How do I set AI licensing terms on a WordPress site?
Two things, switched on separately
The plugin has 2 functions. You can enable them separately.
RSL License Serving publishes machine-readable terms at /license.xml. It is free and gives operators a way to discover your price. This is the function every site should enable so its terms can be found.
Verification checks whether automated requests presenting a licence carry a valid token. It refuses those that do not, allowing you to enforce the terms you published.
Step 1: publish your terms
Install the plugin from the WordPress Plugin Directory. Create a Supertab account if you need one, then copy the Website URN from the dashboard into the plugin.
The plugin publishes license.xml at the root of your domain, where crawlers can find it. Your theme, caching and hosting stay as they are. Readers see no change.
Step 2: turn on verification
Add a Merchant API Key from the dashboard and select the URL paths to cover. Automated requests for those paths will then be checked for a valid token before content is served.
You can leave a week between the 2 steps. Publishing terms does not interrupt access. Verification does refuse requests, so watch your logs for a few days after enabling it, as you would after any new blocking rule.
Choosing which paths to cover
Start with content that is valuable and distinctive. That usually means something other than the homepage: an archive built over 10 years, a reference section, local records or original photography. An operator cannot get that content elsewhere.
Initially, leave alone the paths that bring discovery. Review a month of actual behaviour before extending coverage. You will have more information than on day one.
What to check once it's live
Make 3 quick checks.
Open /license.xml in a browser and confirm that it contains the terms you intended. Look for 401 responses in your logs to identify operators requesting covered paths without a licence. Check both again after changing your URL structure. A path pattern that no longer matches leaves the intended content outside the licence's coverage.
