What about a Pro version?

If you have any features you want it would be good to know here. Also, I would love to know which method you are using (hoping that it is mainly Picturefill or Retina.js).

Hi,

most of the features request I would have in mind would be related to better generation of the various images. Maybe they don’t really make sense [for wp-retina] as these seem to be more related to the media handling system.

• automatically crush / optimise the generated images
• Handle reduced palette images, i.e. a png with 16 colour should be reduced to 16 colours
• handle animated gifs (i.e. the resized/cropped version are also animated).
• Detect when retina sizes correspond to existing images, say I upload a 500×500 image and use 250×250 as thumbnail then the retina version of the thumbnail should be a hard/symbolic link to the original.

Another nice feature would be some logging/dashboard of the image that were requested as retina and were not available so that the list of resources where high dpi data is missing is somehow prioritised.

Also some indication about the state of the resources of theme would be nice.

At any rate, thanks for the good work.

The 3 first requests belong, like you said, to a different plugin. WP Retina 2x is not optimizing the images in anyway way

About the 4th, the problem is that it would be a performance hit. I would need to create a table in the database to link that the image a at this size has a retina file here. Right now it is simple, every file has a @2x equivalent, I just check if this file exists, it is very very fast. Symbolic links would be the best, unfortunately some servers are using windows… ?? Anyway, that’s something I could really add on the Pro version.

Good idea about the logging too, I didn’t think about it this way. I am going to design something new for the future version.

Thanks a lot for your input!

To be honest I believe just the retina thing isn’t worth the premium. However, if you could combine your file renaming plugin with the retina and add the wp.smush.it functionality (ideally speed it up) and do a proper resize of images before upload I could replace 4 plugs with one.

• Retina Generation
• File Renaming to match filename and WP name
• Smush.it or other optimize
• Resize Images before upload (ideally also do the optimize before upload as the smush.it takes forever…)

I’d pay for that ??

Best,
Daniel

I want to go further with WP Retina 2x but my “kindness” has limits ?? So there it is, I would prefer the core of the plugin do be perfect, super-easy to understand and to install for 80% of my users. The 20% users who needs more will have to pay a very small amount (like 5 or 10 dollars, not sure). You maybe have no idea how many emails I get everyday and debug I do to help people, now I can’t see myself going forward and adding more options without asking a little something, it became too much work. I will definitely give the pro version for free to everyone helping me or from who I got a donation. I will be really easy on that.

It’s better if the plugins are all separated. They do different tasks, and not everyone needs all those. They are modules, they should be installed if required only. However, they should work all together nicely. I had to work to make my plugin work with others, this is completely fine and something we should do ??

Hi Jordy,
I understand, tho I would think you are better off with paid support then?!? I’m more of a minimal kind of guy and prefer things that just work, rather than giving me options to make it work.
What kind of features do you have currently in mind? I’d actually consider removing some of the legacy components if they are barely used. You have usage stats?

Peace from Okayama,
Daniel

The pro version would include the 1-1 support, even through the WP forum here. For the non-pro users, I will still provide support if there are bugs but I wouldn’t debug the whole thing for them if they are not providing logs or any help (which is often the case :p).

The features would be to support all the methods so that they work well depending on the options (options usually depends on which methods we are using, now they are just all included, quite a mess).

The dashboard will also become un-usable with the 3x support. I will stop improving this dashboard (that most users don’t use) and make a huge improvement on it on the pro version.

What are you using as a method and options right now? I would love to know. And don’t worry about the pro, you will get it for free anyway. Anybody helping me here or anywhere else for debugging or finding bugs will get it too.

Peace from Tokyo, we were blessed with an amazing sunset just now!

The pro version would include the 1-1 support, even through the WP forum here. For the non-pro users, I will still provide support if there are bugs but I wouldn’t debug the whole thing for them if they are not providing logs or any help (which is often the case :p).

Ye, I think that’s how most do it these days. I am not a fan of subscription services, but they only make sense for ongoing support. It seems tho, that the traditional model (you pay for the software and get 6 months of support) is slowly dying.

The features would be to support all the methods so that they work well depending on the options (options usually depends on which methods we are using, now they are just all included, quite a mess).

Yes, that’s what I mean. The whole method thing is dying a little bit more every day anyways, with legacy users starting to switch to CSS3/HTML5 capable browsers. So hopefully the need for support will also decline here.

