legal side of re-using code

  • Hi everyone,

    as im new to developing on wordpress i have a stupid question!
    can part of Woocommerce’s code be reused to create a commercial plugin? for example iv noticed the order table they use could easily be adapted to fit my plugin that im developing? as my table will be displaying the shop orders with other specific details that i may add, woo’s table design and coding would save masses of work…. where do plugin developers stand with this issue? obviously we need to interact with wordpress and woo’s code but does copying and adapting on that level go too far?

    thanks again for everyone’s help here, it’s great to have people to turn too with questions…..

    Simon

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
  • Moderator t-p

    (@t-p)

    can part of Woocommerce’s code be reused to create a commercial plugin?

    I recommend asking Woocommerce developers.

    Moderator bcworkz

    (@bcworkz)

    Also look at the license.txt file that is part of the plugin’s download package. The plugin is GPL licensed and what that allows you to do is outlined in the license text.

    The GPL license text can also be reviewed here:
    https://opensource.org/licenses/GPL-3.0

    Thread Starter Simon Barlcay

    (@primerepair)

    thanks for the info, i appreciate it, it seems like you can… however it says change the software or use pieces of it in free programs…..

    When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not
    price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you
    have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for
    them if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it if you
    want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new
    free programs, and that you know you can do these things.

    im not 100% sure…. its seems its likely ok to ‘pinch’ bits of code…

    the other options i was thinking about is there a way to also display the genuine Woo table on another separate menu? i basically need the menu to appear on the main admin menu all by itself(not submenu), im going to add a new column to the main Woo menu for additional info from my own plugin anyway….

    Moderator bcworkz

    (@bcworkz)

    If your intent is to use bits of WC code on a site that has WC active, that strikes me as redundant and inefficient. If you can find out what the submenu page’s callback function is from WC, you could add your own top level menu page utilizing the same callback. You could even remove the original submenu item so the page’s link only appears in your top level menu item.
    https://developer.www.ads-software.com/reference/functions/add_menu_page/
    https://developer.www.ads-software.com/reference/functions/remove_submenu_page/

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)
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