ZOO editions
The ZOO will be distributed as Pro and Lite Edition
Today we like to give you a quick update on how the upcoming ZOO extension will be distributed. The ZOO will be released in two editions: The Lite Edition and the Pro Edition.
The Lite Edition will be will be available as a free download for everybody. The Pro Edition will be available as a commercial extension. You can purchase a single license for 99€. A single license means you can install the ZOO in one Joomla installation. The single ZOO license gives you access to the YOOtheme member area with downloads, updates and the forum for 3 months.
The Pro Edition offers additional features like professional catalog templates and a bigger set of elements. Usually each of your catalogs serves a certain purpose, for example a product directory, a blog or a download archive. Basically all catalog-like applications can be implemented by using the ZOO extension. In the future we will add a couple of more templates to the Pro Edition to cover most common uses. All these bundled templates are ready to use. That means, with the ZOO Pro Edition you are only a few clicks away from getting your new catalog online without worrying too much about templating.
In case you run a blog and want to write a review of our ZOO extension, feel free to drop us a email. In the release week we will give away a limited number of the ZOO Pro Edition for this purpose.
The ZOO extension will be released shortly. We are just finishing the last items of our todo list.
Comments (106)
cory.webb
Nate
cory.webb
steffan
cory.webb
Sentinel
Mark
Any discount or a special package for being an existing YOOTheme Member?
ziohenry
Sargon
tjaard.heikens
The Platinum membership license gives you the right to use any templates or any other products on unlimited sites. You are authorized to use any templates or products for clients/3rd parties. The platinum membership expires after 12 months.
So I presume that the ZOO extension is part of this contract.
Hope to hear soon about this issue!
steffan
CoolCactus
austernperle
Simon
Don't think about it, but rather keep to the contract agreement!
austernperle
brian.mcallester
Quazar
Quazarr
jacob.whitaker
Keep up the good work and I look forward to the ZOO release! So what is meant by 'shortly'? This seemingly implies sometime today or tomorrow or are we talking weeks still?
Best Regards,
Jake
CoolCactus
I think that you know that this is not the right way forward and notice that you have now changed your terms of use 20 mins ago they read “the right to use any templates or any other products” and now they read “gives you the right to use any template” so does this mean that we will have to start paying for modules as well?
This is a big mistake on your part and what you have to think about is will the short term gains (and they will be short term) be able to offset the long term losses. Just think about revenue generated from a one off purchase as opposed to a membership package. I also think that other Joomla template clubs will use this move against you.
CoolCactus
Come on Yootheme do the right thing and don’t disappoint your members
sacha
Patrick
Facundo
james.pinto
Swimming Pool
Jason
john.pitchers
Jacob
Keep up the good work YOOTheme. :-)
Stick
What I liked about Zoo was it's GPL license. JoomSuite has a closed-source crypted with IonCube and this could be a real drawback, but I never saw such a stable, solid and powerful extension as JS is.
So if templates and extensions won't be GPL, what kind of license will apply to them?
Surely, I really thank YooTheme to release the Lite edition free of charge. It is for sure a great gift to the world. But lack of information about missing features, closed Pro license and no discount for current members is really not competing with other options.
Pro License means 99$ PER SITE... it's 1.5 times JoomSuite Resources and it's exactly the JS Resources+Community bundle... I would rather something like Theme Club payment model: as long as I pay, I could get updates, zoo-templates and zoo-extensions, but I could use ALL of them, at my wish.
This way there is very little reason to switch to Zoo Pro, to me.
Sorry for hard words, I'm a little disappointed...
jeremy.corkin
richard.healey
austernperle
mustaq
If I look at some extentions that are merely used to display content/images in a fancy way and that sell for 25 Euros and compare it to ZOO's capabilities I see the price issue in a whole different light. ZOO does not even fall into the category of an "extension" because it's much more than that. It opens up whole new possibilities for Web Designers working with Joomla to really push Joomla to the max. It's an almost All in One solution for deploying Content rich sites.
