On 22nd June, Suffusion was removed from the WP themes directory all of a sudden. Someone decided that a theme whose last version was released and approved 5 months back and whose users had been generally happy did not meet requirements, and yanked the theme.
My response to the comment was simple:
However, given that I have always come out at the losing end of these discussions, please feel free to keep the theme suspended. I have neither the inclination nor energy to get drawn into this again, particularly since the customizer implementation is back-breaking, and the users of the theme had been perfectly happy with the theme in its current state and the once-in-a-while critical updates that they were getting.
If any of you is interested I can provide the rebuttals here, but it is not worth the time and effort. Stay assured that the all “concerns” about security are unadulterated rubbish. All options are written into the database in a secure manner using the recommended functions and via WP’s standard APIs and then retrieved. If they are really concerned about security, they have to look at the WP platform itself and ensure that none can access options stored in the database for any theme or plugin (not just Suffusion).
As for the rest, the sole deal-breaker is the Customizer implementation. Switching to it is akin to writing a new theme, and that is something I just cannot do.
Anyway, this has been a long and satisfying ride. Thank you for all your support in helping this theme get to the pinnacle of WP themes multiple times over. For those who have the theme currently installed, don’t worry – it will still work as it has; I just will not be able to release any updates for it and it will no longer be available as a theme from the WP directory. In case you are concerned about the “fatal error” on the ticket, the Suffusion Shortcodes plugin addresses it.
Sorry to hear this Sayontan, your work to maintain this fabulous theme has been unrelenting. This really is an unfair way to bring things to an end. The platform is becoming more and more commercial and it’s losing a lot in the process.
Thanks, Jamie.
Sad to hear. I am sure you will not be the only theme author to suffer this way from the intransigence of the WPTRT.
Are you going to update the download link on this site so that people who want to can still download it?
Thanks, Colin. I haven’t yet decided on the download link. Maybe I will deploy a version on github and point people there. But one thing is certain – I am not going to maintain it any further.
Also, many thanks for being one of the very early users of the theme, and for the continued support you have provided to users over all these years! If I do happen to visit Spain, I will try to make our coordinates intersect.
Yikes! 🙁 Oh man. I love Suffusion. It has been so perfect for my site! Thank you for your many hours of work! I hope it isn’t the end.
Those a-holes! I’m sorry to hear this, but please know that all your long, hard hours of creating and maintaining the theme is still appreciated.
Sad to see this happen, your work is very appreciated all these years. Hope you can do something like Colin states here, host it somewhere and perhaps make this post or any further posts on the topic sticky here.
Thanks, Reza. Unfortunately this episode has taken the fight out of me, so I am calling an end to all development from my side for Suffusion. I can put up a link to the working version (with a fix for the fatal error), but that’s about it.
yes, can you pls give us a link with the suffusion.zip theme so we can download and install manually? thanks
Wow. It’s been a ride! At one time I had Suffusion running 5 sites, I basically learned WP on it.
Thank you for your years of service to the community, your clear communication through this blog and your amazing theme!
Thanks, Eli. This comment means a lot to me.
Unfortunate and painful! However, efforts given cannot go unrewarded, may be something more fascinating would emerge!
Dang … I just came over to download a copy for my new website. Is there a link to download it from the Aquoid site?
I’m so sorry, Sayontan, I’m really bummed for you. I know this will significantly lighten your load, but I’m still disappointed for you. And all of us users, too. I have recently come back online, getting my sites back up and running, and was ready to dig in and really learn how to use the theme properly this time. I barely scratched the surface the previous years I’d used it. This just doesn’t make any sense and I’m frustrated for you. Thank you so much for all you’ve done for us, you’re amazing.
Thanks, Lisa.
And I can’t believe you’re in Texas – I’ve been in Dallas for the last six months. When I first happened upon you, I believe you were overseas and I was in Alabama. Kinda trippy we’re so close (about 5hrs) now. 🙂
Oh my god 🙁
i love suffusion. it is best worpdess theme in world.
[…] versatile and FREE WordPress theme I have ever used has been discontinued from 22 June 2016, Suffusion not available any more . It will not be updated and is no longer available in the WordPress directory. You can see it here […]
I am not only sad… I am angry… Who the hell is jcastaneda to decide that more than million of users are wrong and only him is the ombelico del mondo???
