Wrenchly documentation
Run the workshop from the job card, not from a diary and a shoebox.
Before you start
- A server of your own with PHP 8.3 or newer and MySQL 8 or MariaDB 10.6 or newer
- Composer, and shell access to run migrations — this is a Laravel application, not a WordPress plugin
- A domain and an SSL certificate, since customer and vehicle records will live behind it
- Someone comfortable deploying a PHP application, or a host who will do it for you
A Laravel application on a server of your own. Nothing is sent anywhere else and there is no per-vehicle or per-user fee.
What it does not do
- It is not a hosted service. You provide the server, the domain, the certificate and the backups — there is no monthly fee and no one else running it for you.
- It does not install itself. Deploying a Laravel application is an hour of somebody who has done it before.
- It does not order parts or connect to a factors' catalogue. Stock is what you tell it.
- It does not read diagnostic tools or vehicle data. The job card is typed, not imported.
What is in the download
The full Laravel source of the application: job cards, customers and vehicles, parts and stock, labour and rates, invoicing and payments.
No obfuscation and no licence server calling home. It is your code on your server, and a PHP developer can change how the workshop works.
Installing it
Provision a server with PHP 8.3 or newer, MySQL 8 or MariaDB 10.6 or newer, and Composer. Point a domain at it and get a certificate before you load real customer data.
Copy the source, run composer install, create the environment file with your database credentials, and run the migrations. The application is a standard Laravel deployment — anything true of Laravel deployment is true here.
Create the first administrator account, then log in and set your labour rates before entering any jobs.
Moving a workshop onto it
Bring across vehicles and customers first, keyed by registration. History is what makes the system worth using on day one rather than in six months.
Enter labour rates and your common parts before the first job card. A job card priced from an empty rate table has to be redone.
Run one bay on it for a week before moving the whole workshop. Every garage has one habit the software does not expect, and finding it on one bay is cheaper than finding it on five.
Licence, updates and support
- One licence covers 1 workshop, on a server of your own.
- 1 year of updates, from the date of purchase.
- 1 year of email support.
- Instant download + licence key by email
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Questions this page does not answer go to support@webkoding.com. If you bought from us and cannot find your licence key, look it up here.
Common questions
Is there a monthly fee?
No, and no per-bay, per-mechanic or per-vehicle charge either. You buy it once and install it on a server you control. That is the whole argument against the hosted alternatives.
Do I need a developer to install it?
You need somebody comfortable deploying a Laravel application — composer, an environment file, a database and migrations. If that sentence means nothing to you, budget an hour of a freelancer’s time rather than an evening of your own.
Where does my customer data live?
On your server. Nothing about your customers or their vehicles leaves your building, which is a different proposition from every hosted garage platform.
Can I look up what we did to a car eighteen months ago?
Yes — vehicles are keyed by registration and carry every past job, with the parts fitted and the hours booked. That question is the reason the vehicle record exists.
Does it handle invoicing and VAT?
Invoices and payments, with VAT handled, priced from the labour time and the parts on the job card rather than typed in again.