wp-plugin-directory-guidelines

Overview

Authoritative reference for the 18 WordPress.org Plugin Directory guidelines. Covers GPL licensing, plugin naming/trademark rules, trialware restrictions, and all other submission requirements.

When to use

Use this skill when you need to:

• Review a WordPress plugin for compliance with the WordPress.org Plugin Directory guidelines
• Check GPL license compatibility for a plugin or its bundled libraries
• Verify license headers in plugin files
• Identify common guideline violations before submission
• Answer questions about what is or is not allowed on WordPress.org
• Evaluate premium/upsell flows, license checks, or freemium positioning
• Review "teaser" or "preview" UI for trialware violations
• Validate plugin changes with Plugin Check and assess errors or warnings in context

Inputs required

• Plugin source code (or specific files to review)
• Optional: plugin readme and plugin header metadata for naming and license checks
• For automated validation: target plugin slug/path, local WordPress environment and command runner, available tests, and whether the task authorizes fixes or only review

Procedure

Scope the review to the request. Conceptual licensing or naming questions do not require a WordPress installation or a full audit.

1. Check the plugin's license header against the Valid License Headers section below.
2. Walk through the 18 Guidelines checklist, paying special attention to Guidelines 1, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 17.
3. Confirm trialware/freemium compliance using the checklist in guideline-review-checklist.md (Guideline 5 section).
4. For bundled third-party code, verify license compatibility against GPL-Compatible Licenses (Quick) below.
5. Flag matches from Common GPL Violations (Quick) below.
6. For edge cases, consult the detailed references and the GNU GPL FAQ.
7. For source-code reviews or validation after changes, load Plugin Check validation: test, check, assess findings, apply authorized fixes, and retest. It includes commands, reporting requirements, and troubleshooting.

Verification

• Report evidence for each conclusion using the licensing, naming, or Plugin Check reporting guidance below. Distinguish manual review, executed checks, and proposed next steps.

Failure modes / debugging

• If automated validation is unavailable, continue manual review and use the prerequisite and coverage fallbacks in Plugin Check validation. Never report an unexecuted check as passed.

Escalation

Use official Plugin Check documentation for tool behavior and the directory guidelines for policy. Surface unresolved policy ambiguity, uncertain findings, and fixes outside the authorized scope for human review.

18-Guideline Review Checklist

Use the detailed, per-guideline checklist in guideline-review-checklist.md. Load this reference file only when a full guideline audit is requested.

GPL Compliance (Guideline 1 in Detail)

Use gpl-compliance.md for full license tables, compatibility nuances, and examples. Keep this inline section as a quick decision aid.

Verification (Licensing)

• Every licensing-related issue must cite Guideline 1 and include the file path and exact license string.
• Confirm compatibility claims against GPL-Compatible Licenses (Quick) and escalate ambiguous licenses.
• When recommending a header correction, provide both literal License: and License URI: values from the examples below. Link to gpl-compliance.md for the compatibility basis; do not merely say to add a matching URI.

Failure modes (Licensing)

• If a license is not clearly GPL-compatible, do not guess. Check the GNU license list.
• For dual-license packages, verify both licenses and redistribution terms.

Quick Reference: WordPress GPL Requirements

• WordPress is GPLv2 or later.
• Plugins distributed on WordPress.org must be 100% GPL-compatible (code and assets).
• Include a valid License: header and License URI: in the main plugin file.
• Do not add restrictions that conflict with GPL freedoms.

Valid License Headers

GPL Versions Summary

Version	Year	Key Addition
GPLv1	1989	Base copyleft: share-alike for modifications
GPLv2	1991	"Liberty or death" clause (Section 7), clearer distribution terms
GPLv3	2007	Anti-tivoization, explicit patent grants, compatibility provisions

WordPress uses GPLv2 or later, meaning plugins can use GPLv2, GPLv3, or "GPLv2 or later".

For full license texts, see:

• GNU General Public License v1
• GNU General Public License v2
• GNU General Public License v3

License Compliance Checklist

When reviewing a plugin, verify:

• Main plugin file has a valid License: header (e.g., GPL-2.0-or-later, GPL-2.0+, GPLv2 or later)
• Main plugin file has a License URI: header pointing to the GPL text
• If bundled libraries exist, each has a GPL-compatible license
• No "split licensing" (e.g., code GPL but premium features proprietary)
• No additional restrictions beyond what GPL allows
• No clauses restricting commercial use, modification, or redistribution
• No obfuscated code (violates the spirit of source code availability)

Valid License Headers for WordPress Plugins

License: GPL-2.0-or-later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

License: GPL-3.0-or-later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.html

License: GPLv2 or later
License URI: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

GPL-Compatible Licenses (Quick)

• Safe defaults: GPL-2.0-or-later, GPL-3.0-or-later.
• Commonly accepted permissive families: MIT/Expat, BSD, ISC, zlib, Boost.
• Conditional compatibility requires care: Apache-2.0 and MPL-2.0 (verify usage context).
• For full accepted and rejected identifiers, use gpl-compliance.md.

Common GPL Violations (Quick)

• Split licensing that restricts distributed code.
• Obfuscated or non-corresponding source distribution.
• Restrictive clauses (non-commercial, no-resale, forced backlink).
• Bundling GPL-incompatible libraries or assets.

Plugin Naming Rules (Guideline 17)

Use naming-rules.md for full trademark lists, slug blocks, and naming examples. Keep this inline checklist for quick screening.

For naming reviews, cite Guideline 17, explain the applicable trademark or blocked-slug rule, and link to the reference. When proposing a replacement, give both name and slug and explicitly verify lowercase, hyphen separation, and the 50-character limit.

Naming Checklist (Quick)

• Name is not a placeholder and has at least 5 alphanumeric characters.
• Header name and readme name match.
• Name is specific and function-related; avoid keyword stuffing.
• Trademark/project names appear only after connectors like for, with, using, and.
• No banned/discouraged terms or trademark portmanteaus.
• Slug is lowercase, hyphenated, <= 50 chars, and avoids blocked terms.