Title: AP Casework Manager
Author: ancestorpress
Published: <strong>October 5, 2026</strong>
Last modified: October 5, 2026

---

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# AP Casework Manager

 By [ancestorpress](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ancestorpress/)

[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/ap-casework-manager.1.0.0.zip)

 * [Details](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/ap-casework-manager/#description)
 * [Reviews](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/ap-casework-manager/#reviews)
 *  [Installation](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/ap-casework-manager/#installation)
 * [Development](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/ap-casework-manager/#developers)

 [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/ap-casework-manager/)

## Description

**AP Casework Manager runs the client side of a genealogy practice on your own WordPress
site.** It is built for freelance genealogists and small research practices: every
piece of client work is an engagement, from the first enquiry to the day it closes,
and everything about it stays in your own database.

The free edition handles the start of every job – the enquiry, the client, and the
structured intake that tells you what the client actually wants and already knows.

#### What the free edition does

 * **Enquiries and engagements.** Record each piece of work and move it from Enquiry
   to Scoping to Closed. Every change is recorded with the date, who made it and
   any note.
 * **Clients.** Contact details, your private notes, and the date the client gave
   permission to hold their information – recorded automatically when they send 
   their intake form.
 * **A genealogy intake form, sent as a private link.** No account and no password
   for the client. The form asks what a genealogist needs to know: who the client
   is and their consent; what they want to find out, in their own words; the people
   involved (name, other spellings, birth, death, marriages, religion, military 
   service, occupation); what they already hold (a tree, certificates, photographs,
   DNA results, earlier research); **where they have already looked**, so you never
   charge them for a search they have done themselves; and their budget, timescale
   and how they like to hear from you.
 * **Save and finish later.** Clients can come back to the form until they send 
   it. Sending it records their consent, moves the engagement to Scoping, and emails
   you – the email carries no client details, only a link to read them on your own
   site.
 * **An optional PIN** on any link, for clients who want the extra step. Repeated
   wrong PINs are slowed down.
 * **Secure uploads.** Clients can send certificates, photographs, GEDCOM files 
   and documents. Each file is checked by its content, not just its name, stored
   outside your media library under a long random name, and handed out only through
   the plugin, to you. The plugin also checks that your web server refuses direct
   requests for these files, and tells you how to fix it if it does not.
 * **Your branding.** Your practice name, logo, accent colour and footer on the 
   client pages. The client pages use their own styling and never load your theme,
   so a theme update cannot break a form a client is part-way through.
 * **A Help button on every Casework screen.** The AncestorPress Support Copilot
   answers questions about using the plugin, from documentation matched to your 
   version. It is optional, read-only, and sends nothing about your clients – see
   External services below.
 * **Privacy tools.** Download everything held about a client as one file, anonymise
   a client while keeping your business record of the work, and handle requests 
   by email address through WordPress’s own Tools > Export Personal Data and Erase
   Personal Data. Closed engagements are kept for a period you choose (six years
   unless you change it) and can then be deleted permanently – never automatically.
   Suggested text for your privacy policy is added to Settings > Privacy.

The free edition is not a trial: there is no limit on clients or engagements, and
nothing stops working after a time.

#### AP Casework Manager Pro

[AP Casework Manager Pro](https://www.ancestorpress.com/ap-casework-manager-wordpress-plugin/)
carries every engagement on from the intake to delivery:

 * A research plan and quote your client agrees to by typing their name – frozen
   exactly as agreed – with changes of scope agreed the same way.
 * A private client page with progress updates, the research log (searches that 
   found nothing included, written as work done), hours used, and a link to your
   invoice.
 * Reports written in the plugin, with PDF export in your own fonts, colours and
   letterhead.
 * GEDCOM deliverables with a living-people checklist, and family-share links that
   show relatives only what you choose.
 * A set number of questions after delivery, consultation offers, and follow-on 
   engagements.
 * AI first drafts of a research plan built from your own methods, through the AI
   service you connect to WordPress – and a disclosure statement for every report.

### External services

#### Freemius

Purpose: optional account connection, licence administration, checkout for the Pro
edition and usage diagnostics, provided by Freemius, Inc. This free package is updated
from WordPress.org.

When: only if you opt in, connect or manage an account or licence, use checkout,
or consent to diagnostics. If you skip the opt-in, everything in the free edition
still works.