There are extenions as unique as ZOO is, that go for far more than 99 Euros and are more in the region of 160Euros. I agree that 99 Euros is a lot of money for most ( over 1200ZAR for me ) but it would be money well spent. Also in my opinion ZOO's full potential will be seen more on complex sites or sites that are heading in that direction , in other words, I would'nt be using ZOO on my families 40 member website but on clients business and commercial projects.
vdrover
What does any of that have to do with the release of an application? If the YOO theme devs start a fruit stand tomorrow, will you expect free fruit because you have a template club membership?
Let's be realistic here folks. If the Joomla market will bear the price of a 99 euro extension, then so be it. Don't like the price? Then get 10 folks together, pay $10 each, and sell it yourself. Or don't! Just share it amongst yourselves. Or better yet, if you think it's worth the price, buy it and use it for yourself, and renew your membership as necessary.
The only think you should not do is expect something for nothing. This is the problem that plagues open source communities: the mistaken impression that GPL means "no cost". If you want long term support and product development, it needs to be paid for (either in $$ or donated man-hours). If that offends you, stick with the core joomla extensions and write everything else yourself. I guarantee you that contracting custom programming will be closer to 99 euro per hour.
If the YOO theme folks had just released this as an extension, not attached to this web site, I bet there would be no issue. Many folks are paying $150 for JomSocial and do so happily. Why should ZOO be different (especially if it is as powerful as it seems).
dean.brady
Guys, give YT a round of applause for taking the time to build what should be a kick butt app for us! And then shell out the $$ and use it to make more money.. $129? If it saves me a hour of work, it's paid for itself...
I would like to see a developer license though... hint hint...
vdrover
Tom T
Yoo logo plastered on it, or features disabled etc. Thats something worth knowing...
vdrover
Tom T
That way it may turn out there is nothing to get annoyed about or otherwise? Ah well.
mjc22131
Now I believe it should only go though to anyone who doesn't have a platinum membership. Allowing only your platinum people unlimited site licenses is not going to hurt you as you membership base is not solely platinum members. Your members that aren't platinum, fine use the site restriction as they have one already on templates, this will not upset them. But platinum members are so because they are mostly business oriented. You must see this aspect and change. I will pay for this extension but will not use it again until it can be used on multiple sites. Paying you 99 euros per site is ludicrous. I thank you for your time.
per.torstensson
I seriously think that this cheapness is the only thing that will seriously threat the Open Source acceptance in general. At least proprietary software vendors know how to get paid - and thereby survive in the long run. Immensely saddening that the same reason - the proprietary aspect - makes them sloppy, lazy and overly expensive...and not to forget the lock-in effect you pay a premium for at the same time...
mjc22131
vdrover
In any case, it sounds like it's only the templates that will be domain restricted as images and such can legally be non-GPL. The easy solution then is to not use the copyrighted templates on more than one domain.
mjc22131
vdrover
mjc22131
mjc22131
Sentinel
vdrover
Sentinel
Maybe my proposal was confusing, so I make it simple:
- Platinum members can use ZOO without paying.
- Other members can use ZOO paying a low cost (I think it coul be right a 50% off),or they can choose to upgrade their membership.
- Only the no-members have to pay the full price.
Otherwise, in my opinion, ZOO couldn't appear in the YOOtheme site like others products. And the expectations they created in the members during the last weeks are betrayed.
multitainment
I don't have any problem with the costs, only with the site limitation. Make it 50 USD more expensive en remove the site limitation!
marbella.es
it's not free for members: I have payed 249€ for Platinium membership who terms says "templates, tools and any other products"
IT'S NOT ETHIC / LEGAL TO CHANGE THE TERMS OF CONTRACT AFTER PAYING
And more: At the beginin of talking about the magnificent Zoo here (who nobody know yet), yootheme should have informed before and less "super-component" and "the missing cck.." and "...The swiss army knife ..."
