Understanding Licenses #
A license is the purchased right to use your software. When a customer buys your product, DMSI DDLS automatically generates a unique license and creates a license record in your database.
What is a License? #
Each license has:
- License Key: Unique string identifier (e.g., DMSI-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX)
- Status: Active, Expired, Suspended, Cancelled, or Revoked
- Activation Limit: How many sites can use this license (1, 5, 25, unlimited)
- Expiration Date: When it expires (or NULL for lifetime licenses)
- Customer: Who owns this license
- Product: Which product this license is for
Example #
Sarah purchases “Pro Plugin” for $99. DMSI DDLS creates license #1234 with key DMSI-A1B2-C3D4-E5F6-G7H8, activation limit of 5 sites, and annual expiration.
Sarah receives an email with her license key and can download the plugin. She can activate it on up to 5 WordPress sites.
Important Distinction #
- License = The complete record with all properties (ID, key, status, expiration, customer, etc.)
- License Key = Just the unique string (DMSI-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) that identifies the license
License Statuses #
Active
License is valid and can be used. Activations are allowed.
Expired
License passed its expiration date. Software may continue working in grace period, but no new activations allowed.
Suspended
Temporarily disabled by admin. All activations stopped until unsuspended.
Cancelled
Customer cancelled (usually refunded). License permanently deactivated.
Revoked
Forcibly removed (policy violation, fraud, etc.). Permanent.
Related Topics #
- [Understanding Activations](#)
- [Managing Licenses](#) (Part 2)
- [License Workflows](#)