[theme-reviewers] Question: Someone Want to Take Benefit From a 'Top Reviewer of the Month'.

[Chip Bennett]

There seem to be two different types of issues here:

1. The issue of disclosure of the financial arrangement
2. The issue of WPORG advertising space not being up for sale under any
circumstances

The first issue is a matter of disclosure, which commercial Theme shops are
absolutely up-front about. But the second issue isn't resolved merely by
disclosure.

And we're put in a bad position regardless of how we resolve it: either we
treat commercial Theme shops unfairly by telling them that they're welcome
to contribute Theme reviews, but can no longer select Featured Themes; or
else we treat individual commercial developers unfairly by telling them
that they can't pay a contractor to conduct Theme reviews, while
simultaneously letting commercial Theme shops devote labor costs for
full-time employees toward the same end.

Or, we eliminate the incentive program, so that we have no opportunity for
any preferential treatment or perception of selling WPORG advertising space
- and go back to the time when the WPTRT (and especially the admins) were
continuously questioned/badgered about subjective selection of Featured
Themes.

Or, we eliminate the Featured Themes altogether, and thus eliminate the
root cause of the problem.

Where is there a win-win here, no matter what we decide?


On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 10:25 AM, Otto <otto at ottodestruct.com> wrote:

> On Wed, Jan 29, 2014 at 9:08 AM, Chip Bennett <chip at chipbennett.net>
> wrote:
> > Let's be realistic: a commercial Theme shop devoting labor costs to
> review
> > Themes is primarily a matter of helping to ensure that the Theme shop can
> > have their Theme featured. Or is it only coincidence that commercial
> Theme
> > shops started participating in Theme Review when we began the incentive
> > program?
>
> It seems to me that there is a difference between having your existing
> employees do reviews in the hopes of getting a theme featured vs.
> straight up hiring people to do reviews for that explicit purpose.
>
> Advertising space on WordPress.org is not for sale, by any means, and
> if that is all that this system has truly become, then we need to
> revisit the program.
>
> -Otto
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>
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