What are you using as a method and options right now?

I’m using Picturefill or Retina.js. To be honest i would be surprised if anyone is using anything else since most (including me) probably just trust your recommendation… ??
Thanks for the Pro offer. Feel free to invite me for a beta when it’s ready and I’m happy to report some bugs ??

Peace from Tokyo, we were blessed with an amazing sunset just now!

Yea, weather these days is fine again! Tho, Vongfong or what the Typhoon is called is near ??

Hi, Jordy!

I really appreciate your efforts to make this plugin even more awesome that it’s now.

If you charge not very big amount of money for the plugin I will gladly pay you.

I’m using Picturefill now, because it is more compatible with my cache solution (Varnish -> nginx -> php-fpm -> WordPress).

Ye, I think that’s how most do it these days. I am not a fan of subscription services, but they only make sense for ongoing support. It seems tho, that the traditional model (you pay for the software and get 6 months of support) is slowly dying.

Daniel, so you basically suggest I should go for a subscription version? I could make it yearly and very cheap, something like 5 dollars. What do you think?

Yes, that’s what I mean. The whole method thing is dying a little bit more every day anyways, with legacy users starting to switch to CSS3/HTML5 capable browsers. So hopefully the need for support will also decline here.

Exactly ??

I’m using Picturefill now, because it is more compatible with my cache solution (Varnish -> nginx -> php-fpm -> WordPress).

Thanks for your input, I’m always glad to know people are using Picturefill!

Actually I hate subscriptions haha, thus I wouldn’t go with subscriptions ?? But in the long term I think it’s the better deal for the developer and this is why so many do it these days. Also by having a subscription based service you bind your customers more, than with a one off purchase, and isn’t that what all business are evaluated by these days ??

Actually I hate subscriptions haha, thus I wouldn’t go with subscriptions ??

Haaa, fine, I’ll give you a special code :p

But in the long term I think it’s the better deal for the developer and this is why so many do it these days.

Yeah I think so. It’s the best way, it creates a link between the user and the developer during all those “renewed” periods of time. Well I can try it out and see how it goes. That’s exciting actually, it might bring a lot of good and bad things, I am curious where all this will go!

You have built a great product, and for the long-term health of the project, you should have some sort of income from it to support continued development. It’s not fair for us to get the product for free, and expect one-on-one support for free as well, for the life of the project. So regarding a premium version, I say “go for it, we want to see this project live on for many years!”

With that said, I myself probably wouldn’t buy the premium version if it was more than around $10. I just wouldn’t have that much of a need for additional settings and configuration options. However, I’m not saying that it wouldn’t be worth that. I’m sure there would be corporate users who need to get their WP sites high-res ready, and would be willing to pay much more than that for full configuration options, and a guarantee of support. I’d even be fine with you removing some of the current free version’s features and making them available only in the premium version. I like simple software that “just works”. If users need full configuration options, then they can buy premium. Lots of software works this way. It would probably make a bunch of people mad if you removed features from the current free version, although it’s fine by me. Perhaps if you changed the name, it could be a new product, and you can keep the current state of WP Retina 2x available free as a legacy unsupported version for them, and then create a new simple version for free, and a premium version with full configuration options and support.

Another thing is I am thinking about a new name since we now have 3x devices… what about WP Retina X? Simple ??

I personally think “X” when used in this way is too ambiguous, and provides no useful information. I think a lot of users may think, “WP Retina, I know what that means, but what does X mean?”

May I suggest “WP Retina Plus” as a naming possibility? I think “Retina Plus” is more descriptive than “Retina X”.

On the other hand, I don’t think 2x would be bad to keep. It’s only the really hardcore geeks that even know that a screen is not actually 2x, but 3x instead. The majority of people just want their WordPress to look nice on high-res displays, and don’t know or care that “2x” is not always 100% technically correct.

Actually I hate subscriptions haha, thus I wouldn’t go with subscriptions ??

Haaa, fine, I’ll give you a special code :p

I second this… I don’t like yearly subscriptions either, but I do think it’s best from a developer’s perspective. ??

Hi,
I will pay ($5/year not 10, or $15 for a premium that totally manage/serve images for me in RWD (images for all WP size on specified breakpoints) and Hi-DPI. Without heavy and redondant load.

And, IMHO, change the name because this is very restrictive (there are much more hidpi android phones than apple !)

PS : symbolic links works on Windows for a while.