As our Contributions Pilot continues, we’re exploring new ways of involving users in the development of the add-ons they love using. This week, we’ve launched two new features based on feedback from developers, and we hope they make a difference in the way users make contributions to add-ons.
Pledge Drives
Have you ever participated in a walkathon or donated to public radio? If so, you’re familiar with the concept of a Pledge Drive, and we’re happy to report that developers can now post Pledge Drives for their add-ons. Whether you’re trying to raise funds for a conference trip or want to turn off advertising in your add-on, you can set a pledge goal so users can have a hand in getting you there. These pledge drives can be created from the Developer Control Panel and you can use your About Page to let your users know post-install. Please note that you don’t have to use your About Page as a First Run page, and you can elect to show it only to users who have been using your add-on for a reasonable period.
Subscriptions
We’ve added a new option to the existing Contributions flow, so users can now elect to provide a regular monthly contribution for 12 months. They’ll be automatically presented with this option when clicking the “Contribute” button on the Add-on listing and Meet the Developer pages. We’ve also added a comment box so developers can hear directly from their loyal users.
Finally, for those of you receiving contributions, please consider sending a thank you note to your donors to thank them for their help. It’s a small thing but will go a long way towards helping your users know that they made a difference.
