I've been wonder for some time what the best practice is for modifying a plugin created by a WordPress user?
For example there are a couple lines of code I want to change within the Contact Form 7 plugin. The function is called function wpcf7_ajax_json_echo() and is located in:
wp-content > plugins > contact-form-7 > includes > controller.php
Of course I could just change the code right in that file and be done, but then I'm out of luck when I want to update that plugin as my modifications will probably get written over.
I know I should be making this happen via my functions.php file, but I'm not sure how to go about achieving this. Also, that particular function is 100+ lines of code and I'm guessing I don't want to overwrite that whole function, because there is a good chance the author of the plugin may choose to update something in that function in the future.
Does anyone know the cleanest way for me to modify a few lines within that function via my functions.php file?
Thank you!