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What are the plans for CoursePress Pro?

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What are the new features WPMUDEV will add to CoursePress Pro? What all we can expect in near future? Could we have a roadmap??

Thu, 8 Sep 2016 8:01:02
  • Elliot Charles
    • The Incredible Code Injector

    Ajay makes a good point. I have 3 clients looking at online courses. It is increasingly an important element in the services I offer.

    Knowing how the application is going to be progressing is very valuable.

    WPMUDEV have made some big leaps forward in a lot of the plugins, themes and the member experience. Let’s hope CoursePress Pro won’t be left behind.

    Thanks for raising the point Ajay.

    Kind regards,

    Elliot

  • Predrag Dubajic
    • Support

    Hi Ajay,

    Since this question is related to our plugin I’ve moved it from Members forum to our Support forum Features & Feedback section.

    Please note that questions posted in Members forum don’t guarantee support staff answer as it’s mostly focused on member discussion.

    We currently don’t have any final list of future updates that will be included in the plugin but we are planning couple of improvements in future versions, especially 2.0 release.

    Unfortunately at this moment I couldn’t provide you with precise information or ETA for this update.

    We are all eager to see the new version ourselves :slight_smile:

    Best regards,

    Predrag

  • Predrag Dubajic
    • Support

    Hi Ajay,

    As I mentioned above we currently don’t have definite list of what will be coming to CoursePress and at what moment, and sharing some plan that can be changed in the meantime will only cause more angry users asking for status of missing features.

    Are you saying we should spend $$$ on custom features to see those available on plugin within next month?

    This really depends on the features you’re looking for, if there’s something complex you want to add to CP and it’s not something our devs can help you out with relatively quickly then you might need to find a developer to create a custom solution for you.

    Please note that we are getting number of feature requests for all our plugins, not just CoursePress, and developing all of them is simply impossible but we are doing our best to add features that lot of users can benefit from.

    Best regards,

    Predrag

  • PTaubman
    • I'm just a Cook

    This topic comes up frequently, not only here, but with other vendor/partner relationships. I have worked at multi-billion dollar companies where we would purchase/license software from vendors and have had the same questions – where is the software going, what is the release schedule, what features are planned, is there a beta-testing team, etc.

    I understand both sides of the argument – tight lip with little information disseminated vs. open and transparent to what is happening with the developers.

    From a client/partner standpoint, it is ALWAYS better to know the upcoming feature list and timeframes. Of course, it is software so I know that the dates may not be met, or planned features may not make a release. That is the way the business goes. Like I said, I get it.

    When an organization shares this information, it strengthens the relationship with the paying end clients. In many aspects, I feel I am a paying customer of WPMU Dev. If there is more open dialog and schedules are shared, my feeling is that I become a partner. It is a stronger relationship.

    As you can see, I am utilizing your plugins consistently on client websites. Each time I do that, I feel that I am relying more on WPMU Dev. I wonder, what if something changes and I need to pull out – that will be a big effort for the number of clients I have incorporated your work. Why do I feel this way? Because I am a customer on blind faith that you have everything covered.

    This is an inherent risk with any relationship – but when there is transparency, I certainly am more at ease.

    Thanks for reading this far. This is not meant as a criticism but a request to help strengthen our relationship.

    Paul.

  • Adam Czajczyk
    • Support Gorilla

    Hello Paul!

    Thank you for your in-depth insight and feedback.

    I feel you made a few good points here and I’m sure we would all benefit from some more “transparency”. I’m really glad though that you did notice the fact that even there where all the plans/roadmaps and dates are fully “public” it’s not always possible to stick to them. Here we are dealing with an extremely dynamic scenarios that change literally over minutes, mostly because of the number and differentiation of all the inquires that we’re receiving and that makes it even more difficult to make and share any kind of predictions.

    But yes, we’re working constantly on improving that process. I believe we’re getting better and that aspect is going to improve significantly over time as well.

