new features. They may not make it in to the final release, but we are working on them. Then, someone doesn’t feel shafted for spending $100 on add-ons that are no longer needed come this fall, OR, a EE dev doesn’t see their income drop substantially because people stop buying their add-ons because they are playing the wait-and-see game 😉

Is solspace reliable?

Yes; we wouldn’t work extensively with them if they were not a proven developer with an excellent track record.

why pay for a Tag module today when EE 2 might have Tag built-in?

2.0 will not absorb the Tag module.

why pay for a Tag module today when EE 2 might have Tag built-in?

2.0 will not absorb the Tag module.

I don’t think the concern is exactly whether or not Tagging will be built in, but rather what features will be in the final EE product. Solspace modules aside I know a lot of people are in a holding pattern waiting for EE 2.0 before starting projects or making any add ons to existing sites.

I think this is just the nature of the game though. People do this with hardware and software. I am guessing there are people holding off on buying any Adobe products right now. Or Mac laptops (since the pro line is due for a refresh). Etc.

Even with knowing what will be in the final release I am betting a lot of people will be holding off.

I would answer this question the same way I’ve always answered it, even when people are “waiting” for updates to the 1.x branch, and this advice is not marketing spin, it is reasonable, practical, and good business sense: Make decisions based on what’s available now.

Even if we published a complete changelog ahead of the release, you would be doing nothing more than guessing whether or not a particular listed feature worked as you needed for a specific task until you actually used it.  The upgrade path from 1.x to 2.0 will contain full backwards compatibility, and we will work with developers during the developer preview to help them convert their add-ons, so quite frankly, there’s no excuse to wait until 2.0 to begin any project for which ExpressionEngine is a good fit.  EE is either right for your project or it is not.  It will be the extremely rare site indeed for which 2.0 would be the right choice and 1.x would not.

But now we’re really straying off topic.  I reiterate that Mitchell is a fine developer, and Solspace has a long track record of providing good products and good support to back it.

Just wanted to add another plug for Solspace. I had a fairly minor problem that I couldn’t figure out for the life of me that involved one of his modules and he took the time to walk me through all the steps to getting things exactly as I wanted. As I mentioned before his customer service is excellent and after his recent fixes I wanted to kick up my recommendation a little higher.