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Modifying Free Wordpress Plugins

by rob6188
3 replies
There are some great free scripts for wordpress. Some are GNU, some are free trial, some are just free but retain copyright and/or upgrade to pro.

On the "free but retain copyright and/or upgrade to pro" type scripts, I've modified them to work as equally well, if not better than the pro versions for my own sites.

Taking it to an extreme, I could re-write the whole script from scratch, add features not found in the original, and resell them.

However, I didn't know if I was in a gray area by just modifying them for my own use on my sites?
#free #modifying #plugins #wordpress
  • Profile picture of the author dvduval
    The main problem would be if you are using the same code. If I were to compare your code with the original side by side, and it is clear you did not copy any of the structure or functions, you are probably okay. A good strategy would be to write your own code, and not even reference the original.
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  • Profile picture of the author SteveJohnson
    As the original author of the plugin can't see the code when it's on your site, what you do with the plugins can't really be known. So the short version is that it probably doesn't matter.
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  • Profile picture of the author bgmacaw
    Some PHP developers use IONCube or other protection methods to prevent you from seeing the source code so making modifications isn't always possible.

    Generally you can find free open source plugins with source code that will do what you want and can be modified.
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