He recommend to make new plugins for Suffusion Widgets, but he don’t had time to test the other plugin also made at WPTRT recommendation (Suffusion Shortcodes) to see that the fatal error was already solved…
He (and whole WPTRT) require the use of Customizer… But the Customizer is ambiguous even for WordPress itself – see the “Background” item which let us only to set an image… Need some research or imagination to find that the color can be changed in other place – at Colors… This guy saw how many options Suffusion have??? Where to comprime hundred of options in Customizer??? How confusing will be such a try???
Anyway these guys let me think if I like WordPress as much or is the time to move on…
Sayontan, I was very proud to be with you all these years, I feel like I was part of this big ride. I love Suffusion, I love it’s users, I love to help people on the forum.
With tears in my eyes I can say only… farewell my friends…
Thanks for your unflagging support, Drake. Without your help the theme wouldn’t have been the success that it has been.
Hi dear admin
Please do not leave us.
You can keep up on this site. (your website https://aquoid.com)
if you have not any revenue, don’t worry. you can add banner ads on this site.
you can use many affiliate programs ,
also donate options
& …..
We love you
You are best
You are number one
Sorry to read your theme was removed from the WordPress theme repository but as I am seeing an issue that appears to be related to the theme would there be a “free” download link available for the current release? I’d like to troubleshoot this further but I do not have a reference to the theme’s code.
Thanks!
PS: Feel free to email me a copy if that works best. Thanks!
No need for the theme download … I’ve pulled down the last submitted version to the WordPress theme repository. Really sad to read what happened there, too.
Although the “admin” review was correct I believe it could have been handled better than what did transpire.
Cais,
The admin review being correct is very, very debatable. As I mentioned, pretty much every point in the review can be rebutted, barring the fatal error for the audio post format.
E.g.
$postvariable is only in cases where the invocation is outside the loop.I could go on, but as I stated, I have fought this battle way more often than I care, and I don’t want to get into it again because:
So, the WPTRT can keep playing the bully in its sandbox. I am just opting to choose a different sandbox to play in.
P.S. I do know that you were a part of the WPTRT, and you have on occasion reviewed Suffusion.
“I basically learned WP on it”, ELi Mandel says. This goes for me too. So thank you very much for Suffusion, Sayontan, I really learned a lot from you.
Many thanks for your kind words, Jan.
Thank you for your efforts with this theme. It has been my go-to theme and I’ve loved it. Your support of the theme as well as your honesty and regular communication when you could no longer support it were both admired. WordPress and other developers can take a lesson from you and the way you were loyal to and had the best interest of your customers/audience.
I also have to thank Drake and the others in the support community. I tried hard not to be one of “those users” and researched items carefully but when I did need an extra hand the guys were awesome.
Best of luck in whatever you decide to do with this new found free time. I know for a while you’ll grieve over the loss of Suffusion but know you helped many of us adopt and excel in WordPress because of your excellent work.
Thanks Craig. Truly though, there wasn’t much grief. I knew it was only a matter of time before the ever-changing requirements from the WPTRT got ahead of what the theme has, to an extent that it wouldn’t be feasible to continue updating the theme. In that sense I was mentally prepared that I might have to do this.
What has surprised me though, is that I have managed to keep things working for 7 long years. This was mainly possible due to my excellent users and forum volunteers.
thank you for all your hard work Sayontan!
Suffusion has been a wonderful theme that was far ahead of its time. It’s such a shame that the things we loved about it are the very things that have gotten it in trouble now.
Thank you for all your work, and big thanks also to Colin and Drake, who spent so much time and patience with us in the forums.
I’ve been an appreciative user of Suffusion for several years, and would be sad to see it fade away, and of course, if it is to no longer be maintained, the ongoing changes with WordPress will see Suffusion slowly fail over the next months/years.
I am sure there are many people who would love to take over the maintenance and ongoing development of Suffusion. If you no longer have any interest or feeling of affinity to the project (and I understand how that can be) would you consider allowing a third party, on any basis at all, to provide ongoing maintenance and development services?
David,
I don’t mind handing over the development to a third-party. The challenge is, the barrier to re-entry in the WP repository is close to insurmountable. The single requirement of having to move all options to the Customizer will make the next developer give up right away. Think about it – the theme has more than 500 options, spread across multiple pages in the back-end. The next person undertaking the development has to pretty much move each of those 500+ options to a new place, which is not even conducive to handle such high numbers of options. The effort for that is not less than several hundred hours, and that itself makes this a non-starter.
