I want your experience with SevenSpark products to be awesome! That’s why I spend so much time writing in-depth documentation, recording video tutorials, and refining the product interfaces with in-product documentation and tips.
In the case that all these resources have failed you, this support forum is meant to provide a means of answering questions that haven’t yet been covered in any of the support materials. These Support Terms will lay out exactly what you can expect here, what your responsibilities are, and what is – and isn’t – provided with free support.
It is my intention to provide you with all the documentation necessary to effectively use my products as they are intended to be used; that comes with the expectation that you will take the initiative to search all resources available before requesting one-on-one support, as well as the understanding that customizations and features beyond the advertised feature set are your sole responsibility. I feel this is fair to all parties involved.
I believe that these terms are very reasonable and simple common sense to the majority of my customers – you guys are awesome! Sadly, due to some abuse of my overly generous support terms in the past, I’ve had to make these terms explicit.
Just know that I’m still here offering great support for all reasonable requests! And thanks again for purchasing a SevenSpark product, I truly appreciate it!
Contents
What is supported?
This table gives a simple overview of what types of questions are supported. For those that are not supported, please consult a freelancer or research your question online – Google is an incredible resource.
| Supported | Not Supported |
|---|---|
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Bug Fixes
All bugs will be fixed
In instances where a product feature is broken, or does not work as described, these are bugs. I’m committed to fixing all bugs as soon as possible. Whenever possible, I will provide steps to fix minor bugs manually until the new version can be released. Major bugs will be given the highest priority.
Usage Questions
Questions regarding out-of-the-box functionality of the product will be answered in the forum; however, you should make the effort to consult the provided support materials first
Theme/Plugin usage
It is my goal to cover all usage questions in the support guide and video tutorials. Therefore, it is the customer’s responsibility to review these materials before posting in the support forum. All guides are published online and are searchable using CTRL+F – it is MUCH faster to search the guide than to wait for a response from support!
WordPress Usage
There are core features in every WordPress installation which are not a result of my products. As a WordPress user, you take on the responsibility of learning how to use the WordPress system. If you are new to WordPress, there are a huge number of great resources out there to help you. Remember, Google is your best friend. A quick search will almost always answer your WordPress questions, since the community is so enormous – it is incredibly likely that someone else has already faced your WordPress problem and solved it.
HTML Template Usage
It is expected that you understand how to build your HTML site if you purchase an HTML template.
Customizations
Customizations are the customer’s responsibility. They are not included in support.
Customizations are any modification or change to the design, look, layout, content, or functionality of the product – anything that requires a change to PHP, CSS, javascript, or HTML. Customizations are the sole responsibility of the customer, and are NOT provided with support.
Why not?
While I’d love to have the resources to help everyone with their customizations, as support is not included in your purchase price, spending hours per customer on customizations is simply not possible. By excluding after-purchase services from the price of the product, we are able to sell you awesome products at crazy low prices. You get a great working product for cheap. If you want to make changes to that product, it’s time to consult a freelancer. SevenSpark has partnered up with the awesome WordPress customization shop, WerkPress – shoot them a message and they can help you out with all your customization needs.
Feature Requests
Feature requests will be considered; implementation is at SevenSpark’s discretion
If you have a feature request, feel free to post it in the forum – I love to hear your great ideas! I consider all requests, but make no guarantees of future incorporation into the product. While I have included many customer feature requests in the past, all suggestions will be considered based on their value to the customer base as a whole, and weighed against the complexity they add to the product. In other words, complicated functionality which only benefits a few users is unlikely to be adopted as core functionality, and is better pursued as a customization.
Customer Responsibility
Customers undertake the responsibility of educating themselves and making their own modifications if required; SevenSpark provides quality working products with detailed support materials.
As the purchaser of a stock product, you take on the responsibility to learn how to use the product though the use of available support materials. If you buy a desk from Ikea, it is your job to assemble and finish it by following the instructions; they don’t come to your house and build it for you; but, luckily, my documentation is better.
Here’s how our responsibilities break down:
| Customer’s Responsibility | SevenSpark’s Responsibility |
|---|---|
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This is how you’re able to get awesome products at ridiculously low prices. If you’re not willing to take on these responsibilities, there are plenty of freelancers and web design firms out there that will be happy to assist you!
Please remember that there is no cost for support built into your purchase price – support is not included in your purchase, and is provided for free. With that in mind:
- Please read the guides and videos. A huge amount of time is spent writing, recording and refining them. They are there for your reference so that you don’t need to request one-on-one support.
- Please be considerate when requesting support. Please try to figure things out for yourself before posting. Over 85% of questions I receive are due to user error. A quick search of the guide would make the vast majority of these questions unnecessary.
With that being said, if you find bugs – feel free to report them all day long. I strive to make my products bug-free, and reporting any issues helps everyone.
Support Response Times
Patience is a virtue
Support is provided during the workweek, Monday to Friday. Please keep in mind that even if it is a work day where you are, it might not be Monday morning yet where I am. Please be patient.
During weekdays, you’ll almost always receive a response within 24 hours (generally much faster, depending on what time of day you post). I generally post holiday announcements at the top of the forum so that you’ll be aware of any expected delays.
Support is not provided in real time. If you need an immediate answer, consulting the documentation is the fastest way to get your answer.
Support Abuse
Please do not abuse the support system; those who do will unfortunately be denied further support in order to better serve other customers. Please don’t be a help vampire.
Unfortunately, some customers have taken advantage of my overly-generous support and lax support policies in the past, and abused the system. As a result, customers who only want standard support are forced to wait longer. In order to be fair to all customers, support has now been defined more strictly: all customization requests should be directed to a freelancer, and will not be provided in this forum. Need a good freelancer who knows SevenSpark products? Check out WerkPress – they’re great!
Please read the support manual before asking questions. It is faster, and it saves everyone time. You should only be posting in the forum if you have exhausted your options and the answer is not in the guide.
Of course, sometimes the best of us miss the section of the guide that we need, even with search capability – if you post once or twice like this, we’ll be happy to link you back to the correct section in the guide. However, customers who repeatedly make it a habit of asking questions in the forum which are already answered in the support material will eventually be met with a canned “please review the support materials” response. This is a situation I sincerely hope to avoid.
Customer Conduct
Be polite and respectful.
Don’t be a jerk. If you’re a jerk, I won’t help you. ‘Nuff said.
A silly, but sincere request: Please don’t write “please advise”. At best it’s unnecessary (if you’re posting here, I know you need advice) and at worst it’s a passive-agressive demand; demands are rude, even when wrapped in a ‘please’. Yes, it’s a silly pet peeve, and no, it won’t prevent me from helping you; but following this rule will keep me happier and that’s good for everyone 