WPChef Employee Attendance Tracker

WPChef Employee Attendance Tracker is a standalone employee time clock, attendance, break, and timesheet tracker for WordPress. It is built for businesses that want a simple employee clock-in page, basic attendance evidence, CSV exports, and optional mobile app access without requiring Gravity Forms, WooCommerce, or any other form plugin. The free plugin stores attendance inside your WordPress database, creates its own attendance tables, and gives employees a protected frontend clock page through the [wpchef_tracker] shortcode. Administrators can manage employees, departments, one company location, shift templates, attendance records, basic reports, manual adjustments, and CSV exports from the WordPress dashboard. Free plugin features

• Frontend employee time clock with [wpchef_tracker].
• Employee clock in and clock out.
• Break in/out with optional break note.
• Today's status and employee attendance table below the clock.
• Admin dashboard summary.
• Admin attendance list with filters and CSV export.
• Basic reports by employee and date.
• Manual attendance adjustment with event evidence.
• IP address, simple device type, and browser user-agent evidence.
• Optional browser GPS evidence for Clock In, Break In, and Clock Out.
• Optional readable address lookup when a Google Maps Platform API key is configured.
• One company location with address, latitude, longitude, timezone, and radius fields.
• Departments.
• Shift templates with separate Clock In grace and Clock Out grace minutes.
• Employee and manager creation using WordPress users.
• Password setup email for newly created users.
• Mobile Lite setup with Agency ID and free mobile license sync.
• Up to the free mobile-user limit assigned by the WPChef Agency Connector.
• One-way mobile Inbox announcements from Admin/HR to employees.
• Setup page helper for creating the employee clock page.
• Free vs Pro comparison page.

Separate WPChef Tracker Pro features WPChef Tracker Pro is a separate paid plugin for larger teams that need deeper workflow controls. Pro features include:

• Unlimited web and mobile app users.
• Full privacy: attendance data remains in your own WordPress database.
• Two-way Admin/HR and employee communication.
• Face recognition for clock in and clock out.
• Employee selfie snapshots for clock in and clock out.
• Multiple locations, offices, branches, and field locations.
• Extended attendance and payroll reports.
• GPS route tracking for field workers.
• Shift rules, late rules, early clock-out review, and overtime management.
• Payroll-compatible exports.
• Frontend admin/manager pages.
• More employee controls for web access, mobile access, face rules, and GPS rules.

Learn more: https://wpchef.app/WPChef-employee-attendance-tracker/ Shortcode Add this shortcode to a protected employee page: [wpchef_tracker] Mobile Lite The free plugin includes Mobile Lite connection support. From the Mobile App menu, the site can sync with the WPChef Agency Connector to receive an Agency ID and free mobile license key. Free mobile app access follows the mobile-user limit assigned to that agency by the connector. In the free mobile app mode, employees can:

• View their clock screen.
• View current attendance status while clocked in.
• View attendance history.
• View profile information.
• Receive Inbox announcements from Admin/HR.

Mobile app setup guide: https://wpchef.app/mobile-app-setup/ Compose Message, Sent Messages, employee replies, two-way conversations, face recognition, selfie verification, continuous GPS routes, and advanced mobile controls are Pro-only features. External services The plugin works without third-party services for basic web attendance tracking. If a site administrator configures a Google Maps Platform API key, the plugin can use Google Maps/Places/Geocoding services to suggest addresses and convert GPS coordinates into readable addresses. Location data may be sent to Google only when this feature is configured and used. Google Maps Platform Terms: https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/terms Google Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy Google Maps API documentation: https://developers.google.com/maps/documentation If Mobile Lite is enabled, the plugin connects to the WPChef Agency Connector at https://api.wpchef.app to register/sync the installation Agency ID, license key, license status, plan, domain, mobile-user limit, and agency name. Attendance records are not sent to the connector by this free plugin license sync. WPChef website: https://wpchef.app WPChef support: support@wpchef.app Privacy and security notes WPChef Employee Attendance Tracker stores attendance data in your WordPress database. Depending on your settings, records may include employee user ID, clock event times, break notes, admin adjustment notes, IP address, user agent, device type, browser GPS coordinates, and readable address evidence. The plugin uses WordPress roles/capabilities, nonces for admin actions, token hashing for mobile API sessions, sanitization before storage, escaping before output, prepared database calls for user-supplied values, and direct-access guards on plugin files. Site owners are still responsible for using HTTPS, strong admin passwords, proper user roles, secure hosting, backups, and employee privacy notices according to local law.

