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For Blog Owners

Can I switch off PluginSponsors.com messages?

We encourage all participating plugin developers to provide a mechanism whereby you can switch off sponsorship messages, normally by providing a direct donation to the plugin author. If you have not donated to a participating plugin author, we would encourage you to leave the messages switched on to help support that plugin.

What kind of data are you collecting about me when I use my administrative interface?

We do not collect any type of individually identifiable data: as explained in our Privacy Policy (“Privacy in the Sustainable Plugins Sponsorship Network”), we collect only aggregate message delivery data. We don’t even keep track of which sponsorship messages you might have seen.

Hold on: you mean you’re really not collecting any data about me or my installation?

That’s correct: we do not collect information about you, and our code does not ‘phone home’. You can examine the PluginSponsors.com code yourself and see that it performs nothing more than a passive load of a sponsorship message, not unlike a graphic banner rotator. (This is very much unlike the kind of active ‘phoning home’ which WordPress itself performs when it bundles up a whole slew of information about you and sends it off when you visit your main plugin admin page. Besides using it to tell you which of your plugins have updates, ever wonder what else Automattic does with all that information, or how you can shut off the forced phoning home? Ever wonder why they have to send so much extra information besides the names and versions of your plugins? We have…)

Tell me one more time: does your code phone home?

No, it does not phone home. And unlike Automattic, we (being based in the UK) have a legal obligation to tell you if we are collecting information about you. Otherwise, we would be breaking the law. What’s that you say? Automattic has customers inside the UK and inside the EU, and they’re not disclosing what information they’re collecting when phoning home…and they’re not even providing a user opt-out? Hmmm…

For Sponsors

Am I paying for impressions or for clicks?

Neither. Sponsorship messages are delivered on a proportional basis according to the ratio between the level of your sponsorship and the total level of all sponsorships for a given plugin. We don’t count up clicks, but of course you may do so.

What types of sponsorship messages can be delivered?

We are currently testing text-based sponsorship messages, with graphical sponsorship messages slated for testing shortly. Sponsorship messages should be unobtrusive and respectful of the privileged placement they are receiving directly in the WordPress administrative interface.

How can I estimate the value of appearing as a sponsor of a particular plugin?

Sponsorship messages delivered within the adminstrative pages of a plugin are distinctly unlike ordinary advertising on normal web pages: the total number of page views for any given admin page may actually be very low, but reader attention and viewing time may both be very high. Your message will be presented directly to the opinion-formers and influencers of the blogosphere. Think brand association and mindshare, not CPM.

How is this any different from Google AdWords or other network-based targeted advertising?

It is impossible to target the user base of a specific plugin using Google AdWords or other network-based forms of targeted advertising, because 1) WordPress administrator pages cannot normally be crawled for content-based targeting, and 2) the global community of users of a given plugin cannot normally be identified in advance for site-based targeting. With plugin sponsorship, you are placing messages directly within the WordPress administrative interface, not merely on general web sites which you hope WordPress bloggers might visit.

Are there any restrictions as to what I can promote via a sponsorship message?

We piggy-back on Google’s AdWords policies: if and only if Google would allow it, we’ll allow it too. (No porn, no drugs or drug paraphernalia, no weapons, no warez, etc.)

For Plugin Developers

What do I have to do to participate?

All it takes is a couple of lines of JavaScript (which we supply) incorporated at the top of your plugin options pages and, preferably, a mechanism for plugin users who have donated directly to you to switch off the sponsorship messages. We also recommend that your plugin should provide a description of and/or a link to our Privacy Policy (“Privacy in the Sustainable Plugins Sponsorship Network”).

Are there any restrictions on which plugins can be included in the network?

We piggy-back on the WordPress Extend repository: only plugins hosted at the official repository may participate, and in addition all participating plugins must have either reached 5000 total downloads, or be verifiably produced by an author whose portfolio of plugins has reached an aggregate total of 5000 downloads.

When and how do I get paid?

We send out PayPal payments to participating developers on a net 30 basis. Payments accrue until a minimum of $25 is due.