Q:

Overwrite WordPress plugins in child theme

The WordPress plugin WooCommerce allows me to overwrite any of its files by making a copy of that file and placing it in my child theme directory. This does not work for other plugins.
How does this functionality work for WooCommerce?
Why doesn't it work for other plugins?
How can I make it work for other plugins? 

A:

Not all plugins need this functionality so it is not standard, it's just something you can allow your plugins users to do if it is relevant to its functionality / theming.
There is a great article here on how to achieve it for your own plugins, however you cannot apply this to existing plugins unless you want your copy of an existing authors work to fall out of date.
http://jeroensormani.com/how-to-add-template-files-in-your-plugin/

