Tutorials on building a plugin to integrate UIkit into Pinegrow

Thanks! The final plugin will also contain a lot of comments. It will serve as a document to help out with your own builds. I’m trying to blog a lot in long form, but there is a lot!!!

Yeah - I have to set-up an easy way to update. I’m not sure if I go the licensing route and then have an account you can log into for new downloads, or … I also have to think about how to structure the pricing so that I’m being at least supported a little 5 years from now when I’m still doing upgrades but perhaps not selling very many new copies. I hate selling time-limited software - I would prefer a one-time fee. Any thoughts?

Waiting for it, how long does it take?

my thoughts on the matter are:

If it’s something you like doing…
It’s something that you’d do anyway…
It’s something beneficial for everyone…

then do it, but with an understanding that some day this way of doing things will be obsolete.

I would say that an end-of-life 5-year limit on the software would be good, with minor fixes/improvements after 3 years.

Just go with these lower expectations and then you can always over-deliver. But don’t promise the stars and fail to get to the moon, as that is totally wrong.

But it is also 100% important that you keep up with any improvements that you see along with security fixes.

You own this! That’s the joys of being a consultant… working for big companies making the big-bucks, doing the best you can, but not owning anything (upkeep, fixes, obsolescence).

So what I am saying is that if you are going to do this thing, then put your whole heart into it for at least 3-solid years, not wavering.

I like the following:

… early adopter …
$20 / Sep-Oct / Permanent License (5 yr limited)

… price increase …
$30 / Nov-??? / Permanent License (5 yr limited)

… possible final increase …
$??? /???-??? / Permanent License (???)

… option …
Ongoing (somewhere between $3 to $7) per month subscription.

You can always extend the final life of your product.

note: These are just guidelines and suggestions. Price setting is an illegal practice and NOT what I am saying. Do as you wish.

You’re kidding, right?

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I’m shooting for mid-Sept. So, another two weeks or so to make sure that I have all the ducks in a row.

I think I like the 5 year idea. That will at least generate some cash down the road if UIkit is still popular/being updated.
With regards to your prior message - it is something I will be using and keeping up to date. So yeah, I am committed to not dropping out of communication. I also like the trajectory (except documentation) that Pinegrow is taking. Some other products out there don’t seem to have a clear development trajectory. Makes me nervous that something developed now might be made obsolete in short order, without much notification.
Thanks for the feedback!

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yup! It’s not my baby.

You’re quite welcome… anytime, and glad to help.

@RobM hello RobM, how is it proceeding?

I think the plugin is complete. I’m just testing to make sure nothing conflicts and that all the options turn up when they should. There are still some user interface items I’m tweaking. I didn’t quite realize how many moving parts there are to the UIkit framework. I also have to do some administrative things (set-up a Woocommerce page and sign-up system). I really thought I would be done, but don’t want to put out a product that will generate a ton of tickets right away! It is probably silly, but I want the code to be nicely readable for those using it for learning purposes, so I’m trying to put in extra comments (that might not fully happen on the first iteration).

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Hey, I’d like to see some photos or a short video showing the features. Is that possible?

Yeah, I’m putting together a page that will have a video or two. I can also put them on the tutorial page.

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Well, I put together a quick video - and realized I suck at making videos!! I forget everything I want to say or lose my place if I’m reading a script. Anyway, here is an overview. I just uploaded it, so it will take YouTube a while to get the higher resolution versions processed.

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ahh, that’s why you use cue cards… sort of a in the middle approach. Almost like an outline, but definitely hitting every point you want to cover.

I haven’t seen the video yet, but headed there now and probably you’re being a little bit hard on yourself.

Note: I thought it was a good video and a very, very small taste of what is available. Is there a trial… perhaps best overview video could win a copy. Just a suggestion (in which I won’t be competing).

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Okay, a little bit of an update on the release date. A couple of things are holding me up:

  1. I had been using just the Sass files because I’m not that comfy with Less - tried to incorporate the Less files and there seems to be a bug in Pinegrow
  2. UIkit has 5 possibilities for CSS - Sass with and without theming, Less with and without theming, and static CSS - I had been planning to release with different templates for each. Instead I decided to make a feature like there is for Bootstrap to convert your page through a menu selection. This is taking a little bit of time to implement
  3. I realize I need to put together a small documentation package to make sure people know how to install the plugin and access features - again a delay in time.
  4. I needed to redo my website to make it more sutable for presentation, sales, support tickets.

Overall, I just want to make sure that no one buys my plugin and then is disappointed. I want to make the UX nice and to make sure that the support people need is there.

Sorry! Another couple of weeks I’m thinking

All good :slight_smile:
Is it ok to go back to your tutorial in a bit and if I hit a wall again, check in to see if I can finish it?
I was enjoying, but alas, I couldn’t nail it.

Of course. I still have one more part (at least) to release. Any questions would be great.

I’ve posted the next and final tutorial on implementing a plugin to integrate the UIkit framework into Pinegrow. Hope somebody finds it useful!!!

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