Customizing plug-ins on wordpress

[sms2vm]

Once we use plug-ins on wordpress for extended functionalities, do we get access to full source code behind the plugin? Can we customize the plug-in to suite our needs? will there be any impact in long run if the plug-ins are not updated routinely or support not coming from developer.

in short want to know how plug-in works, what advantages and disadvantages.

Thanks,

 

[chrishirst]

do we get access to full source code behind the plugin?

Some you do ... Some you don't.

Can we customize the plug-in to suite our needs?

Some you can .... Some .. you can't.

will there be any impact in long run if the plug-ins are not updated routinely or support not coming from developer.

With some there might be .... With others .... Probably not.

in short want to know how plug-in works, what advantages and disadvantages.

Any particular one???? Because there are THOUSANDS of them.

 

[Edge]

On a general note, the community plugin model has the advantage of providing us with volume without necessarily the quality. One of the problems I find with Open Source software is the lack of documentation and support. The interesting bit is creating something but providing detailed documentation to back it up is boring so it doesn't get done as there's no one to crack the whip.