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My audience is all over the place. They range from better
developers than myself all the way down to people who signed up
thinking themes had something to do with Blogger. I also have a
mixture of free and commercial products and services.<br>
<br>
Give some more specific examples though, even if they're fictional
scenarios. I'd love to hear more about what you have in mind as far
as companion plugins are concerned.<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 5/22/2013 11:05 PM, Bryan Hadaway
wrote:<br>
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<div>There are no examples to use (that I'm aware
of), we're speculating about things to possibly
come.<br>
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Yes, but what's your audience, mostly tech-savvies
or at least moderately familiar? Also are you
dealing with tens of thousands of people, mixed of
free users and paying customers?<br>
<br>
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The dynamic changes too.<br>
<br>
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For instance, you can safely assume that people on <a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://wordpress.org">wordpress.org</a>
browsing for stuff already have experience (with
themes and plugins) and already have WordPress
installed.<br>
<br>
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But, when you're attracting customers directly to your
website, many of them have never even heard of WordPress
(they might not even have hosting yet or are coming from
.com [which involves remolding their thought process in
and of itself]). They're not necessarily looking for a <i>WordPress
theme</i>, but a <i>website solution</i>.<br>
<br>
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I certainly cannot speak for all communities, but among
those I run or manage, I'm 110% accurate when it comes to
expectations and pitfalls. Also, who the product is aimed
at severely impacts the savviness of the attracted
end-user. It sounds like your community is very
self-efficient (the same is true of one of my very
developer/designer driven projects). However, the big
premium communities I work(ed) with are generally very
much looking to pay, set and forget.<br>
<br>
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The idea of even needing to upgrade to newer versions of
themes is startling for many. I am very thorough and
informative, it's often just something they don't want to
hear.<br>
<br>
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I've managed support, including helping to actually create the
support methodologies and procedures for two huge theme shops
now. Paying customers are a tough breed. Informing them and
controlling expectations is a massive, yet delicate task.
Throw a pie in their face, they might still miss it. That
isn't an insult, they just have no intention, interest or time
to learn. Stuff that may be simple to us can be very daunting
to others, if they even care to try.<br>
<br>
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I've also witnessed the vast difference in free communities vs
paying communities, from the users to those managing them. And
if you combine the two, methodologies butt heads and your way of
thinking has to evolve. Again, I'm not sure whether you mainly
offer free products, premium ones or a balance of both. I'm also
not familiar with the general demographic your products attract.<br>
<br>
But, I have a finger on the pulse of all 3 scenarios and a
headache-inducing amount of experience and knowledge of what I'm
talking about. Certainly, it won't apply to everyone, but I know
there are other companies that know exactly what I'm talking
about. I've managed maybe 4-5 different WordPress related
communities and other non-WordPress-related ones. While there's
subtle differences and nuances, I think support in general no
matter what community/company is difficult and deeply
psychological.<br>
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