Data: the site address, the administrator email you provide, plugin and WordPress
versions and licence identifiers; usage diagnostics only with consent. No client,
engagement, intake answer or file is ever sent.

Terms: https://freemius.com/terms/
 Privacy: https://freemius.com/privacy/

#### AncestorPress Support Service

Purpose: the optional Help assistant, the AncestorPress Support Copilot, answers
questions about using the plugin. Where an AI provider is connected in WordPress(
Settings > Connectors), that provider answers first, at your own cost, and the [AncestorPress Support Service](https://bwtlsupport.com/),
provided by Black and White Trading Ltd, supplies the matching documentation; if
that provider cannot answer and the site is connected to the service, the assistant
automatically falls back to the service. Where none is connected, the service answers
a few questions a month itself, free. The assistant is read-only.

When: nothing is sent until an administrator opens the assistant and accepts its
privacy notice. The acceptance is recorded with who gave it and when, and can be
withdrawn on the Casework > Support screen.

Answered by your own AI provider: your question and chat history go only to that
provider. The service is asked only for documentation, and receives the site address,
the plugin and its version, the admin screen, and any Freemius installation ID or
support token – never your question.

Answered by the service (no AI provider connected, or your AI provider’s answer 
failed – in either case only when the site is connected through the Freemius opt-
in or a support token on the Casework > Support screen): the question and up to 
20 recent chat messages; the site address and any Freemius installation ID or support
token, to authorise the request; this plugin’s version, the versions of other active
plugins whose folders begin “ap-” or “ancp-“, the admin screen, and your database
schema revision, how long you keep closed engagements, your upload size limit, whether
your upload folder is closed to the web, and how many clients, engagements, intake
forms and files you have – never their contents. Your clients’ information itself
is never sent: no name, contact detail, intake answer, note or file leaves your 
site, only the counts. The free plan answers a limited number of questions a month.

Tickets: with a licence or support token, only when you open the ticket form and
click “Create ticket” does the plugin also send the conversation, the details above,
the question category, the contact email you enter (pre-filled with your WordPress
account email) and the first and last name from your WordPress profile; these are
kept as a support ticket. On the free plan no ticket form is offered, so none of
this is sent, and help from a person is on the WordPress.org support forum.

Retention: questions are not stored, and the conversation stays in your browser 
until you leave the page. Authorisation checks are cached for up to 12 hours; rate-
limit and free-plan counters are kept against a hash of your host name (monthly 
counts for about 40 days); daily usage counters with no site identifier are kept
for up to 180 days. Please do not paste details of living people into a question.

Terms: https://ancestorpress.com/terms/
 Privacy: https://ancestorpress.com/privacy-
policy/

### Credits

 * [Freemius WordPress SDK](https://github.com/Freemius/wordpress-sdk) – GPLv3; 
   release 2.13.4 with a small local PHP 8 fix (marked 2.13.5), described in vendor/
   freemius/BWD-PATCH-NOTES.md.
 * The Pro edition also bundles [dompdf](https://github.com/dompdf/dompdf) (LGPL-
   2.1) with php-font-lib (LGPL-2.1-or-later), php-svg-lib (LGPL-3.0-or-later), 
   masterminds/html5 and sabberworm/php-css-parser (both MIT), the DejaVu fonts (
   Bitstream Vera licence) and the [Libre Baskerville](https://github.com/impallari/Libre-Baskerville)
   font (SIL Open Font Licence 1.1). Each keeps its own licence file.

## Screenshots

[⌊The dashboard - new enquiries, cases in scoping, and anything waiting for you.⌉⌊
The dashboard - new enquiries, cases in scoping, and anything waiting for you.⌉[

The dashboard – new enquiries, cases in scoping, and anything waiting for you.

[⌊A client's intake form as it arrives - who they want researched, what they already
have, the files they sent, and where they have already looked.⌉⌊A client's intake
form as it arrives - who they want researched, what they already have, the files
they sent, and where they have already looked.⌉[

A client’s intake form as it arrives – who they want researched, what they already
have, the files they sent, and where they have already looked.

[⌊The intake form your client fills in from a private link - your practice name 
and colour, no account needed, and they can save and finish later.⌉⌊The intake form
your client fills in from a private link - your practice name and colour, no account
needed, and they can save and finish later.⌉[

The intake form your client fills in from a private link – your practice name and
colour, no account needed, and they can save and finish later.

