Appearance
License & Updates
How to activate Formatrica Pro, what happens when a licence lapses, and how each edition receives updates.
Activating Pro
- After installing the Pro plugin, go to Formatrica → License.
- Paste your license key and click Activate.
- On success the page shows your plan, status, and expiry.
Activation registers this site against your license and unlocks Pro authoring and updates. The raw key is stored securely and never displayed again — the License page shows only a masked version.
- Refresh re-checks the licence with the server (useful after a renewal).
- Deactivate frees this site's activation slot so you can move the licence to another site.
One licence, limited sites
Each licence permits a set number of active sites. Deactivate a site you no longer use to free its slot.
When a licence lapses
Formatrica Pro is built to degrade gracefully, never to punish. If your licence expires, there's a short grace period, after which the split is:
Keeps working (existing content is never broken):
- Pro fields already on your forms keep rendering and validating.
- Multi-step, conditional logic, custom attributes, redirect-on-submit, and theme presets keep working on the front end.
- You can still edit and save forms.
Pauses (features that cost money or need the service):
- Payments — payment forms show "temporarily unavailable" and stop accepting payments.
- Twilio SMS — SMS sending stops (your Twilio balance is never spent on a lapsed licence).
- Save & Resume — draft saving is disabled.
- AI form generation — disabled.
- Submitter confirmation emails — stop sending.
- Pro updates — stop being offered.
Authoring is locked — you can't add new Pro fields or turn on new Pro features, but anything already configured is preserved. Re-activating the licence restores everything.
Updates — which channel you're on
Formatrica ships as three packages, and each updates differently:
| Package | Where you got it | How it updates |
|---|---|---|
| Free (WordPress.org) | The WordPress.org plugin directory | Automatically through WordPress.org, like any other directory plugin. No extra setup. |
| Free (self-hosted) | Downloaded from NexusPlugins | Checks updates.nexusplugins.com and offers updates in your Dashboard. No licence needed. |
| Pro | Your NexusPlugins account | Authenticated updates tied to your active licence, delivered in the Dashboard. |
You can tell which you have from the plugin's Update URI (visible in the plugin file header) — the WordPress.org build has none, the self-hosted build points at updates.nexusplugins.com, and the Pro build points at the NexusPlugins Pro URL.
Pro updates
Pro checks for updates against NexusPlugins using your licence's authentication token (never your raw key). Updates are offered only while your licence is currently active — so keep your licence valid to keep receiving them. After a renewal, use Refresh on the License page if an update doesn't appear right away.
Self-hosted Free updates
The self-hosted Free build checks a public manifest at updates.nexusplugins.com every 12 hours and offers any newer version in Dashboard → Updates, just like a WordPress.org plugin — no licence or key required. The WordPress.org build ignores this channel entirely and updates through the directory.
Test it
- On the License page, activate with your key and confirm the status shows active with the correct expiry.
- In Dashboard → Updates, click Check again and confirm any available update is offered from the expected source.