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InkDesk documentation

Current version 1.0.0 · WordPress 6.6+ · PHP 8.1+ · Updated October 19, 2026

InkDesk runs booking for a tattoo or piercing studio inside WordPress: artist profiles, a flash wall, a request form with artist review, client self-booking, per-artist calendars, phone-signed consent forms and automatic aftercare. InkDesk Pro adds quotes and deposits, balances and tips, projects, waitlist, flash days, ID capture, payouts and no-show rules. This guide gets a studio taking requests in an afternoon.

Requirements

  • WordPress 6.6 or newer, PHP 8.1 or newer. libsodium (bundled with PHP) or OpenSSL for consent encryption.
  • For deposits (Pro): a Stripe account, or WooCommerce with any gateway.

Install

  1. Download the free plugin from the InkDesk product page, or install it from the WordPress plugin directory once listed.
  2. Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin, choose the zip, install and activate. On activation InkDesk writes its encryption key to wp-content/inkdesk-keys/key.php. Keep that file with your backups: without it, stored consent forms cannot be opened.
  3. Open InkDesk → Settings: studio name and email, consent clauses, health questions, aftercare text, cancellation cut-off and retention period.

Quick start

  1. Artists: add each artist with styles, rates, working days and hours, buffer between sessions and a portfolio. Set books open or closed. To give an artist their own login, link the profile to a WordPress user with the Studio Artist role; they then see only their own queue and calendar.
  2. Flash: add designs with size, price, placement and artist. Mark repeatable designs so they never get claimed.
  3. Add the Tattoo Inquiry Form, Studio Artists and Flash Gallery blocks to your pages, or the shortcodes [inkdesk_inquiry], [inkdesk_artists] and [inkdesk_flash].
  4. Submit a test request. A flash request for an available design from an artist with open books can be approved instantly; a custom request lands in InkDesk → Queue.
  5. In the queue, approve with a session length and whether the client may pick their own slot, decline with a template, or ask for more info. The client answers on their own request page.
  6. Approved clients pick a time from real open slots and get a confirmation with a calendar file. Give the front desk the Front Desk role to work every artist’s queue and calendar.
  7. On the day, open the appointment and send the consent form link to the client’s phone, or hand them the studio tablet. Check in, complete the session, and aftercare goes out on its own.

Want to see it full first? wp inkdesk seed loads a demo studio with five artists, a wall of flash, requests in every state and signed consents; wp inkdesk seed --reset removes it again.

Answers and signatures are encrypted in your database and the generated PDF is stored encrypted under uploads/inkdesk-private/, which is denied to the web server. Every view or download is written to an access log that staff can read under InkDesk → Settings → Data. Records purge automatically after the retention period you set. Clients never need an account: they get private links by email for their request, appointment and consent form, and re-sending an email replaces the old link.

InkDesk Pro: activation and updates

  1. Buy a plan on the InkDesk product page: Pro for one artist, Studio for five, Agency for unlimited artists on unlimited sites. The Lemon Squeezy receipt has your key and inkdesk-pro.zip.
  2. Upload and activate the Pro plugin next to the free one.
  3. Paste the key under InkDesk → Settings → License. Pro features unlock and updates arrive through Dashboard → Updates from hexcorp.io.

If a subscription lapses, Pro features and updates pause seven days later. Nothing is deleted and the free plugin keeps working.

Quotes, deposits and payments (Pro)

  1. Settings → Payments: paste your Stripe keys (the webhook registers itself when the key is saved), or leave WooCommerce to handle checkout if it is active.
  2. In the queue, Send a quote instead of a plain approval: price range, hours and a deposit (fixed, percentage or the artist’s default).
  3. The client accepts the deposit policy, picks a slot, and pays. Paying locks the slot. After the session, the balance request goes out with the deposit applied and an optional tip.
  4. No-show rules under Settings decide when a deposit is forfeited; the client is told why. Payouts shows commission splits per artist with CSV export.

WP-CLI

wp inkdesk status
wp inkdesk sweep                      # expire holds, purge old records
wp inkdesk seed [--reset]
wp inkdesk pro status|run-automations|announce <artist>   # Pro

Getting help

Email hello@hexcorp.io with your site URL and what you expected to happen. For a consent-form problem, mention whether the key file is present; never email the form itself. Pro, Studio and Agency customers get priority replies.