    As for the initial issue here, which is CoursePress Pro development roadmap. I just wanted to add that you all can catch a “glimpse” of some of the features (though don’t consider it as a “full demo” and/or everything we got for you/already established and confirmed version) by… joining our Academy :slight_smile:

    Best regards,

    Adam

  • danieldalonzo
    • Site Builder, Child of Zeus

    WPMUDEV has come an incredibly long way over the better part of the last decade. I echo the concern of knowing what’s coming in product/feature lists, however, I do not expect WPMUDEV to serve that info to me. As a user of this premium platform we do not pay nearly enough to have that type of access – the fact that membership price has been able to come down hundreds of dollars per year is already an amazing thing that I’m appreciative of. If there are users who are looking for more than the standard membership offers then perhaps it is time to open up an elite/platinum membership for some people to pay more for the ability to have the dev team’s ear and vice versa.

    I promise I don’t work for WPMUDEV!

  • danieldalonzo
    • Site Builder, Child of Zeus

    re: coursepress pro:

    I also have needs for education / course creation. I look at course press pro as a baseline or boilerplate for course creation. It’s a bit slow and clunky for rapid course creation, but it contains all the backend details I need. I’ve realized that my best option is going to be to create a custom post type for my course creation because it is truly the only way I’m going to be able to get the personalization I am looking for. It might take an extra few hours upfront (pun?) but it’s worth not having to deal with the restrictions of not knowing WPMUDEV’s roadmap for the coursepress pro plugin.

  • Vishan
    • Site Builder, Child of Zeus

    To be honest the only reason i paid for another year is becuase my card was auto charged. However, I left it that way, as giving WPMU a second chance to deliver on some of the issue mentioned herein.

    @ Danieldalonzo, It may seem the yearly cost is cheap, but come to think of it, the unknown is more expensive than the known ‘ given the mental currency we deplete over bugs, feature release, EOF plugins, untested release etc. The latter to which i experienced only last week with coursepress(recent release) permissions. (https://wpmudev.com/forums/topic/is-there-any-other-way-to-allow-instructors-to-access-their-courses-without-editing-permission).

    Paul comments above was well put ‘kind’ and chilling(blind trust) at the same time. Dont get me wrong the WPMUDEV support team is ‘D’ best, very polite bunch. However there are many other things to solving issue than just having nice people help you, or ‘badge point’ for being active on forum. As a customer i’ve observe many(not all) of the more viable WPMUDEV plugin lack coherence with one another; needing extra coding to make them work togther. Why and where is the vision here? The vision comes from feedback and sharing ideas(blue prints) ‘not withholding’ and so does coherence.

    To quote Steve Jobs:

    “Design is not just what it looks like and feels like (This is what made me buy WPMU package). Design is how it works’. (My ignorance) How does it work?

    Another;

    ‘It’s really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don’t know what they want until you show it to them’ (i guess WPMUDEV position?). So far the support team resembles something i like, but the software dis-functionally is pushng me towards support system when i’m looking more for a ‘caring system'(or quailty release and input).

    Therefore I speak for myself when i say WPMUDEV is not showing tancity and fluency for software features implemented so far in coursepress, for example. Why? becuase we dont have ‘true’ input before the development stage moreso to expect anything remotly close to our expections other than the sound of bells and whistles.

    Why can’t we leave WPMU Dev or why didnt I? Becuase of those same reasons Paul mentioned above and then some. Remeber what the ‘Budda said’ free yourself from all attachments meditate more to enlightment. Lol so true. But what i truely think is happning here is ‘paralsis’ or lack to take action(protest) on the hard things which we will potentially pay dearly for in the future. The Trump effect may have slowly caught us on here. wake up!.

    For starters, WPMU needs to take a hard look at putting out release dates, blue prints and fully tested plugins etc. As for the cost of my subs this years i’m willing to bet come next year the same rule applies. There is so much more to say but i am going to detach now – go back into paralasis for the moment with you guys, which is the prefered state for service providers.lol

    Cheers!

    Vish