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<div id="smartTemplate4-template">Onno,<br>
<br>
I use a standard mechanism that detects major upgrades and opens<br>
1) A version history tab in Thunderbird, linking to the relevant
section. Personally I feel this is mandatory as it shows the
amount of work that was done. I also think it is good to have some
screen shots as text only can be dry and doesn't seem relevant to
the user. Example:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://quickfilters.mozdev.org/version.html#2.7.1">http://quickfilters.mozdev.org/version.html#2.7.1</a><br>
2) A donation tab, which can be permanently disabled via another
"standard" mechanism. (Basically by right-clicking the "donate"
button). Obviously the instructions to remove the donation tab
should be on the donation page. <br>
<br>
I agree that there is no point in asking if people don't have it
or don't want to. But you have to ask everybody to catch the ones
that are inclined, and you also have to give them an option /
reminder once in a while. the hard thing is registering whether
they really paid and then ask less (e.g. once a year). I feel that
tabs are actually less effective (I often click away Noscript
update tabs) the more often they are shown, a permanent UI element
(that doesn't get in the way otherwise) is probably very
effective. I always a have a "Donate" button at the bottom of my
preferences dialogs (I have no idea what this looks like on a
Mac):<br>
<br>
<img src="cid:part1.05060104.08020403@gmail.com" alt=""><br>
<br>
At least on Windows systems it makes sense to use the "dead"
screen space and have it out of the way; I believe bottom left is
not even a visual hot spot (but I might be wrong). I like the
orange style because it does stick out. And no my buttons don't
"blink". I have around<i> 60,000 users</i> all Addons counted and
have <i><b>not got one single complaint on these. </b></i>And I
get a <b>lot </b>of feedback on bugs / features. I know that
once you<b> focus on this button</b> and you are a UI purist
(possibly a Mac user who loves sleek / unobtrusive design) you
might now actually say "hey this screams at me too much", but the
point is that as daily software user, you actually don't care
either way. You know that it's there, yes you can donate any time;
but it doesn't otherwise hold you up or distract you. It is just
important to the author of the Software that's why he put it
there. It isn't bad enough to make you not use the software.
However I <i>do <b>sometimes get complaints about the donation
tab</b></i>.<i> </i>Even though it opens in the background it
can be seen as "spamming" and I always promptly give instructions
on how to disable it.<br>
<br>
I hope it is okay that the conversation goes a little into the
"Addons" direction. I see it as another expression of the "great
& trustworthy tools for free" thought. I would simply stop
using "free as in beer" software if it forced me to pay it - I
just like that non-commital feel. And then there is GREAT software
you use every day and you can't live without and you start asking
yourself, why don't I pay for this. <br>
<br>
<h3>The Analysis</h3>
<br>
The difference between actually doing it (donate) or not can be as
slim as having an easy way to get there; e.g. a button-click
instead of surfing to the vendoer's web site and finding the
donation options there. That's why I think a primary visible UI
element (which doesn't get in the way or workflow and doesn't take
additional space) would be so important to Thunderbird. <br>
<br>
I personally thought the caption bar is a great place to put this
as it seems to be something that hasn't got a lot of other uses
(apart from maximize/minimize/restore/close). I think it is
similar with the bottom area of the dialogs, you only usually use
them to close / cancel / apply, at the end of using the actual
contents (in the center of the window); so I guess this feels much
less of a distraction. My theory is <b>the less frequented a
screen area </b>is, the less additional UI elements will feel
like a distraction. <br>
<br>
You can also see this with Remote Desktop and "meta-windows"
applications like Windowtabs. The control elements are usually
small collapsible tabs at the top of the screen / window-edge,
which signal "I keep out of your way to not bother you, but you
can use me if you need me". They can also be <b>medium
transparent</b> while the do not have focus/hover, to make them
even less "in your face". I would definitely style them with a
(slight) color and bright text on dark background just to make
sure they are seen as something out-of the ordinary.<br>
<br>
As regards experience on donation experience I believe I can bring
a lot to the table, as I still haven't invested the time to
implement "freemium" versions of my addons.<br>
<br>
if you like some code for opening Tb tabs (that also works as
expected in SeaMonkey and Postbox byopening browser tabs) ping me
off list. ;)<br>
<br>
cheers,<br>
Axel<br>
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<b class="myName" style="text-shadow: 1px 1px 2px #DDD;
transition:font-size 0.5s;"><a
href="mailto:axel.grude@gmail.com">Axel</a></b>
<br>
Software Developer
<br>
Thunderbird Add-ons Developer
<span style="color:#666666; font-size:xx-small">(QuickFolders,
quickFilters, QuickPasswords, Zombie Keys, SmartTemplate4)</span>
<br>
AMO Editor <img style="margin-bottom: 5px; float: right;
box-shadow: 1px 1px 2px rgba(20, 20, 20, 0.4);"
moz-do-not-send="false"
src="cid:part3.09010903.09020302@gmail.com" alt="Get
Thunderbird!" height="15" width="94">
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<div id="newHeader" style="font-size: x-small; padding:1em;
background-color:rgba(220,220,240,0.4); border-radius:3px;"> <b>To:</b>
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Tb-planning@mozilla.org">Tb-planning@mozilla.org</a> - <a>tb-planning@mozilla.org</a> <br>
<b>From: </b>Onno Ekker <a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:o.e.ekker@gmail.com"><o.e.ekker@gmail.com></a><br>
<b>Sent: </b>Friday, 24/10/2014 08:19:17 08:19 GMT ST +0100
[Week 43]<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: Summit Part 2: Funding -- How get attention
for a "donation"
</div>
<hr></div>
<blockquote class=" cite"
id="mid_CAF2QkNy9f0gx44NFO_S5A2sYYi8SwcdZ3fuWvM_i4JgC1oho_g_mail_gmail_com"
cite="mid:CAF2QkNy9f0gx44NFO=S5A2sYYi8SwcdZ3fuWvM+i4JgC1oho-g@mail.gmail.com"
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<div>For a while after installing or upgrading my Forward
extension for Thunderbird, I opened Firefox showing a page
with the new features and a Contribute button. This was
before Thunderbird had tabs.<br>
I only got two few complaints ever, even while opening a
browser when you start your mail client is quite disruptive.
One person complaining was complaining because for him the
page was opened every time he opened Thunderbird. Apparently
something with storing/retrieving his preferences was
broken, but we never figured out the cause of that.<br>
</div>
After someone filed a bug for it, I decided to drop the
"feature". I couldn't easily change it to open a new tab in
Thunderbird and the revenues were decreasing after each
release anyway...<br>
<br>
</div>
Onno<br>
</div>
<br>
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