What does Pro Photo’s end of support for their WordPress theme mean?

I’m talking to a lot of clients, and potential clients, that are very concerned about the end of support for Pro Photo. The reason I recommend Pro Photo to my clients that are photographers is the support. It is above and beyond anything in customer service today, and certainly much better than any other WordPress theme out there.

Many years ago, I was at Starbucks and was given the wrong drink. I told the barista that it was incorrect and what I had ordered. She told me that what was given to me, was the drink I had ordered. It’s so long ago that I don’t recall what the drink was, but what I do recall is how it was handled. She apologized for the misunderstanding (which was completely my fault) offered to remake anything I would like, and suggested I keep the original drink so I could try it.

And they handed me a gift card for another free drink, at a later time.

I’m telling this story, because this is how Pro Photo handles things. The level of service is exceptional.

Over the past 6 months, many of my website design clients have switched over to their hosting. The switch is seamless and completely handled by them. One of the reasons Pro Photo has given for the change to being hosted by them (like Showit or Squarespace really, even though it’s still WordPress) is that they’ll be able to provide support on a higher level since they will fully understand the environment for hosting.

They have proven this in the last 3 weeks, with two of my clients. The level of research they put into resolving their issues was once again above and beyond.

So back to my question.

What does Pro Photo’s end of support actually mean?

It means if you bought Pro Photo before they offered hosting, and you use GoDaddy, Bluehost, or any other host, Pro Photo is no longer going to answer your questions or help with your issues after the end of this year.

It also means you will not be receiving any of the new features that are on the hosted version. (Font styles improvements are a game changer, but more to come on that in another post).

Your website will still work on January 1st, if you have Pro Photo 7.

If you have Pro Photo 6, which previously had support discontinued, then you need to upgrade. I’m seeing P6 often break due to the host upgrading to a recent version of PHP (which is essential for security), so I do recommend you change over immediately.

Pro Photo 7 will continue to work for now, and likely for a while.

What should you do?

Here’s what I am doing.

I’m using Pro Photo 7, hosted on Flywheel. I don’t ever go to Pro Photo support for my own site. I am concerned though, that eventually something won’t work. I also may have Shiny Object Syndrome over new Pro Photo hosted features. My plan is to stay aware that this is something I need to take care of, and to make a plan for a transition in 2023.

If you are on Pro Photo 7, you can do the same. When you look at your budget for 2023, look at what you are paying for hosting, and consider if you can afford to spend a little more. For some clients, it’s not more, but if you have basic shared hosting on Bluehost, then it’s likely a bit of an upgrade.

That’s the thing, it’s an upgrade in other ways too. See my hosting review for more specifics.

This is not an affiliated or paid post.