In other words: The members are also supporter in past, current & future dev during his periods, and more for the platinium members without limitation in use with "templates, tools and any other products".
marbella.es
And now, thinking that a zoo could compensate & offset the payment, it is quite frustrating this "news".
kuanchong.ng
First, ZOO was announced as a new extension in yootheme.com. On the other hand, the t&C states that members can use all the templates and extensions. (but it had been changed now *_*).
To me the tease is a bit too long and some of the member may fall into this "unpredicted trap". My platinum membership was due in DEC 2008. However, I'm visiting yootheme.com regularly because of the tease. I think better I decide it after there's a clear cut from YOO.
punchdrunklove
Del
I've found weird the choice to strongly advertise the component for more than two months without giving info about pricing and/or release date.
I have renewed my 3 months subscriptions just to have a CCK solution: now my subscription is almost over and I have to pay for the (complete) CCK as everyone else.
Anyway I am still waiting for the component cause I really need it, and I leave the discussions about prices, GPL and related stuff to the experts.
Nikos
What i want to ask is if it would be possible to transfer from one Catalog System (i.e Mosets Tree) to Zoo? In our website we have more that 750 articles and im wondaring if it could be happen.
goldeagle
Im new to the Yoo community and been taking my time getting the bearings. Ive only followed the progress of Zoo for as long as ive been a member, but there are some things now that concern me.
Above someone pointed out that the terms and conditions were altered on the sign up page. Traditionally any company changing their terms and conditions may do so giving you a reasonable amount of notice to either agree or disagree with the new terms. I didnt get an email or anything?
Also though from the terms it says
"The .... membership license gives you the right to use any template on .... sites. The .... membership expires after ..... months". So where does that leave me with the tools and modules etc? As the terms now clearly state you are ONLY licensed to use termplates?
The other bit that bugs me is that someone mentioned man hours put in and support etc etc. I suppose we could have a full blown out debate about all of this really, but the 99 Euros dont forget then has to have 19% tax on it. So this now becomes something in the region of 118 Euros unless you can provide a VAT number (which I cannot as I dont make enough to be VAT registered in our country). So im looking at a higher cost, should I wish to use zoo pro, and it is actually one of the reasons I didnt go for the Plat package as this would be 249 + 19% so 300 Euros almost.
Yoo have openly stated that there is no formal support from them as such and that they would only "Try" and do their best. So this 99 Euros for 3 months after your intial purchase then is only to be able to access the forusm, unless you buy a new license everytime, that you cant sell on without Yoo's permission.
All in all I guess a good way would be to either keep it seperate as someone mentioned above, or better still why not do this?
Silver = templates on 1 site + Tools + yoo lite (x1)
Gold= templates for 3 sites + Tools + 1 x zoo pro(1 site)
Plat = templates for unlimited sites + tools + 5 x zoo pro(5 sites)
additional zoo pro license per site = 99 Euros.
Dangerousal
zorroh
benny.kristensen
You can get the Lite edition, and if you need more, it is for business use, and then you have to pay.
You can't get it all for nothing, and you even don't know what you get until Zoo is released.
Be happy for the tools all the Yootheme folks deliver to you.
Del
Try to post in th forum, wait the answer from the team and look how much time is gone...
BTW Yoo tools and templates are great for sure.
Martyn
Phil
BUT (here it comes): Think please, please, please about the limited access to the ZOO forums (3 months if I didn't misunderstand). That would be a reason for me, not to buy it. As I am working actually part time on web projects, it's too short. A year subscription ( which then still is limited) would be a better solution I think
yi.wen.chen
waitz
fan club
I like that it will be a free version because i don`t think I have enought money for the pro one, yet
Tom T
By allowing people to download it for updates there is a chance people would abuse this system and use it on multiple sites.
I just think the forum access/support side of it is extremely unfair as you would be expected to pay $396 Euros a year for support which for me isnt far from £375 per year...
