Home Blog News & Announcements Important CAPTCHA 4WP Announcement

Important CAPTCHA 4WP Announcement

Important CAPTCHA 4WP Announcement

When the original developer of the plugin formerly known as Advanced noCaptcha & invisible Captcha (v2 & v3) developed the plugin, he included integration with third-party plugins such as Contact Form 7 and WooCommerce as a premium feature. This could be clearly seen in the Premium Edition advert located on the right side of the plugin page.

However, a bug leaked the third-party integration feature to the free edition. With not enough users paying for the plugin, the original developer could no longer afford to maintain it and decided to sell it. We saw the potential this plugin had and stepped in to make sure it can continue to protect WordPress websites. We also understood that the bug needed to be addressed sooner or later – ensuring fairness between paying and free users while making the plugin sustainable so that it can continue to grow.

Of course, this wasn’t the only thing that needed to be fixed. Nevertheless, we got to work; tidying up the code, changing things that needed to be changed, cleaning up the user interface, and generally got things up to standard. All of this work culminated in version 7.0 with a plugin re-branding – CAPTCHA 4WP.

Announcing the breaking change in version 7.0

Version 7.0 included a breaking change – we fixed the bug that was leaking premium features to the free version. We announced this breaking change in the change log, the release notes, in the WordPress dashboard, and the support forum.

What we did not realize, however, is how many individuals and businesses were using the premium features through the free edition.

Of course, our intention was never to back anyone into a corner and force them to pay. We genuinely wanted to set things straight while ensuring the pricing model is fair and sustainable. Needless to say, many users did not appreciate this.

The WordPress plugin market, just like every other market, is not always easy to be in. Competition is rife, and we try to set ourselves apart by offering high-quality plugins and second-to-none user support. We provide email support to both free and paid users, ensuring everyone can derive value from our plugins. Our reviews attest that our efforts have not been in vain.

We could have done it better, apologies

Nevertheless, we acknowledge that we did not handle this in the best way possible. Our zeal in releasing the new version of our plugin to give our customers a better CAPTCHA experience got the better of us. We understand that we should have given everyone a lengthier heads-up. We apologize for any headaches and inconveniences caused.

What’s next?

To set things straight, we will be temporarily reverting to the previous arrangement, effectively including third-party plugin support in the Free Edition of the plugin. The new cut-off date has been set to the 15th of March 2022. On this day, premium features will stop working in the Free edition. This should give everyone enough time to decide how they would like to move forward.

Of course, you can upgrade at any time. This will help you ensure that you can continue to make use of the premium features of the plugin uninterrupted past the cut-off date.

We also saw a large number of users upgrade to the Premium edition. While we thank you profusely for your support, we also wanted to let you know that we will be adding two free months to your license, ensuring you do not miss out on anything by this change.

In the meantime, should you have any questions or concerns, reach out to us at any time.


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