Those who follow me on Twitter know that I’ve stared a new project called WordPress Hire. After quite a few requests I’ve decided to elaborate on exactly what the project is. My goal for the WPHire project is to create an estimate/invoicing web application (think along the lines of Zoho or or Freshbooks) that runs completely on WordPress, is open-source, and is fantastically simple to use.

WPHire is a free, open-source WordPress solution that provides complete estimate, invoicing, and billing solutions for WordPress developers. Meant to be used as a front-end web app for you AND your clients, it’s built to save you time, headaches, and money! source: http://www.wphire.com/

How simple will it be? I’m thinking along the lines of not having to use the Admin interface for nearly anything. That’s right. Almost everything will be done from a front-end perspective.

I’m calling the WPHire project a WordPress “solution” for lack of a better title. See, it’s going to be more then just a theme or a plugin. It’s actually going to consist of both and will not be like anything you’ve seen! At its core is a custom built theme currently dubbed “InvoicePro”. InvoicePro is meant to be used with a separate WordPress installation. My thoughts are it would work great on a subdomain (for example, http://invoices.yoursite.com/). InvoicePro is still in its very early design stages (see the above image for an initial mockup of the theme) but here’s some of its planned functionality:

What It’ll do for You

• Track client contact info
• Create estimates
• Receive notification of client approval of estimates
• Send invoices
• Allow client viewing of invoices/estimates through encrypted link or force registration
• Send and receive comments to/from clients directly on the estimate page
• Collect payments via PayPal
• View historical data (and save to PDF)
• Minimal exposure to the admin interface (All of the above will be done directly from the theme, NOT the WP admin interface!!)
• Lots more…

What It’ll Do For Your Clients

• View estimates and invoices quickly by using an encrypted link
• Returning clients can view work history (if registered)
• Save invoices directly as PDFs
• Approve estimates
• Pay invoices directly via PayPal
• Leave comments on projects

InvoicePro will also release with a plugin that you install on your current website to view invoice updates on your dashboard.

How Much Will It Cost?

The WPHire project is a free, open-source invoicing solution. All project files will be released free of charge. So, why am I doing this? Mainly for the challenge of working on a large project. This is going to be what I spend my summer doing. However, I do have plans for some monetization by offering premium installation, support, and customization services. I will also offer premium invoice hosting. What’s that? It’s for people who need an online invoicing solution but don’t want to worry about the maintenance, hosting, and set-up. Prices are TBD, but should be about $5-$10/month. Users will be able to chose a subdomain at one of three domains: yourname.wphire.com, yourname.hiredby.me, yourname.proinvoicing.com.

When Will It Be Released?

WPHire is still in early design and planning stages. My expectation is to have some sort of beta version available sometime this fall, but being a one man project means that deadline is “flexible”.

How Can You Contribute?

Working on this project takes a significant amount of time. It also requries hosting, domain, and bandwidth fees. A donation of any size would be greatly appreciated!

Click here to Donate

You can also donate your time and talent if you’re interested. For more info on how you can help, feel free to drop me a line.

How to Stay Updated?

I’m currently working on getting the website for the WPHire project up and running. In the meantime visit the landing page and sign-up for the WPHire Newsletter were you’ll get notified of important blog updates and developments. I’ve also created a Twitter account for WPHire (@wphire) which is currently being set up.