Simon W
I am looking forward to the release and I hope for the extra 99 there are a lot of decent templates and extra elements. I would also hope the frontend submissions feature is added very soon!
D DAY
Wendi
Wendi
dean.brady
"Each described membership gives you the right to use YOOtheme templates on as many sites (means Joomla! installations, NOT domains) as described in 1.1, 1.2 and 1.3." That's from 2007... and it still reads the same today....
- RIGHT TO USE YOOTHEME TEMPLATES"....
This could be written better however, it's pretty clear that it's for templates.... Stop whining...
As for the value of the developer membership - Most other template sites are in the same range. RocketTheme is $240, Shape5 is $225, the list goes on. You get unlimited use... good deal of you make a living this way.
YOOTheme - guys, I would suggest you re-write that section or make an entirely new area (which I think you have already) for "Apps" like Zoo. Also, if you really want the dev members to get behind this, you need a non-site restricted license for them. I will agree with everyone on that. It's ok to have it restricted for some, but you need a "site license" model where I can buy it and use it wherever I want.
Please?
Lisa C
If you have a 3 month membership that is expired or about to expire, let it lapse, pay the 99 Euros and get the Zoo PLUS 3 more months of membership for free.
I also think that the way they marketed it was misleading. I personally was waiting to see if it was going to be a member extension.
I like YOOTheme products and I hope they are listening to their EXISTING customers.
ash
If there are updates then why not charge us 10 euro for these updates, as long as they are valid and updates of significance say once a quarter, instead of the 99 euro for every site, you may find in the long term it breaks even as more people buy the component than being put off that they can only use it once. just a thought ?:)
Still i have spent some time reading the comments, and there are a lot of valid points, one stuck out more than others about separate fees/membership for this component, which reminds me allot like Joomlart, i joind their club, then they brought out some good extensions, and decided to have an extensions club, separate to the template club. so now you need two memberships , now they have started to create magento templates, another membership fee is required to use these templates, so that is one company that has broken down its business to charge members three times, to use what was once one club, the question here is, is Yootheme going to go down the same path.
mjc22131
Plus I don't even know how you can enforce a site restriction, I hate companies that do this in the joomla community. Sound like Microsoftism to me.
jasonthemcclain
Zoo is a whole different animal [no pun intended, but I'll take it] than the other offerings here that are part of the club. The fruit stand is an *excellent* metaphor for what is happening here.
Having said that, Yoo could have done a much better job anticipating the shock and communicating in advance with a bit of mindfulness to how this may have upset people. But this is not a business mistake per se [I mean, it is nowadays, but not a technical problem with their offering. And those of you who bought the club for ZOO, well, I think I would have asked to verify that to be sure.
These are the best themes and modules out there. Where you gonna go? I mean Rocket is great if you are into that style.
Give you their due, do not begrudge them their Zoo rollout. Heh.
mjc22131
Tom T
Dont get me wrong. I am with you in terms that (and I dont know if this is something for me and my site yet, who knows) after the initial payment of 99 Euros for the 1 site you only get 3 months of limited support and after that it will cost you 99 Euros for every additional 3 months.
I mean I cannot talk too much as im only on Silver at present, until I see just how much of the templates I can use for other sites etc, but perhaps offering as I mentioned in a previous post, a couple of licenses for existing subscriptions may be a way to entice people to use it more and so get a better response.
EG
Silver - Only Free
Gold - 1 Zoo Pro
Plat - 5 Zoo Pro's
Plus as your mainly buying the license for a site why not give each additonal 6 months at say 20 Euros or 1 year access to updates and forums for 30 Euros. Ok, this is a fair bit lower than the current to be 396 Euros a year (er ok by 366 Euros) but think long term. People would be happier to renew at the lower cost and less likely to make do without.
Only my 2 pence worth.
dean.brady
1. You buy it to use on your own site. One site - no problem.
2. You but it to use on multiple sites that you build as a developer. I hope you are getting paid for doing this work, which in turn allows you to spend money on the tool if it is in fact helping you develop the site.
