GoDaddy acquires CoBlocks

I’ve made a number of things as a WordPress “maker” — most notably ThemeBeans, CoBlocks, and Block Gallery. My mission and clear focus through building products has always been to deliver a phenomenal WordPress experience. It’s the foundation upon which my career is built. And while it’s been a fantastic experience so far, it almost feels like I’m just getting started — in such a good way.

A few months ago, GoDaddy approached me with an idea to build the next wave of WordPress innovation together. After getting to know the WordPress leadership at GoDaddy, I could feel the universal passion that every person I met shared for WordPress — and even more so for the folks who rely on WordPress every single day. That’s right up my ally, and something I could definitely get behind. Today, I am thrilled to announce that CoBlocks, ThemeBeans, and Block Gallery have been acquired by GoDaddy, and I will be joining the team as the Senior Product Manager of WordPress Experience. Together, we’ll make a real difference on how millions of folks use WordPress everyday on GoDaddy’s Managed WordPress platform and beyond. Read the coverage on WP Tavern to learn more about the acquisition.

What’s next?

I, and each of my current projects (ThemeBeans, CoBlocks, Block Gallery, and Block Unit Test) have moved over to GoDaddy, effective immediately. I’ll be working alongside some of the finest folks in the industry to help usher in a new wave of innovation for WordPress, and thus GoDaddy’s Managed WordPress platform. GoDaddy is hyper-focused on making a great platform for entrepreneurs of all sorts, with the goal of helping them succeed online. I’m so stoked to be a part of that.

The future of ThemeBeans

First and foremost, current subscribers will continue to receive support and remote updates under their current license up to April 8, 2020. Nothing changes there. We stand by our commitment to helping you put your best foot forward online. As of today the premium paid WordPress themes in our catalog will be available for free on GitHub. Existing free WordPress themes hosted on WordPress.org will remain in their current location. In the spirit of open source, the entire ThemeBeans WordPress theme catalog is now freely available on GitHub. However, theme support and remote updates are only available for current customers.

We’ll continue to publish innovative releases, pushing the landscape of WordPress blocks and the new Gutenberg editor to even greater heights.

With GoDaddy’s resources, you’ll start to see even more incredible blocks and tools that level-up the page building experience in a very big way. My fellow CoBlocks co-founders, Jeffrey, and Alex, and I couldn’t be happier with how everything has transpired. I’m so incredibly proud of what we’ve been able to bring to fruition and the impact we have had on the WordPress ecosystem so far.

Of course, none of this would have been possible without the amazing WordPress community supporting my ventures. This is an exciting time for me personally and I owe it to all of you. I’m also incredibly thankful for every single person who has used any one of my projects to power their WordPress website. Your feedback and evangelism has, and will continue to, inspire me every single day. Again, thank you for your continued support and being part of my journey.

Joining GoDaddy is a dream opportunity to make a very real impact and help a lot of folks build incredible WordPress websites. I couldn’t be more excited to roll up my sleeves and start this next adventure.

Onwards!

Responses

  1. Alex Avatar

    Woah, this is awesome! Congratulations 🙂

  2. JR Tashjian Avatar

    Congratulations Rich! I’m excited for the future of your products at GoDaddy.

    1. Rich Tabor Avatar

      Thanks man! I’m super stoked!

    1. Rich Tabor Avatar

      Appreciate it Danny!

  3. Max Avatar

    Congratulation for you personally! That said I just* went “Lifetime Premium”. So I kind of pulled the trigger at the wrong time …

    1. Max Avatar

      … not complaining as I understand there is more stuff to come that transcended godaddy, right? I am from Europe and not sure if godaddy is as popular here as in America but when you send around those offers I’ll be looking in to them. Very welcome!

    2. Luke Avatar

      Congrats bro! Amazing work!

      1. Rich Tabor Avatar

        Thanks Luke!

    3. Rich Tabor Avatar

      Hey Max! I’ll DM you. 🤜🤛

      1. Rich Tabor Avatar

        And thanks!!

  4. Kashif Hussain Avatar

    Ahh I hope this doesn’t mean it’ll be commercialised with heavy monthly fees. Guys like me, non profit, need accessible high calibre plugin.

    I mean I know ‘quids in’ but user experience shouldn’t be forgotten.

    1. Rich Tabor Avatar

      Nope — no monthly fees to use the ThemeBeans themes, nor CoBlocks. You can actually download the themes from GitHub now too.

  5. Kate Avatar

    Congrats and thanks for all your themes!

    1. Rich Tabor Avatar

      Appreciate it Kate!!

