Let us face it, web developers can be under-appreciated. Most offer their work for free and ask for nothing. The problem is, some of these developers come up with great things. What spurred this topic on… well, the topic came up in the WordPress group in LinkedIn. It was apparent that I was not the only person experiencing a bit of under-appreciation.

Did you know PHPads has had over 2700 downloads since January 2009, and PHPurl has been downloaded over 700 times. This is not a rant. Believe me, if I felt like it, I would, but that is not the point. All of these people go through and download. Each download takes a little bandwidth and people are making money off of at least PHPads. A free tool that makes you money.

Think about all the scripts and plugins you have used, even those WordPress plugins. There are plenty of people who make plugins… many of which are very handy. I have helped test quite a few plugins and tweaked many more for my own use as well as use for clients. Have I donated – yes I have. How many plugins do you use? How many of them have a little link to donate? Have you ever donated?

I know that not everyone has a lot of money, especially with the tough economy, but we should help each other out in some way. It is the generally better to spread the word about the resource than to donate, but that little bit always makes a developers day. Here is how you can appreciate your developers, whether they are a developer of an entire script or even WordPress plugin:

• Blog about the script or plugin if you liked it. You never know… one of the people who read your blog and then visited that developer might spread the word or even donate.
• Tell people in your social media networks like on Facebook and Twitter about it.
• If a developer does not have a way for you to donate, contact them and urge them to put one up. Whether you do donate or not once they do put a donation button up, at least it is up and visible.
• Put up credit somewhere on your site on what script or plugin you are using, even if you are using it to develop a client’s website.
• Donate at least $5. It is not much, but every little bit is appreciated.

Simple, right? What others ways do you think might help developers become more appreciated?

Related posts:

1. GPL and WordPress Plugins
2. What Happens When A Web Developer Is Underappreciated
3. PHPads