Onboardora

Self-hosted employee onboarding: write a checklist once and every new starter gets their own plan, with every date worked out from the day they actually start.

The problem it solves

Onboarding fails quietly. The laptop was not ordered, the manager did not know they were the one to book the induction, and nobody noticed until day one — when the new person is sitting in reception.

The fix is not a bigger HR system. It is one timeline per starter, with an owner on every line and dates that move when the start date moves.

• A checklist copied from the last hire, with the last hire's dates still in it
• Tasks owned by "HR" or "the manager" rather than a person who can be asked
• A per-employee-per-month HRIS bought for the one month of the year it matters

Every feature

• From before day one to the end of probation, in the phrases people use. Before they arrive, day one, first week, first month, ninety days. A template written once becomes a plan per starter, and the plan is the screen you work from.
• Every due date is derived, never stored. A task carries an offset — seven days before, day one, plus thirty — and the date comes from the start date. Move the start date and the whole plan moves with it. Nothing to go stale.
• Late is derived too. Not done, and the derived date has passed. There is no is_late column that a missed cron could leave lying on a screen.
• One tap to tick, one to hand it over. Reassigning is inline: pick a name from the row. A task owned by nobody is the one that does not happen, so ownership is a person rather than a department.
• It works with JavaScript off. Every tick and every reassign is a real form post; the script only makes it quicker. It works on the phone of a manager standing in a warehouse.
• Equipment issued and returned. What was given out, when, and whether it came back. Not an asset register — the equipment a starter is handed, tracked through the one loop that matters.
• Overdue tasks chase themselves. A daily job emails the owner of any task that is due or overdue, once per task; a Remind button does the same on demand. Off until you add your own SMTP.
• Documents handed back. List what each starter owes you (signed contract, bank details form) and tick it off as it arrives.
• Owner essentials. Two-factor sign-in, optional single sign-on, roles with invitation links, an append-only audit trail, your logo and colors, a calendar feed of start dates and due tasks, and backups with a guided dry-run restore.
• A page for the new starter. Send one private link: their first weeks as a timeline, the tasks that are theirs to tick, the documents you need from them, the policies to acknowledge. No account to create.
• Documents come back by themselves. Ask for a form or a copy of a document; the starter uploads it (PDF or photo) and you get it on their plan, with a webhook if you want one.
• Policies acknowledged, with a record. The starter ticks "I have read it" and types their name; you see the name and the time.
• One checklist, the right tasks. Tag a starter "remote" or "driver"; tasks marked for that tag reach only them.
• Onboarding news in your team chat. Point a webhook at a Slack channel and each new starter, finished task or returned document arrives as one line: names and tasks, never email addresses or notes.
• Training handed to Trainora. Download your new starters as the file Trainora imports, and track their training and certificates there.
• Everything about a starter in one download. One ZIP holds their checklist, documents list with acknowledgments, equipment and every file they uploaded. Administrators can download every starter at once, one folder each.
• Updates from inside the app. The Updates page installs a new release with your license key: Ownware's signature is checked, a backup is taken first, and the app puts the previous version back by itself if the update is interrupted or the database step or start-up check of the new version fails. It never checks by itself.
• Backups by themselves. Automatic backups, an optional copy to S3-compatible storage you own, and a weekly check that the latest backup reads back. The Health page names anything that needs attention.
• Own It 4.0.1 — fixes and an up-to-date manual. For Onboardora, 4.0.1 fixes an installer that had lost its styling, a rollback that a page opened during an update could stop and a command-line update that ended in an error after putting the previous version back. Its manual, FAQ and QUICKSTART now cover everything 4.0 added, including two Nginx rules that keep the data folder private. Your license covers it: press Check for updates on the Updates page, or download it from your order page.
• Own It 4.0.2 — the installer opens on every host. For Onboardora, 4.0.2 fixes a fresh install on an Apache host: the one-page setup at /install/ looped back to itself and never opened, and now it opens. Your license covers it: press Check for updates on the Updates page, or download it from your order page.

Release notes in full

• Own It 4.1: client installations and your other tools. For Onboardora, 4.1 makes two changes that every app gets. An Extended license bought from October 4, 2026 covers up to ten client installations, one per client project: hand each one over to the client or host it for them, with the client's logo and colors from the app's branding settings. The API reference now shows how to connect Onboardora to Zapier, Make or n8n, using its own webhooks and API key. Your license covers the update: press Check for updates on the Updates page, or download it from your order page.
• Own It 4.0: it updates and backs itself up. For Onboardora, 4.0 means updates from inside the app: the Updates page checks for a new release with your license key, verifies Ownware's signature, takes a backup and puts the previous version back by itself if the update is interrupted or the database step or start-up check of the new version fails. A new install can start with a sample business and remove it in one click; backups run by themselves, with an optional offsite copy and a weekly check that the latest one reads back; and the Health page says whether the install is looking after itself.
• Own It 3.3: everything about a starter in one download. 3.3 puts everything held about a starter in one ZIP: their checklist, the documents list with acknowledgments, equipment and every file they uploaded. Administrators can download every starter at once, one folder each.
• Own It 3.2: the starter's own page. 3.2 gave the new starter a page of their own: one private link with their first weeks as a timeline, the tasks that are theirs to tick, the documents to upload and the policies to acknowledge by typing their name, with no account to create. It also added tags so the right tasks reach the right starter, onboarding news in your team chat, and a download of your new starters that Trainora imports.
• Own It 3.1: it writes to the people you serve. The 3.1 wave gave the catalog a way to reach the other side of the transaction: counterparty email through your own SMTP server, calendar feeds your own calendar subscribes to, attachments filed where the paperwork belongs, and export presets other people's software imports. Each outbound feature ships switched off and runs on your own credentials; a failed send is recorded, and the action that triggered it stands. For Onboardora, 3.1 meant a line-by-line check of the limitations list against the shipped code, so what this page says it does not do is exactly what the download does not do.