Title: Adding a Standalone Software Module
Last modified: March 23, 2017

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# Adding a Standalone Software Module

 *  [mhoffey](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mhoffey/)
 * (@mhoffey)
 * [9 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/adding-a-standalone-software-module/)
 * I am interested in better understanding how to integrate third party software
   programs which are more robust than the plugin options available in WordPress.
   Can someone give me a general idea of the complexity of this and what exactly
   is required? I’m building a non-for-profit website, have the site theme and content
   built in a managed WP environment, now need to load in and connect to an enhanced
   email platform, e-commerce tool and a donor management solution that are not 
   part of the WordPress suite of plugin offerings.

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)

 *  Moderator [bcworkz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bcworkz/)
 * (@bcworkz)
 * [9 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/adding-a-standalone-software-module/#post-8949583)
 * Any kind of interface should be accomplished through a custom developed plugin.
   If you haven’t already, please review the [Plugin Handbook](https://developer.wordpress.org/plugins/).
   You will see that at a minimum, there is very little required, yet there are 
   some extremely complex plugins available. It all depends on how much integration
   your other software requires from WP. It may not require much more than referencing
   the software output through an iframe, or require a slew of custom functions 
   with action and filter hooks.
 * It’s critically important to not alter the code of other WP components, especially
   the core code. WP core offers a plethora of action and filter hooks that allow
   one to alter what WP does without altering core code. Some themes and plugins
   also offer many hooks for extensibility, others none at all. If you find there
   is no recourse but to alter theme or plugin code, it would mean reapplying your
   changes every time the package is updated, something to avoid if at all possible.
 * The best solution may not be to alter WP, but to alter the other package. It 
   depends on what needs alteration and how amenable the package is to alteration.
   From this aspect, WP can be interfaced with through the REST API and/or custom
   AJAX handlers.

Viewing 1 replies (of 1 total)

The topic ‘Adding a Standalone Software Module’ is closed to new replies.

 * In: [Developing with WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/wp-advanced/)
 * 1 reply
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [bcworkz](https://wordpress.org/support/users/bcworkz/)
 * Last activity: [9 years ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/adding-a-standalone-software-module/#post-8949583)
 * Status: not resolved

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