You might be interested to know that the latest free version also includes BRAND NEW features that have been taken from the PRO VERSION and are now part of the free version.
So while we’ve had to move a couple of features out of the free version we have tried to replace them with other features that were previously only available to premium users.
It’s not really fair to give a poor rating just because the free version doesn’t meet your personal needs anymore.
You might not understand, or care, that a lot of work goes into developing, maintaining, and supporting free plugins. If the pro version didn’t exist then the free version would definitely not exist either, it’s as simple as that.
The only way this plugin will still be around for the next several years is if, you guessed it, we have some way to fund continued development. It’s not easy.
In the latest free version we’ve added plugin settings for the first time, and you can now build your sitemap visually via the new (Gutenberg) editor using sitemap blocks. This means you can preview what the sitemap looks like directly in the editor without having to swap between the editor and frontend. It also means you don’t need to use shortcodes anymore if you don’t want to.
There are now sitemap settings available in the editor to enable you to customize the sitemap via interactive controls. These settings had to be added manually before as shortcode attributes.
Plus, you can also display sitemap items in a tabbed layout or in a standard stacked list. There have been many other minor additions, fixes, and most of the code has been revamped.
I’m afraid as the years go by we’ve had to juggle things around to make sure we’ll still be actively maintaining this plugin for years to come. Also, as a side note, the price for the pro version has been dropped by $10 which makes it even better value for money.
Instead of reacting negatively I’d invite you to consider showing support for the plugin in some way for the years of work that has gone into it.
We don’t take out features unless we feel it absolutely necessary. And in this case it was, but we’ve tried to compensate for it by adding in new features that were previously pro only.
I think in cases like this it’s a damned if you do and damned if you don’t kind of situation. We have to make decisions that will keep the plugin active for years to come but will inevitably annoy some users.
Just please take a moment to consider the countless hours of work that goes into developing, maintaining, and supporting multiple free plugins.
Also, if you didn’t already realize it, you can always revert to the previous version of the free plugin and carry on using it as you were before.
Hope this helps to shed some light on the reasons behind the latest version changes. I’m sorry you found this a negative experience but as explained these changes were necessary to keep the plugin alive for the foreseeable future.
