VersionPress RC1 Released to Early Backers

VersionPress, the plugin that allows you to revert changes to a site without having to restore a backup, is being released to early backers. Near the middle of 2014, VersionPress creators Borek Bernard and Jan Voráček created a crowdfunding campaign asking for $30K.

The campaign started off on a rocky note, as several readers questioned what license the plugin would use. Bernard decided to license the plugin using the GPLv2, but the decision was made near the middle of the campaign and the duo missed their goal by $14.5K. However, development continued and, for the past several months, the team has been hard at work getting the product to a point where people can start using it.

A release candidate will be made available later this week to those who backed the project with $50 or more. If no major issues are reported, the team will release version 1.0 by the end of the month. However, the plugin will not be free to use. Those who want access to version 1.0 and future releases will need to join the early access program. The program tries to strike a balance between making the plugin accessible to anyone who’s interested and funding development.

VersionPress 1.0 is an initial release and won’t have all of the planned features such as sync and staging. Instead, those features will be rolled out in future versions of the product. According to their development plan:

• Version 1.0 will contain all the important basics – things like Undo, Rollback, automatic change tracking, support for all the built-in WordPress types, etc.
• Version 2.0 will bring full support for sync and staging.
• Versions 3.0, 4.0 etc. will bring features from the roadmap.

I’m happy to see the duo remain committed to their goal of developing and shipping a working product. I still think VersionPress is a great idea and can’t wait to see how easy or difficult it is to use. Look for a thorough review on the Tavern sometime in February.