The easiest alternative for me is to simply make the zip file available on GitHub, but I cannot commit to maintaining it any further at this point, and I am hesitant to open it up for development in GitHub for everyone.
[…] from the WP themes directory all of a sudden.” These was the first words received from aquoid.com in a […]
Just started a site for a friend. Was forced to use some lame theme where nothing was adjustable. I have written child themes before and it’s just not worth the struggle.
Any way to get Suffusion as a .zip file??
Seems like contact form 7 is gone too………
Whaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!
Steve
I have used Suffusion for years now and it is the automatic choice for all my sites. I am devastated that it is no longer available. Please either maintain it, or let someone else do so. You have never charged for the theme, but I would be willing to pay.
Sayontan,
I remember hunting all around for a theme some years ago until I found yours and never looked back. Please don’t give up on Suffusion, it is a fantastic piece of work. Just walk away from WordPress.org and leave it as it is, there is nothing to be changed. Please keep giving it the odd critical update when needed, if you don’t mind.
I read the ticket, this guy is using his position without adding any value. This is what this Jose Castaneda expert has got to say about himself:
“I wanted to learn how WordPress worked and what you can do with it so I registered on the forums and began to post away. About a year later I began reviewing themes and switch between reviewing themes and the forums.”
When he doesn’t do that, he works in a coffee shop. We should petition WordPress.org to have the clown sacked.
Give Suffusion its own page on your site and host the source code wherever convenient. Your idea of uploading it on GitHub could be a winner if you want to encourage others to maintain and support it down the track. It would be a shame to see it breaking with a future WordPress release and disappear.
Thank you for all your work and commitment for so many years.
Thanks, Eric.
There are a few challenges with making Suffusion an open project on GitHub. I don’t have any qualms with people taking over the code, but without the right checks and balances things can spin out of control. I certainly cannot be the gatekeeper of the code. My proposal was to upload a zip to GitHub (for the last stable version), not run the project from there.
The other alternative is for someone else to take over the development (officially), and get it released again on WP, but that is no mean feat, and will require several hundred hours of effort.
Sayontan,
I am an IT guy myself, but PHP and CSS are not my area of expertise. Still, there are very good people at this out there.
I understand your desire to move on. I think GitHub would be the right place for the project and if you considered leading into the transition, after a little while you would identify someone able to take over from you. Many projects have changed hands over the years, the Linux world is full of them. WordPress itself is one of them.
Whether Suffusion returns to WordPress.org or not is probably not what matters. The whole issue around the customiser isn’t really relevant: there are no functional issues with theme options. There is a community behind Suffusion and it is way too good a product to lose it.
Give it one more shot and see who comes up. All it takes is one person technically capable, who will look after critical issues and ensure any future developments are sensible, viable and well-implemented. You are the best person today to make this handover; execute it, don’t just walk away. It is not a lot of effort, you only need to find the right resource. In the beginning, you will be communicating a bit, and then you will be able to watch it sail away on its own.
I’m sad! I love your theme Sayontan, and will continue to use it for as long as possible. I tried so many themes, before I finally found Suffusion which did and does everything I want and more. One person mentioned he learned WP with Suffusion. This goes for me too. The forum is a great source of wonderful little code snippets, which taught me a lot. Thank Sayontan, and also Drake and Colin.
Thanks, Nelly.
Would it be possible to come up with a commercial version? I would definitely pay for this theme. In fact I have bought a cup of coffee many times. Probably nearly every time I have used the theme.
Dawn,
Unfortunately I have neither the energy nor the time nor the desire to invest in a commercial version. Energy, because I am just exhausted from maintaining the theme and fighting battles to get things approved. Time, because I am a full-time employee in a profession that is as distinct from WP as it gets. And desire, because it has never been my goal to sell software; I love what I build as a hobby, and I have no qualms giving it away for free.
I am okay with someone else taking over the development, however that is by no means a trivial task.
I wish I could honestly say that I cannot believe WP is doing this. But, I can’t. They are getting worse all the time. Suffusion was exactly what I needed. I tried a lot of their “themes” and found them far too cumbersome to use, inflexible, and just plain boring! WordPress has broken trust with me on this.
Sayontan, the work you have done has been inspirational. There has never been a problem that was not dealt with efficiently and effectively. You take pride in your product and it show.
