A Second Call to ban MaxBlogPress plugins

Hey Chip, I actually discovered your plugin before I saw your post here earlier today. I loaded it to my other blog but couldn’t find what I was supposed to do. From what I understand, is its supposed to install those plugins but could find a button to click and activate.
Maybe I missed it, so I’ll look again.

@eric Robert:

My plugin won’t install any other plugin. It merely looks for installed MBP plugins (see list of supported plugins, in readme.txt), and then changes the database option so that the installed MBP plugins think they are activated, without going through the registration/email subscription process.

So, if you want to use MBP plugins, you still have to download/install them yourself. My plugin will just make sure that any that you have installed, are activated.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post them in the plugin’s support forum, and I’ll help in any way I can!

@chipbennett: better would be a fork of the plugins with the problematic code removed. But hey, I dunno whether or not these plugins are really that great.

@hakre I forked a few of them, and may fork more if there is interest. But the auto-activate plugin is overall easier to maintain.

Clearly I’m missing something. Wouldn’t that be covered by having your plugin listed in the repository and keeping the SVN there up to date? Any time a plugin is updated, I get a notice in my admin side and I can update it from there. No email needed! Woo.

It would probably be better if you put a registration as something optional. “Register with us to be notified of plugin changes and other information…”

The maxblogpress plugin require registration for supporting the development of the plugins. After registering for the newsletter we send free tips regarding blogging, plugin updates and some promos for the softwares/courses that we recommend.

However, staying as a subscriber is completely optional and you can unsubscribe anytime you like by following the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email. (We put unsubscribe link at the bottom of each and every email we send)

This guy is a spammer, pure and simple. I had the misfortune of giving up my email to him and got spammed to death.

You had the fortune of using the plugin for free as well as get the support for free.

If you didn’t like our newsletter then please don’t say us spammer. We put unsubscribe link at the bottom of each and every email we send. You can instantly unsubscribe yourself from the newsletter in 1/10th of the time you took to write the post here.

Requiring registration after the program has been acquired is a usage restriction and violates the terms of the WordPress license in my opinion.

WordPress operates on GPL license. The GPL license give the developer the freedom to desing the softwares the way they like. Also, the user have their own rights too. If they don’t like the developer’s creation then they have the option to not use it.

I chosed to support the plugin development by making the user try our free newsletter. (User can unsubscribe anytime they like)

Not every people have money to pay for the softwares. I know because I myself can’t buy all the softwares I like to use. That’s the reason, instead of making people pay for the plugin I let them use the plugin just for registering for a free newsletter. That’s the sprit of giving away stuffs for free while finding a way to survive the development as well.

I would not wonder if you get spammed later on. I hope they are removed from the repository fast now so that other users are not tricked. Thanks for reporting the issue.

I can assure you that you will never ever get spammed by us. If you don’t like our newsletter then you can unsubscribe anytime you like by following the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email.

Also, I’m not tricking any user. If that was my intention then I don’t have to put the registration form at all. I can subscribe you automatically in the background without even letting you know about it. But that’s not my intention. I want the user to know that by registering for the plugin they’ll receive emails from us. The user has an option to register or not register.

[sig moderated]

I wonder about people that are so concerned about giving out their email, if I go to a site and they ask for my email and I don’t want to give it, I don’t. If that means that I can’t use their product then so be it. But why complain to the world, just don’t use the product.
As far as I know no one will force you to use their product.

galew, thanks for making the point.

I chosed to support the plugin development by making the user try our free newsletter.

That could cause problems with the Plugin repository…just guessing though.

I don’t think that’s quite the circumstance or the issue in this case. I think the plugins in question are being pointed out because their (or the authors) behavior is being interpreted – by more than just one opinion, it would seem – as contradictory in relationship to the terms/rules that make a plugin acceptable for inclusion in the www.ads-software.com plugin directory.

@claytonjames: Can you please explain in what way maxblogpress plugin is not obeying the terms/rules of the wordpress plugin directory?

[signature moderated Please read the Forum Rules]

maxblogpress – given all the complaining from people, and the fact you aren’t using the email addresses for spam, and the fact people can opt-out, why not change it so people don’t need to provide their email and give then a method to opt-in to your newsletter?

