What are the requirements for hosting a project on CodePlex?
Your project must meet the following criteria:
- You must choose a license for your project (license resources: Open Source License page on Wikipedia)
- It must be an ongoing project (no "abandoned" projects)
- It must have source code (no non-software projects)
If you discover a project which is not complying with these requirements, please report it using the
contact us form.
Below is an additional FAQ around the rules for hosting projects:
Q: Are there any technology restrictions? A: No, projects can use any technology (e.g. any operating system or programming language).
Q: What is an "abandoned" project? A: A project is considered abandoned if there is no longer any coordinators involved with the project and the project has no user traffic. A "finished" project is fine as long as there is still a coordinator for the project and user activity.
Q: Can my project include closed-source or proprietary dependencies? A: It is fine for your project to be dependent on closed-source or proprietary software, however those dependencies cannot be hosted on CodePlex. You can host them on an alternative site and instruct your users to install them as pre-requisities to installing your project.
Q: Can I include just the binaries of another open source project that is a dependency of my project? A: Yes, but you should include information on what is the website for the dependency (e.g. include a text file in the same directory as the binary in your project).
Q: Does the project have to be in English? A: No, projects can be in any language.
Q: Can we create a test project to try out the features of CodePlex?A: Yes. When you create a project it starts in an "unpublished" state that you can use to test things out. When you're finished you can delete the project without publishing.