Is there anything that we, the users, can do to make sure Suffusion stays available? It is the BEST!
Thanks, have been using it for years and unhappy to see it go – like the rest.
Theek hai yaar, jo hua achha hua – ab aur cricket dekhne ka time mil jayega aapko.
All the best!
Sayontan,
I’ve have Suffusion on over a dozen sites and have been using it literally for years, and just a couple of months ago tried another theme, needless to say, after fighting with yet another theme not having the ability to easily add ad-hoc widget areas, I went to the repository to get the latest Suffusion and be done with the project. But what do I find??? yanked! Crap, Sayontan, I’m so frustrated and sorry for the BS WP has put you through. I don’t blame you one bit for “throwing in the towel”. But know that I have been developing WP sites now for 5 years professionally and there simply is no better framework then Suffusion.
My question is, do you see a problem with continuing to use it? Or am I asking for trouble when WP updates some core function?
Thank you for all your years of devotion to the open source community and to Suffusion. I hope you continue to produce fantastic, out-of-the-box solutions, even if that is for some company somewhere, at least your skill will not go unused.
Kindest Regards,
Bruce
Hi Sayontan,
Here is my story. I am Mech. Engineer from India who stumbled upon your theme six years back. The default WordPress themes were boring and limited. I took the plunge and installed Suffusion. I still remember seeing the words, “DON’T PANIC” after successfully installing the theme for the very first time. Oh man! Yours was the only theme with a lot of buttons to flip. Being a non-coder, having more buttons is like having an ABS in your car. I have built 50+ sites to date.
Starting up, I never had the money [to buy a paid theme] nor the interest [because I don’t know coding] to build a website all by myself. It was your theme that planted a seed. Now I have learnt to build websites and make money with that skill.
I am sad to hear that the WordPress management is making it harder for you to keep supporting the theme. Do not worry, you have given more to the world of WordPress. I know you built and managed this theme not for money but for the simple idea of helping a poor soul like me learn a new skill. You have more than achieved your goal in that sense. I owe you a lot. Thanks!
There is nothing like this theme and the support received from Sayontan. It would be wonderful if Sayontan could find an expert resource to work at his direction. Sayontan would still have his hobby. He could work on his favorite parts and the expert resource could work on the WP requirements, at Sayontan’s direction. I am certain enough money could be raised from the faithful followers to support the expert resource effort.
Don’t let this wonderful effort waste away. Honor Sayontan and support his hobby.
Thank you so much for all your work. I just got into WordPress a few months ago and this was the theme I chose. It has been awesome and I have already learned so much.
It is a truly fantastic theme and I will use it as long as possible!
– Charlie
This is very bad. I learned to handle Suffusion mainly from your forum. I use it on my own web and my band’s web and some other projects too. I love it. Well, maybe they will change their decision in future. But anyways, you made a lot of people happy with the theme, I congratulate you on that achievement.
Suffusion is still showing up in my wordpress.org
Where are you seeing it being removed or not supported by wordpress.org?
Umm… here: http://wordpress.org/themes/suffusion ?
Sayontan, sorry to hear the hassle you’re getting. Your theme is top notch and I will continue to use it. However, I do look forward to any new projects you may be working on.
I have the impression that those guys who are reviewing the themes are a bunch of idiots.
p.s. I’m using the theme since 2009.
Sayontan,
Suffusion is still my favorite theme/framework no matter what. I’ve used it for the past 7 years! Thanks for all your hard work and dedication to this. I wish you could still support it, but I understand why you don’t.
Again thanks,
John
I am so sorry to hear this and would like to extend my heartfelt thanks for all your hard work on what I consider to be one of the best WordPress themes ever! I cannot believe the pedantic narrow mindedness of “the powers that be”. I wish you all the very best. Selfishly I would wish for you to continue to support and development on the theme, but I totally get the feeling of fighting a losing battle. May you go from strength to strength.
PS I will use the theme as long as possible, I have no idea where I’d go from here….
Really sorry to hear this. No other theme can even come close to this one. I have literally just finished creating a website using this theme and don;t know what to do. Is it OK to carry on using suffusion or am I now going to need to move my whole site over to another theme?
The de-listing of Suffusion is absurd!
I would like to know who, within the WordPress bureaucracy, would be the best focus for complaints about this decision?
I have never been able to find a theme that has anywhere near the feature set, flexibility or support of Suffusion. To remove it is to cripple WordPress!
