Use the package boundary to decide where a setting belongs and what remains available when a package or license state changes.
Ownership model
| Concern | Owner | What this means |
|---|---|---|
| Room types, base inventory and availability | Hotel Booking Free | Free is required for every supported installation. |
| Booking records and core booking statuses | Hotel Booking Free | Pro extends workflows but does not replace the booking source of truth. |
| Base pricing and basic tax | Hotel Booking Free | A Free-only site can calculate a complete basic total. |
| Advanced pricing, online payments and commercial workflows | Hotel Booking Pro | These capabilities require the compatible Pro add-on and its entitlement. |
| iCal Calendar Sync and Advanced Integration | Hotel Booking Pro | They are distinct Pro channel features with different setup and health models. |
| Layout, photography, responsive presentation and theme navigation | Aurelia | The theme renders public contracts; it does not own booking decisions. |
Why the boundary matters
Free and Pro share one product experience but remain separate packages. Install Free first so the interfaces, database foundation and administration menu exist before Pro loads. WordPress dependency metadata can block an incompatible activation, but it does not install or activate Free for you.
Aurelia can be activated with Free alone. If Hotel Booking is inactive, Aurelia must remain a usable WordPress theme, while booking-specific surfaces are not available.
License behavior
A valid Pro activation enables Pro runtime features, premium updates and support. A previously active installation can keep Pro available during a temporary validation connection issue for up to 72 hours. When that grace period ends, Pro features fail closed and Free continues.
An expired license is different: installed Pro features continue to operate, but updates and support are unavailable until entitlement is restored. Revoked, invalid, deactivated or incompatible states disable Pro features. These state changes must not delete bookings, payments, prices, tax snapshots or room data.
Operational rule
Treat deactivation and uninstall as different actions. Deactivation is a reversible diagnostic or rollback step. Uninstall can invoke cleanup behavior and must not be used as an update or rollback method.
Continue with Install Hotel Booking Free, then add Hotel Booking Pro or Aurelia as required.