Regardless of how you would use those email addresses, it comes down to perception, and generally people don’t like handing out their email address.

MaxBlogPress Ping Optimizer and other MBP plugins should be banned from the plugin repository for the following reasons:

Well, let’s analyze all these reasons.

1) MBP plugins are using the WordPress repository as an advertising vehicle and to gain legitimacy for users and search engines. Links to plugin FAQs, installation instructions, etc. point to the developer’s site instead of providing useful information on the WordPress plugin site.

It seems you are new to wordpress development. You may not be aware that this wordpress directory has been created recently. In the past there was not any formal wordpress directory.

The developer used to develop and host the plugins in their own website and create other pages for it in their own website as well. I’m also one such developer. When wordpress introduced its new wordpress directory it doesn’t make sense to redo everything when there’s already established pages for FAQs, installation instructions etc… That’s the reason those links point back to old pages of the plugin.

2) The developer uses the repository’s reflected legitimacy to gather email addresses for the primary purpose of spamming users with internet marketing missives. I know this because I receive spam from him regularly.

First of all you can’t say our newsletter spam. If you don’t like it then you are free to unsubscribe from it. We include unsubscribe link at the bottom of each and every email we send. The unsubscription is automatic and instant.

3) WordPress already provides an update mechanism that does not require email registration so his assertion that he is using emails for support is a red herring (BS). Blatant BS should not be rewarded.

As, I said above the email registration is there to support the plugin development. We send notification to users when we release our new plugin and we also send major update notification to user. Beside that we also send blogging tips and promo emails for the recommended softwares/courses.

If you don’t like our newsletter then you can unsubscribe anytime by following the unsubscribe link. No obligation. You can continue to use the plugin even after unsubscrbing.

I chosed to make the plugin free by asking for the registering to our free newsletter. It also includes free support, free bug fixes and free new updates. If I ask money for all these then most people can’t pay the price. That’s the reason I chose to support the plugin by free option instead of making user pay the money.

4) Unless www.ads-software.com and Automattic endorse his spammy emails, they should remove his plugins from the repository. Failure to do so, suggests they are endorsing his spamvertizing.

WordPress don’t have to endorse anything to put anything in their repsitory. It’s about freedom and as long as we obey their rules there shouldn’t be any objection by wordpress for our plugins.

5) I suspect the developer (an internet marketer) uses registrations to keep track of user blogs and run data analytics on competing internet marketers. This means that, if you run multiple blogs, even if you give the MBP developer a throw-away email address, he can and probably does, track plugin installs by IP and/or domain name via his plugin registration callback mechanism.

No, we don’t keep track of blogs or run analytics on them. We simply let the user subscribe our newsletter. That’s it.

So, unless you enjoy being spammed, lied to, or spied on, you should probably push to have this plugin removed from the repository.

Please explain how we are spamming, what we are lying and what we are spying? Please don’t post anything without any proof.

– Pawan Agrawal

I have to third or fourth this.

After registering my email with a MaxBlogPress plugin, I started getting a steady stream of emails from him. And they’re not just info on updates and such as he claims, but rather blatant “Get Rich With Blogs” spam. And lots of it.

@aster: As, I said above, you are free to unsubscribe if you don’t like our newsletter. We are not holding you forcefully.

– Pawan Agrawal

I am glad to see the plugin removed… it definitely goes against the spirit of the plugin directory. Has anybody thought about forking the code and writing a ‘sanitized’ version? It’s GPL after all.

I don’t think our plugins goes against the spirit of the plugin directory. In fact I tried my best to make it free for everyone. Instead of making people pay for the plugin, I went the other route and made the plugins available for free by simply asking for trying our free newsletter.

If someone is willing to create a fork then I’m happy with it. But please don’t forget that maxblogpress has developed more than 25 plugins and have continually provided free support, free bug fixes and free upgrades. If anyone can give that kind of dedication and can provide that kind of support then sure go for the fork. Otherwise, please don’t ruin these free services for everyone.

– Pawan Agrawal

It looks like your right about it getting removed. Is it safe to keep using it though or should I remove it?

@eric: It’s 100% safe to use the plugin and you can keep using it. ??

– Pawan Agrawal