Free Wordpress Plugin: Add AWeber & GetResponse Forms

[TheUltimatePublishing]

Lately I did a squeeze page experiment on AdWords, (non-internet marketing niche), I added a border around my opt-in button & my subscribe rate went up. So here I am sharing a modification I made to an existing wordpress plugin.

Check it out here: (Of course, it's FREE.....)
Wordpress Blogging | Affiliate Marketing | The Ultimate Publishing Blog

[John Taylor]

I tried to contact the developer a few times & I still could not get any replies, so I took matters into my own hands…..

I hired someone to edit the border around the opt-in button, this modification is inspired by

Unless the original plugin is Open Source it is illegal to modify
someone elses intellectual property and offer it as your own
product - Free or otherwise.

Anyone who uses this will themselves be breaking the law.

John

[KarlWarren]

I was going to say the same as John,

I can appreciate what you're doing but when I saw the thread title I was thinking "I REALLY hope this isn't my plugin" - it wasn't. But, I know who owns codebanter and they are warriors.

Direct linking to their zip is also a no-no, the reason one would distribute a plugin is because of the benefits that come with it:

a) links
b) traffic
c) signups

etc.

[edit]ESPECIALLY as the only way to download is by signing up to their list...

http://www.codebanter.com/projects/download.php

No brownie points for you.

[KarlWarren]

By the way...

there is a way to achieve the same result without re-coding the original plugin.

Create a new plugin that dynamically alters all submit buttons on your page.

Run them together et voila - you have an original plugin with no copyright infringement.

Kindest regards,
Karl.

[DerrickMarkotter]

Strictly speaking, ALL plugins for WordPress must adhere to the same GPL licence as WordPress itself.

"You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this License."

Exactly what this means is still a subject for debate. One interpretation is that it is permissable to sell a WordPress theme or plugin, but that the buyer is then free do do whatever he wants with it under the GPL, including altering it or giving it away.

[Josh Anderson]

Strictly speaking, ALL plugins for WordPress must adhere to the same GPL licence as WordPress itself.

"You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this License."

Exactly what this means is still a subject for debate. One interpretation is that it is permissable to sell a WordPress theme or plugin, but that the buyer is then free do do whatever he wants with it under the GPL, including altering it or giving it away.

That's a very liberal interpretation but I will argue that it is incorrect.

Plugins do not contain any of the original application but are new code independant of the wordpress application designed to be "plugged" into it.

Therefor they are not covered by the GPL.

[KarlWarren]

WordPress ITSELF is GPL... however, their GPL license applies to plugins ONLY if those plugins are bundled WITH the WordPress program.

I just read WordPress's own GPL from their site and it states...

These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program, and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those sections when you distribute them as separate works.

Thereby excluding "plugins"...

The plugin is not a derivative of 'the program' - the plugin is an addition.

[DerrickMarkotter]

As I said, it's open for debate. However, neither plugins nor themes will function in the absence of the original GPL'd WordPress code. It's my understanding that if a theme or plugin uses WordPress hooks, it falls under the GPL.

From the GNU GPL FAQ:
"If a program released under the GPL uses plug-ins, what are the requirements for the licenses of a plug-in? It depends on how the program invokes its plug-ins. If the program uses fork and exec to invoke plug-ins, then the plug-ins are separate programs, so the license for the main program makes no requirements for them.
If the program dynamically links plug-ins, and they make function calls to each other and share data structures, we believe they form a single program, which must be treated as an extension of both the main program and the plug-ins. This means the plug-ins must be released under the GPL or a GPL-compatible free software license, and that the terms of the GPL must be followed when those plug-ins are distributed.
If the program dynamically links plug-ins, but the communication between them is limited to invoking the ‘main’ function of the plug-in with some options and waiting for it to return, that is a borderline case."
Also read:
Wordpress Themes Are GPL Code by Wordpress Plugins
One Way in which Habari Absolutely Slaughters WordPress - Asymptomatic

[Frank Murphy]

Thats a really cool plugin..I was looking for something like this..Thanx

[Joe721]

The foundations of GPL are given here:

A Quick Guide to GPLv3 - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)

"When a program offers users all of these freedoms, we call it free software"

The definition of "free software" leads to some interesting and alarming things:

Selling Free Software - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)

"Many people believe that the spirit of the GNU project is that you should not charge money for distributing copies of software, or that you should charge as little as possible — just enough to cover the cost."

"Actually we encourage people who redistribute free software to charge as much as they wish or can. If this seems surprising to you, please read on."


Apparently Chameleon is a fork of WordPress itself.

[Alan Petersen]

I agree with Karl and Josh that plugins do not fall into the WP GPL because it's code is not a derivative from the original WP source code. It's a plugin...an add on. That is why some folks develop and sell plugins like phpBay. A great plugin but it's not free and if someone were to modify the code and give it away I'm sure it's developer would be on you like a heart attack.

Unless the plugin developer opens up his/her code to others (I've seen many do this) then it shouldn't be worked on without permission. That being said your plugin idea is awesome but I won't be using because it might not be legit. But you should develop your own plugin in that does this. I would optin to your list for it. :-)

[Kate Anderson]

I know that you mentioned that you contacted the developer to ask him to modify this for you, and you couldn't receive a response which isn't entirely true.. he wrote back to you less than 24 hours later and actually created what you wanted at no cost, just to help you out.. by that time, you had hired someone else to add ten minutes work to it and were directly offering it on your site .. total BS, if you ask me.

We can't just take someones product without their permission, add ten minutes of work to it and offer it as our own (or even as a modified version directly available on our site). I don't get cranky often but when I see stuff like this (whether I personally know the people involved or not), it really, really ticks me off.

Anyway, that's the end of my rant.. time to get back to work.

[Frank Bruno]

Hold on let me get my popcorn bucket I keep next to my computer for the show. There's Been a lot of matinees lately, and don't want to miss this one either....

Besides I'd like to formulate my own opinion after all of you do the research and work for me.

Frank Bruno

[TheUltimatePublishing]

Wow, I didn't expect to get so many comments from here. Yes, I admit that it was a mistake on my part.

Anyway, I just updated my blog, I took away the direct download link & I encouraged others to download the plugin from the original source, after that they can use my modified version. In this way, people will still have to download direct from the developer before they can use my modified php file.

Another thing is..... the developer has replied my email already.