1. Upload the plugin ZIP through Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin, or install it from the WordPress.org plugin directory.
2. Activate the plugin.
3. Go to WPChef Tracker > Settings.
4. Configure timezone, default shift times, location/GPS behavior, Google Maps API key if needed, allowed roles, and uninstall preference.
5. Go to WPChef Tracker > Location and configure the single company location.
6. Go to WPChef Tracker > Departments and create departments.
7. Go to WPChef Tracker > Shift Templates and create shift templates.
8. Go to WPChef Tracker > Employees and create employees/managers.
9. Go to WPChef Tracker > Setup Pages and create the employee tracker page, or manually add [wpchef_tracker] to a protected page.
10. Ask employees to log in and use the tracker page.

Recommended protected-page setup The plugin requires employees to be logged in. For a simple member-only site, you may use WordPress pages with your preferred access-control method. The Setup Pages screen also suggests Ultimate Member as an optional helper plugin for login/member pages. Mobile Lite setup

1. Install and activate the free plugin.
2. Go to WPChef Tracker > Mobile App.
3. Enter or confirm the Agency Name.
4. Click Sync / Issue Free License.
5. Confirm the Agency ID and license key appear as active.
6. Give employees the Agency ID to use in the WPChef mobile app.

1.5.22

• Improved Mobile Lite attendance experience.
• Mobile app now displays current active attendance directly below the clock screen.
• Attendance history now includes active attendance records while clocked in.
• Removed GPS instruction text from the mobile clock screen.
• Enforced one-way communication for Free Mobile Lite licenses.
• Hidden Compose Message and Sent Messages features for Free licenses.
• Reserved employee replies and two-way messaging for WPChef Tracker Pro.
• Improved mobile license feature enforcement and Flutter app compatibility.

1.5.21

• Updated readme description, installation guide, FAQ, privacy notes, free feature list, Pro feature list, and changelog history.
• Added additional admin capability checks to extended admin save actions.
• Improved Plugin Check handling for custom mobile token/device database operations.
• Added version to Google Maps/Places script enqueue.
• Kept all existing free plugin features intact.

1.5.20

• Fixed Plugin Check issues related to script enqueueing, escaped output, stable tag, and prepared custom table queries.

1.5.19

• Added connector-side license control sync support.
• Improved Tracker Pro sales page.
• Improved free mobile license status handling.

1.5.18

• Added [wpchef_tracker] shortcode alias.
• Improved clock display, GPS evidence for clock actions, employee creation, full-width admin tables, location setup, shift grace fields, and Tracker Pro page.

1.5.17

• Added fallback connector sync support for hosting environments where REST rewrite handling is inconsistent.

1.5.16

• Added automatic free mobile license issuance flow.

1.5.15

• Added connector ping/store debugging and improved installation registry sync.

1.5.14

• Improved Agency ID registry sync with the connector.

1.5.13

• Locked Agency Name after Agency ID generation and removed disconnect from the free plugin UI.

1.5.12

• Improved Mobile App license display, admin menu order, and admin form UI.

1.5.11

• Added Mobile Lite + Agency ID + free mobile user limit flow.
• Added simplified employees, departments, single location, shift templates, and setup pages.

1.5.8

• Renamed mobile Announcements to Inbox and added mobile inbox endpoint compatibility.

1.5.5

• Added backend dashboard statistics, Agency Connector support, active mobile user count, and mobile attendance payload improvements.

1.4.5

• Improved WordPress.org-ready free plugin package.
• Added GPS evidence, readable addresses, Google Maps key support, shift settings, device capture, reports/CSV evidence columns, multiple break support, and Tracker Pro information page.

1.3.2

• Improved WPChef Tracker admin menu, dashboard cards, filters, and table styling.

1.3.1

• Updated plugin branding, slug, text domain, contributor username, internal prefixes, and public shortcode.

1.2.6

• Fixed Plugin Check warnings in uninstall table deletion queries.

1.0.0

• Initial release with custom attendance tables, employee clock in/out, break tracking, frontend shortcode, admin attendance list, manual adjustment, IP/device capture, reports, CSV export, location/timezone settings, and role support.