How do I require a serial number or registration for a WordPress plugin?

Question

Does anyone know of a way to require a serial number or registration of a WordPress plugin?

I know that I could sell my plugin to individuals, but what would stop people from sharing it freely on the web? I need a way to track and ensure each "paid" user has...well paid.

I would need to offer support for local test servers and want to offer updates and support through wordpress.org. I am unsure that what I want is even possible, perhaps just selling support for CataBlog is the way to go...

I truly like giving back to the WordPress community and if I could guarantee some money from the development of my plugin then I would be able to create a better plugin. I could even give a limited but "better" free version for people who have simple cataloging needs.

If anyone knows of a good way to track, and enforce payment for a WordPress plugin or any ideas on what to read or research that would be really helpful. Thanks.

Answer 1

You can make a register page inside the plugin where they have to provide a valid email and password. You can use the integrated xml-rpc wp class to send this information to your server.

From this point on it's just like any normal site. You can't force people to keep their account for them-self but they will probably do if they have personal credentials.

Just remember open source is free. If you want to make money with it sell a service, don't try to protect your plugin code because there is not way to do that.