Part of the problem here is that web apps are a new beast. I don't have to pay Adobe to use Dreamweaver or Photoshop for every site I build. Then again, they weren't $99 :-). I know of a number of other apps, utilities etc that I have to pay for to use each time. I have software that was $50,000 and requires a hardware key (HASP - nastiest form of licensing ever invented)
This is all about utility. Do you get value out of what you purchase that is more than what you are paying. If so, it's a good deal. If not, it's not a good deal. Pretty simple.
YOOTheme. The ONE thing you need to really listen to here is the roll out. I've launched hardware and software products for more than 20 years... you guys blew this one... Great to let the cat out of the bag early but you did nothing to let people know how it was going to be sold and I think there are a LOT of customers that renewed their membership just to get ZOO. The same goes for developers.... You might want to think about offering current members a discount etc...
My recommendation: (For any members that had a valid membership the day you announced ZOO)
- Platinum Members = Pro license (multi site)
- Gold Members = 1 Pro License
- Silver Members = 50% off Pro license.
Just as an introduction to get it out and in use....
vdrover
Tony
Tom T
Tony
Tom T
This I would agree with and am wondering daily how quick / easily I could actually resolve an issue if I had one based on what ive witnessed so far (although im still waiting for someone to come back to me about an issue with the compliancy on Beyond lol).
I suppose if I am copletely truthful, at the moment I am not in a position to buy Zoo, for various reasons really. But the kick int he teeth for me is the tax. The exchange rate today was 1.01 Euros to the £. Meaning I would have paid £99 + 19% Tax so £119 in effect. and the only way for me to claim that back is by being VAT registered? I dont make £64000 a year or more in what I do but the tax break would be neat. Or call it 99 Euros after tax ?
jdmcclain
Poor execution though, indeed. And I think it WAS a reasonable expectation it was included. Again, just seeing both sides.
Where is the developer license if it is all that on commercial site building?
patrick.mouyade
yoo template and tools - 1 site - 3 months subscribing =)> 39 € and with zoo it's 99 €/3 months
so if they keep their prices policy as we all know till then, it could be
yoo template and tools - 3 sites - 12 months subscribing =)> 79 € and so 199 €/year
yoo template and tools - unlimited sites - 12 months subscribing =)> 249 € or 625 €/year
I'd be ready to pay those prices only if there is an access to all new components made by Yootheme in the future.
Best regards
Rex
3 months seem VERY SHORT in my opinion. I guess there will be many updates, and new features in the future. What happens after the 3 month? What is the price tag for an update or another access period???
Del
PS: When ZOO will be relased? March is ending, and two post ago Sascha said that was the last post about it... I am waiting, as I said in my deleted comment my customers have another concept of "soon"...
mustaq
James Hall
My main issue with this pricing structure is that for me, Yootheme support has been quite sporadic. Don't get me wrong, I love the templates, and many of the tools are really useful. But support and bug fixes for them is often a long time coming...
mustaq
Mindriot
mustaq
Tony
PunshDrunkLove
Tony, Patience is a goodness ...
ash
might hold of buying it though until the the reviews come in and poeple find all the bugs
timothyfrancis
If you don't pay them don't produce. If they don't produce I don't have things to pimp.
Seriously - if Steffan gets the monkeys in this Zoo to perform you will be paying peanuts. Take a walk outside and have a look at what the real world pays for this kind of stuff; and I'm just talking about the mans' templates.
I just want it now - but if it ain't ready it ain't ready.
Shut the front door.
timothyfrancis
Sentinel
sofia.karakasidou
Fernando S.
Neither one nor the other end ... should charge 99 € for one years subscription to the zoo with their updates, but separated because of Yootheme in this case should be included in the price they already pay annually. Around 99 € per Joomla is crazy and what you get is that nobody uses it. I am also disappointed with the decision.
michpeta
flyingvlad
I still raise my thumb up for the YT team and the quality of its products in general.
sascha
Peter