  6. Marjorie Ray Avatar

    I love your Coblocks! I hope GD Managed hosting works out for you, I have had caching issues with them on a client site. Maybe there is hope in sight with you there!

    1. Rich Tabor Avatar

      Thanks! There are definitly plans in place for all sorts of new stuff + improvements!

  7. Brad Miller Avatar
  8. Sazzad Mahmud Avatar

    Congratulations Rich! Hope we will get more exciting work from you and GoDaddy.

    1. Rich Tabor Avatar

      Thanks!! And indeed; we’re already on it!

  9. Michał Wiercimok Avatar

    Wow, great news. Congratulations Rich (and Godaddy 😉 )!

    1. Rich Tabor Avatar

      Thanks Michał! I’m stoked!

  10. Ahmad Awais Avatar

    Congratulations, Rich! You deserve it all. So glad to see you grow. Hoping for the best here.

    Peace! ✌

    1. Rich Tabor Avatar

      Appreciate that Ahmad! Cheers!!

  11. Phil Morrow Avatar

    Huge congratulations Rich, I’ve been a big fan of yours since your early days on ThemeForest / PurtyPixels.

    GoDaddy haven’t always had the best reputation here in Europe but the other WP products they’ve acquired over the past few years have gone from strength to strength so I’m excited to see what the future holds for you!

    1. Rich Tabor Avatar

      Wow man, I appreciate the kind words! True on all accounts. GoDaddy has been making a lot of strides in the past couple of years, and the team around WordPress specifically comprises of some of the brightest minds in the industry. I’m stoked for what’s on the roadmap — it’s looking good!

  12. Tom Rhodes Avatar

    Huge congratulations Rich, and massively deserved. Are you moving on from your role at Envato also?

    1. Rich Tabor Avatar

      Thanks Tom! Yea, Friday was my last day.

  13. Alex Avatar

    Crazy stuff, congrats!

    Your eye for simple design is rare to come across, and it’s good to be your customer, even though now everyone gets to enjoy the themes!

    Keep us updated on your future plans and ideas.

    1. Rich Tabor Avatar

      Wow thanks Alex! Will do! I’ll still be writing/sharing on my newsletter.

  14. Zac Gordon Avatar

    Huge congrats man! So happy for you!! Keep on rocking!!

  15. Henrique Picanço Avatar

    This is awesome! I hope GoDaddy can give to CoBlocks and Block Gallery what they need it. And will be awesome see what will happens from now. But, a question about ThemeBeans: After April 9th, 2020, the themes of ThemeBeans will keep support, will go to WordPress.org or will keep the paid support program?

    1. Rich Tabor Avatar

      Thanks Henrique! The themes are up on GitHub, but support and remote updates will no longer be available after April 9th, 2020. There will not be a paid support program. Here’s the full announcement on ThemeBeans for more information.

      1. Henrique Picanço Avatar

        Interesting. Seems like a good time to make a Tabor fork! But again, congratulations on the new course! Good luck on GoDaddy! : D

  16. Emil Uzelac Avatar
    Emil Uzelac

    This is huge, congrats Rich and GoDaddy!

  17. Samuel Lavoie Avatar

    Wow, congrats to you! 🎉 I went Lifetime premium a few months back just for Tabor, love to support the work, I hope the theme keeps being updated or forked.

  18. Alexander Avatar

    Wow, congrats on a new achievement. I guess I’ll be having some fun time digging into these themes code. Always want to learn something new and improve some skills 😉

  19. Beth Anderson Avatar
    Beth Anderson

    Happy for you, frustrated for me. GoDaddy just went to “If you have a WP question prices start at $49 for 1 incident”. Will you still have a support forum so we can at least help each other? I just found CoBlocks and was thrilled and now have a question and learn you are moving up. Can you please fix the random extra spacing issues?

    1. Rich Tabor Avatar

      Hey Beth, if you have an active license you’ll still receive support for your theme. And could you report any issues you’re having on the CoBlocks GitHub repo? Thanks!

  20. Buyer Avatar

    I bought the Tabor theme. Soon after, this GoDaddy thing happened, and I lost access to it on ThemeForest. I’m not a developer and I don’t know how to use the GitHub stuff. Disappointed that I’m unable to use a theme I purchased. Haven’t been able to find a replacement theme since. I emailed last year but no response.

    1. Rich Tabor Avatar

      Hey mate, all my ThemeBeans themes are now available for free over on GitHub. They’re 100% GPL so you can download, use them as you see fit. 👍

  21. Sean Corey Avatar
    Sean Corey

    Congratulations on your new job! Thanks for all the great work you’re doing in the WordPress world.

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