Hi DAS,

Let me first start by saying that for us (InspireTheme), Rockettheme is like our big brother who we greatly respect and we are very thankful to.
Back in the early days of the Gantry 5 framework (between 2015-2017) I was a very active contributor to the project on Github (my username is JoomFX).
In order to show our appreciation to the Rockettheme team for developing the Gantry 5 framework we also became a backer for the Grav project (simply because the Gantry 5 framework is not available on OpenCollective). You can read more about it in this blog post.

Actually, a big part of the Rockettheme community knows about us and they are members of our community as well.
If you search in the Rockettheme forums for "InspireTheme" you will find quite some results starting from 2016-2017.

Anyway, back to the topic...
I heard about Mr. T - that's very sad indeed.
I didn't know him in person, but I was impressed by the quality (and quantity) of his posts in the Rockettheme forum.
He was a key person in the RT support so I do believe that the lack of response in the RT forums is in big part due to his absence.
I also believe (and hope) that this will be temporary until RT sort things out.

Regarding the Gantry 5 development - it is already a very mature and stable framework.
I also wish that the Rockettheme team (Andy, Matias, Djamil and Karol) had more time to spend on the Gantry 5 project but everything depends on the priorities. It is business after all.
However, because of the great potential that the Gantry 5 framework has, I do believe that the lack of activity is temporary.
We might not see some big new features for a while (the framework already has everything needed), but I believe that RT will maintain the project for the foreseeable future. I mean, they will address the security issues, the critical bugs, the Joomla 5 compatibility, etc.
We (InspireTheme) do not have much resources but we are also ready to contribute whenever and wherever we can.

Regarding the future of InspireTheme - we might not be very active in terms of new products but we are here to stay!
We are constantly improving our products - fixing bugs, optimizing the code, updating the Quickstart packages (we offer both Joomla 3 and Joomla 4 Quickstart packages), providing support for our customers, etc.
I love InspireTheme, it is my creation, so I will do everything possible to keep building and keep satisfying our customers.
I also love the Gantry 5 framework so I will be more than happy to assist our customers with all Gantry 5 related questions and problems.

I saw the topic in the RT forum so I'd like to address some of the concerns that people have:

1. I.T. offers the R.T. extensions as addons which, as we are aware, havent been updated or supported in several years and don't work (as far as I know) with Joomla 4 - We use the RT extensions (only RokSprocket) in the Joomla 3 version of our products. For Joomla 4 we have replaced them with our own particles. You can find more details in this blog post.

2. I. T. offers 'Particles' as add ons for a premium price. Well, I have attempted to install particles on RocketTheme templates (with Mark's help) and was never successful. - Our particles are built in a much different way compared to the ones in the RT templates. We build template-agnostic particles and make sure that they will work with each and every Gantry 5 template. Also, each and every one of our particles has its own installation instructions where the steps are outlined in details. Everybody can try with our free particles and see what I mean.

3. The templates that they offer are no where near as inspired as the RocketTheme templates - well, there's nothing to say here
It is a matter of personal taste. I like ours, but RT templates are great, indeed


P.S. I will make this discussion public so everybody can see the replies.

I appreciate your thorough reply! That's great to hear.

DAS

No problem at all, DAS.

Let me say well, that's a relief! .. and refreshing :-) I have moved to using the I T templates for a couple of sites now with great results! https://fishthefingerlakes.com is one of them and my client and I love the way it came out.

Some of the comments addressed above were in my R T forum post so I appreciate the elaboration on the concerns of the post.

I'm here, all in loving it and midway through project using the 'Glory' template and I'm about to attempt my first install of a particle!

Keep up the good work, know that your work is much appreciated...

Hey Thomas,

Thank you very much for the kind words! It is really much appreciated
I am glad that you are enjoying our products! If you have any problems or questions, just open a new discussion here in the forum and we will assist you as soon as possible!

Have a great day and thank you once again