I suspect this decision has been heavily influenced by those who sell premium themes; why bother with premium when Suffusion is available?
If someone would provide the contact information for the appropriate executive within WordPress, I will compose and send an appropriate protest. I encourage everyone else to do the same!
Dang.
I’ve been using Suffusion for years. I’ve been very happy with its appearance and its features. To see it removed is crippling, since I did rely on the fact that it seemed to be well maintained and regularly updated to keep it secure.
Anyhow, thank you very much for all your hard work.
I’m planning to leave Suffusion in place on my sites for as long as possible, but… as protection against a future day when some WP update makes Suffusion inoperable, I did start looking around for what I might use as a replacement.
I’ve settled on some quite lovely themes by Cryout Creations which offer the most settings/options I could find, second to Suffusion. But they also have pushed back against the Customizer, and restored the Settings pages in their themes through a plugin.
I realize that this kind of conversion is not a trivial task. But maybe it might be a way forward for Suffusion, if someone else were going to be taking over its development…?
That’s really a shame. Suffusion was and is one of the best WordPress themes of all time. Although it’s way beyond my skill level, I’d be willing to help keep it up to date. In any event, thank you,Sayontan, for all of your hard work through the years.
Patrick
Hey Sayontan please make Suffusion releases available from google drive or something like this. Suffusion has a big user base, so be damn if we need their wordpress.org for development or downloading.
It will probably be better for you without those bureaucrats annoying you on every new version release.
P.S. If you ask me WordPress is turning into something very commercial. Nowdays almost every free plugin is a invitation to buy the pro version. This things are starting to be annoying.
I am SO sad and sorry to hear this! I have used Suffusion for quite a few years and quite a few sites, and turned a number of new site owners on to it. It is by far the best and my favorite theme…I hope they reverse their decision and put it back on! I will write to wordpress, too, in protest! Having trouble finding a contact.
Sayontan has done SO MUCH for web design and our community…I really hope they bring Suffusion back.
I just posted this to the WP site, repeating here, do not usually post on blogs in general, but this is just not right:
I found out about this (as I assume the vast majority of users will) by trying to DL the theme onto a new WP install, yikes!
Although I a uber techy about many things (Tier III network architect for instance) but be advised I know just enough about coding, HTML, and CSS in general to be dangerous. I have however worked on large SW development teams so know some of the politics, fights, SQA, and bug selection that can go on.
Points that jump out at me:
1. IM(O)NSHO Suffusion has done a huge service to the furthering of WP, it is better than many (most?) paid frameworks, I simply CANNOT BELIEVE the work this man has put into this. It allows wannabes like me to soar and for free! To just pull it with a casual comment in a review blog post smacks of extreme naivete on the part of the reviewer, or a ulterior motive (note better than most paid apps), or ? At the very least out of respect for the incredible following this framework has some sort of person to person communication should have taken place. WP, you have done a dis-service to yourself here. There are two sides to every story. But at the very least the author should have been treated with a much greater level of respect. He is my hero, and I am not alone. I just do not get it, this framework has such a huge following. And, the man is probably exhausted! But really folks you should find a way to nurture him, he has done you much good.
2. There is clearly a large enough install base and loyal fan club to allow monetization of Suffusion. If the author does happen to read this please consider and comment on your own WP.
3. Last observation (I promise) is that is this not the ultimate fate of all single person labors of love (meaning unpaid and even quite a few that are)? Heavy ~sigh… it was glorious while it lasted, but exhaustion won in the end.
In any case my hat is off to you, I am better having seen your work. There are literally hundreds of thousands of people in the world you have never met, will never here from, but think you are a pretty amazing guy.
I was looking for a excuse to focus on Joomla anyway…
Thank you
Эй не сдавайся, ты красавчик, отличная тема!
Dont give up! You good man, great theme! Sorry my english is poor.
Thanks for all your work. I’ve used the theme several times and am very satisfied. Good lunck
Wow, this really sucks, it is by far the best theme of all for wordpress, its why I have it on 2 websites, and now this will mean I have to replace them? Well once they no longer work I might. I really hope the folks at wordpress will reconsider.
very sad to hear that you hard work has been banned. I have been using your theme on my website http://www.studyadvices.com for one year………. I suggest to please show a link on your website of this theme so that users can download and upload in wordpress themes for use.