[Plugin: Automatic WordPress Backup] Plugin Adds Link without Permission, Breaks Repository Guidelin

You could just do it the easy way and turn off the credits using the mechanism we’ve included. No code hacking needed.

Ah, I’ve not yet actually installed the plugin. I assumed that, since others were asking how to disable the credits, that no option was presented.

So, kudos to you for including the option.

and you might get mad at us for providing a free plugin (that others are selling for $150), supporting it and asking for some credit in exchange

I’ve heard this argument before, and do not find it to be persuasive. In fact, the underlying argument falls contrary to the wording of the GPL and GNU’s stated definition of free software.

(It is very good that you provide an option for displaying a credit link. If you did not do so, I would argue that you would be in violation of the GPL for displaying a credit link without providing the end user an option.)

PS: We have reached an agree of how we’ll be handling the credits part. The new approach will go into effect once v2 is out of beta and ready for release.

I assume that the change in Version 2 will simply be to default the credits-display option to disabled?

Yep, and that is exactly why a lot of plugins are left abandoned without someone else to adopt them.

Say what?!? Plugins not embedding links in a site without asking permission is “exactly why a lot of plugins are left abandoned”?

That makes no sense whatsoever, and I challenge you to try to support that assertion empirically.

I look forward to trying out Version 2, by the way. It looks like it will definitely meet a current need, and if it does so, I will be happy to write a positive review (which I believe will provide far more “support” than a footer credit link).

Chip,

What I meant by “Yep, and that is exactly why a lot of plugins are left abandoned without someone else to adopt them” is that without real world incentives to continue development, interest fades over time. For a long time I wondered why some of my favorite plugins were not being updated to work with the newest version of WP.

After this plugin, it’s clear to me why and I am sympathetic to them. Just a quick search on Google will show lots of articles on the topic. Plugins need to be self-sustaining to grow and become as good as they can be.

I’ve got an ambitious mission for this plugin: simple, automated backup for all WordPress websites. We had a good start with v1. With v2, we’re making a lot more progress but we’re still not where I want it to be… so it’ll take even more time and money (Dan isn’t programming this for free. He is a really great programmer so I wouldn’t have it any other way.)

Donations don’t add up to much and lead people to build up ultra high expectations which is why we stopped allowing/accepting donations. Projects & clients earned as a result of the plugin are minimal for us.

For us, the links that we’ve gained through the generosity of the people who have left the link active has allowed us to continue development and support.

I definitely prefer an honest review over the footer link. In fact, a lot of times I get in touch with people who leave the footer link to suggest that so thank you for already thinking along those lines.

The change in Version 2 with regard to the credit line will be that it will make you decide if you want to add the credit line or not. It won’t be disabled or enabled by default and will be a required to select one before the plugin will function.

I hope this sheds a little light on where we’re coming from.

Melvin,

I agree that good code work deserves to be compensated, and that it doesn’t – and shouldn’t – come for free.

If this plugin works as advertised – and as per your ambitious goal – I see no reason why you shouldn’t just adopt a pay-model for the plugin. Take a look at GravityForms, or Shopp, or Ajax Edit Comments (or, even better, the forthcoming VaultPress from Automattic).

Whether you settled on a single-payment-for-download model, or a monthly/yearly subscription model, automatic, off-site (i.e. off-webhost-server) backups (especially with ability to restore from backup) are something many, many people would find to be of enough value to pay for.

For instance, I am in the process of moving my modest, 2GB (and growing, thanks to having kids now ?? ) photo collection from Flickr to my own host. I’ve been paying $25/year to Flickr. I don’t think it would be hard to convince me to pay that same amount for automated, off-site backup and restore for my entire (WordPress-driven) website and database.

It’s something that goes against the ‘all WordPress websites’ part of our mission so that’s why we didn’t go down that road. We don’t think everyone can/would pay for a backup plugin but everyone can write a review or add a footer link so that’s why we settled with that.
Now with a website that is as large as 2GB, we’ve found that you might encounter the problem of PHP timing out and just creating lots and lots of temporary files. So I would either recommend not using this backup tool on your really big site (1GB or higher) or set your time out limit much higher than usual.

Also, keep an eye on the AWB folder in the first few days to make sure it’s not creating lots of temporary files. The plugin cleans them up when it’s finishing up but if it times out, it can’t clean it up and know that it was backed up… so it’ll try again… and again… and again.

Hope that makes sense.

Melvin,

Does AWB perform backups incrementally, or does it re-create full backups each time? (I’m wondering if the PHP time-out issue will be a one-time thing, or something that I’d have to account for continuously.)

It does a full backup each time. That way each backup is a snapshot of your website and it’s easy to restore from any given point in time.

That does make restoring from backup very easy.

Have you ever considered optional functionality for incremental backup (at least of files, or even just wp-content?

Full database backup and incremental file backup would be awesome! The trade-off, of course, would be ease-of-use. But, if those uncomfortable with re-installing WP or re-importing a backed-up database have the option of full backup/restore, while those comfortable with those tasks could optionally select incremental backup, you would have one awesome product.

(As it is, I somewhat cringe at the thought of transferring 2BG+ to S3 on every backup, when 99.9% of those files will be forever unchanged.)

Yea, I hear you. I’ll keep that in mind for the future.

Melvin,
thank for the great plugin,
works for us like a charm ??

One little thing I wanted to note however –
I used new amazon IAM system to create access keys that had minimal possible permissions – only for particular bucket and nothing else.

When presented with those access keys, plugin errors out in S3.php line 87, when it tried to run S3::listBuckets (which is obviously is denied).

Since it doesn’t allow to type the name of the existing bucket,
using the interface you are stuck…

I worked it around by temporarily giving it access keys to see all buckets, selecting the right bucket and when changing the keys.

Everything else works great –
thank you for your good work ??
David