[⌊A client's record - consent recorded at intake, your private notes, and the privacy
tools: download everything held about them, or anonymise them.⌉⌊A client's record-
consent recorded at intake, your private notes, and the privacy tools: download 
everything held about them, or anonymise them.⌉[

A client’s record – consent recorded at intake, your private notes, and the privacy
tools: download everything held about them, or anonymise them.

[⌊Settings - your branding for client pages, where notifications go, the largest
upload, how long records are kept, and the check that your web server keeps client
files private.⌉⌊Settings - your branding for client pages, where notifications go,
the largest upload, how long records are kept, and the check that your web server
keeps client files private.⌉[

Settings – your branding for client pages, where notifications go, the largest upload,
how long records are kept, and the check that your web server keeps client files
private.

## Installation

 1. In WordPress, go to Plugins > Add New, search for “AP Casework Manager”, then install
    and activate it.
 2. Open the new Casework menu. Add your practice name and logo under Casework > Settings.
 3. Add a client, start an engagement for them, and send the intake form from the engagement’s
    Intake tab.

## FAQ

### Does my client need an account?

No. Clients use a private link you send them. You can add a PIN to any link.

### Where is my clients’ information kept?

In your own WordPress database, and their files in a protected folder in your uploads
directory. The free edition sends nothing about your clients anywhere.

### Does it make my practice GDPR-compliant?

It gives you the tools: consent recorded at intake, a copy of everything you hold
about a client, anonymising, WordPress’s own export and erase requests, and a retention
period with deletion at the end. How you use them, and your privacy notice, remain
your responsibility.

### My site runs on nginx. Is anything different?

nginx ignores the .htaccess rule the plugin writes to close its upload folder to
the web, so the dashboard will tell you the folder is open and show the line to 
add to your nginx configuration (or ask your host to add it). Until then your clients’
files are still stored under random names the plugin never reveals.

### Can I ask a client to fill in the form during a call?

Yes. Open the link yourself and fill it in with them.

### What happens to my data if I delete the plugin?

Its settings are removed. Your clients, engagements and files are kept unless you
have ticked “delete everything” under Casework > Settings > Keeping records first.

### Is there documentation?

Yes: the Help button on every Casework screen answers questions from it, and it 
is all at [AP Casework Manager documentation](https://www.ancestorpress.com/ap-casework-manager-wordpress-plugin/casework-manager-documentation/).
What is planned next is on the [roadmap](https://www.ancestorpress.com/ap-casework-manager-wordpress-plugin/casework-manager-future-direction/).

## Reviews

There are no reviews for this plugin.

## Contributors & Developers

“AP Casework Manager” is open source software. The following people have contributed
to this plugin.

Contributors

 *   [ ancestorpress ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ancestorpress/)

[Translate “AP Casework Manager” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/ap-casework-manager)

### Interested in development?

[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ap-casework-manager/),
check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/ap-casework-manager/),
or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/ap-casework-manager/)
by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/ap-casework-manager/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).

## Changelog

#### 1.0.0

 * First public release: enquiries and engagements, clients, the genealogy intake
   form sent as a private link with an optional PIN, secure uploads, branding for
   the client pages, the AncestorPress Support Copilot behind a Help button on every
   Casework screen, and the privacy tools – a client’s data as one file, anonymising,
   WordPress’s Export and Erase Personal Data, and deletion at the end of the retention
   period.

## Meta

 *  Version **1.0.0**
 *  Last updated **15 hours ago**
 *  Active installations **Fewer than 10**
 *  WordPress version ** 6.2 or higher **
 *  Tested up to **7.1.2**
 *  PHP version ** 8.0 or higher **
 *  Language
 * [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/ap-casework-manager/)
 * Tags
 * [client management](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/client-management/)
   [family history](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/family-history/)[genealogy](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/genealogy/)
   [intake form](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/intake-form/)
 *  [Advanced View](https://vec.wordpress.org/plugins/ap-casework-manager/advanced/)

## Ratings

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## Contributors

 *   [ ancestorpress ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/ancestorpress/)

## Support

Got something to say? Need help?

 [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/ap-casework-manager/)