We’ve made significant changes in how our Prevent Direct Access (PDA) plugins – both Free (Lite) and Gold, work since its version 2.7.0 & 3.2.0 respectively.
Since version 3.2.0, you’ll need to install our Free version in order for our Gold plugin to work properly.
There are a couple of key reasons for the changes:
- It’s difficult to maintain 2 plugins separately at the same time
From now onwards, our PDA Gold acts as an extension (add-on) to our Free version. They will simply extend the core features provided by our Free version. It’s easier for us to develop new premium features and extensions in the future that way. - It’s easier to upgrade and migrate data
Before this change, users will have to deactivate our Free before installing our Gold version in order for us to migrate the data over. They cannot activate both plugins at the same time, which causes some coding conflicts. If they accidentally remove our Free version, all their protected files data is lost. - It makes sense to keep both plugins
Most users tend to install our Free version first before getting our Gold anyway.
FAQ: Running both PDA Free & Gold version
1. When I purchase Prevent Direct Access Gold, should I delete the Free plugin after installing the Gold version?
No, you should not delete the Free plugin. Prevent Direct Access (PDA) Gold is now an “add-on” to the Free version. The Gold plugin won’t be working without the Free version.
2. What if I already delete the Free version, what should I do next?
If you’ve already deleted our Free version, you will need to re-install the plugin again. There will be a notification prompting you to install our Free version once you’ve activated our Gold version 3.2.0.
3. Why nothing changes after activating the Gold version?
It looks like you haven’t activated your Gold license yet.
When your PDA Gold license is not activated, our Free version is still working. It’s just that the Gold features are not enabled.
It’s worth noticing that once the Gold license key is activated, our PDA Free functions won’t work anymore.
4. If I delete the Gold version, will the files protected by the Gold version become unprotected?
When you deactivate or delete our PDA Gold, all protected files will become unprotected (public) again.
5. Will activating the Free version have any impact on the overall performance of my sites?
There will be almost no impact as the Gold version will now act as an add-on to the Free version.
6. Do I have to install and activate the Free version right away?
You will have almost a month to respond to our plugin’s re-structure. That means all current Gold functions will still be working as normal without the Free version.
By mid-July 2020, if our Free version is still not activated, all of the Gold features will stop working properly.
7. Which data will be migrated when I update PDA from Free to Gold version?
The data migration only happens when the Free version is activated.
At the moment, when installing our Gold on top of the Free version, only the file protection status is migrated. That means files protected by the Free version will continue to be protected by our Gold version.
It’s important to know that the default file access permission will be changed from “The file’s author” to “Admin users” including the file’s author. In other words, after upgrading, your protected files will be accessible to admin users by default.
We will manage to migrate the setting’s data as well as private download links in the upcoming versions.
