Forums/Announcements
Plans for 2012
Chris Ames
posted this on December 19, 2011 05:54 pm
Hello!
Earlier this month the team had our planning session for 2012. We've had a number of sessions like these since 8BIT was formed in 2009. Each time we evaluate our present direction, our existing products, and our roadmap for the future.
First things first, we're more in love with Standard and the Standard Framework than ever. We have HUGE plans for both of them in 2012. We also revisited and prioritized our WordPress theme product line with respect to some exciting (yet, private for now) developments behind the scenes. We are eager to share, but all in good time. In fact, the only thing I can tell you with certainty is that we're going to annoy you with teases, but very little information, for quite a while. Don't say I didn't warn you!
We're a small business and this affords us the opportunity to experiment. One noteworthy example of this is we've decided to shop around for a buyer for our beloved Pro Photo Theme. Can you eBay a Premium WordPress theme? All the branding, documentation, assets, source code, key art, videos, etc.? Who would buy such a thing?
We don't know. We've never tried. But, in relation to our secret news and our product pipeline for 2012, we thought we'd give it a whirl. After all, a lot of sweat went into creating Pro Photo. It is a money-maker and actually has decent value for a product that isn't even a year old.
Are you a support license customer? Don't be alarmed. If this auction experiment doesn't pan out, we are committed to supporting you and releasing updates. We have not thrown in the towel on Pro Photo by a long shot. It generates profit every month. But, we think its value would increase under someone else's leadership. Specifically if a photographer with an established network took ownership of it, they would dominate in a big way. We're not photographers, we don't run in photography circles, and we think that has throttled Pro Photo's success to some degree.
We have an exciting year scoped out. We can't freaking wait to release the Standard preview into the support forums, in fact, expect us to start revealing more features and details about the product. It is probably my favorite WordPress theme on the market, and most days I can't believe that we were the ones who created it.
More to come.
Chris
Comments
I'm excited for you guys and glad to hear that you are constantly evaluating where you're heading. It's great to know that you guys are planning ahead. I can't wait for that ST 3.0 Beta. I hear it's sick!
Looking forward to seeing the new release!
I'm pretty pumped for the new Standard theme too! :)
How is the beta coming along anywho? The blog told us about 2 weeks. That was 3 weeks ago! Can't you guys see us over here jonesin?
@james I know the team is hard at work. I personally don't remember the 2 weeks that you mention, this is all I can find on their blog:
This deal will not be in effect when Standard 3.0 launches in January, but if you purchase a support license today, you will get access to our download area which includes all past and future versions of the theme for life. Not to mention great technical support and access to a beta version in December.
I have no doubt that the wait will be worth it. It's kind of like waiting for the new iPhone or iPad every year!
@Jbrad
Chris Ames November 30, 2011 at 11:47 am #
Good call, James! The beta will be available in the forums in ~2 weeks. So you will be able to start your dev efforts.
Chris is a liar. Don't believe a word that comes out of his filthy mouth.
Such a dirty trick.
LOL Michael! What the heck dude... you're seriously going to pin this on me?!? You're the one who keeps finding bugs, assigning tickets, and blah blah blah quality this and blah blah blah quality that...
sheesh.
If you'd get out of the way of this release, it'd happen already.
:-)
Chris
Ooooh... pretty....
http://cl.ly/2o3n18440F35222I0X21
Ooooh... responsive....
http://cl.ly/1x0u1N163V0m0Z0F363F
:-P
Chris
love the teasers :)
I'm sorry, Chris, but if wanting the best for our users is wrong, then I don't want to be right.
Let's just skip to the part where we hug it out until its awkward. That part's my fav.
Chris
you guys rock......cant wait for 2012...........
iv got to say, the standard theme has changed my experience of wordpress/web design.......and partly changed my world in 2011 - thats kind of a big deal!
love from Ireland
Ally
http://www.supersimbo.com
We are ready. Tired of hearing about Thesis and Genesis.
@Chris... consider me the 8BIT digital stalker until 3.0 is released. Throwing those teasers out there are like dangling meat in front of a starving lion. I'm all over your instagram, your twitter feed, your dormant google+ profile, under your bed, in your closet...
Can you guys drop that 3.0 bomb already???? I'm getting tired of sleeping in a tent next to my computer in my office! Cool thing is, I'm first in line.
December 30th... ;)
Bring on the hawtness!!
Any estimate of when 3.0 will be released? I heard January, I'm waiting on a redesign for my company's site and was hoping I could hold out for 3.0, but if it's not going to be January I'm not going to wait to start the redesign.
Checking here everyday waiting for the 3.0 update, gonna be soooooo cooooooll .. getting a chat going update! update! update! update! update! update! update!
Can't wait to play
Yeah, I'm waiting for Standard 3.0 before starting my next big project, but is the beta even out yet???? Ugh.
Any news of the update?
News!
January is almost over. Are we going to get a revamped "February" beta release date? :)
Hey guys! Do not expect to see the Standard 3 Preview in January. I have a formal post on it dropping Monday on the blog, but I wanted to jump in and update all y'all here.
Trust me when I say nobody wants this to launch as badly as we do. But we want it done right.
Chris
bummer. total deflation.
Hey Chris...was that this Monday or next Monday?
Must be next Monday...
: (
Hey guys, here is the latest.
http://bit.ly/yvdsUp
Thanks for the update Chris.
Can you say one way or the other if any of the SEO tweaks will include OpenGraph and Schema.org metadata?
Jeremy Myers, we have Open Graph tabled for discussion as we get to building out the social sharing services.
Howdy folks. Don't miss the update on our blog:
http://8bit.io/blog/standard-3-more-details-revealed
Chris