{"id":22,"date":"2026-07-12T13:48:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T13:48:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sidewrenchapp.com\/?page_id=22"},"modified":"2026-07-12T14:39:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T14:39:26","slug":"work-orders","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sidewrenchapp.com\/?page_id=22","title":{"rendered":"Work Orders"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Work Orders tab is home base: every vehicle, every job, color-coded by status. Here’s how to create, organize, and manage work orders.<\/p>\n

\"Work
Your toolbar: Archive (top left), then Sort, Filter, and New (+).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Creating a Work Order<\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Tap the +<\/strong> button (or press \u2318N<\/strong> on iPad with a keyboard)<\/li>\n
  2. Enter customer information \u2014 name, phone, email<\/li>\n
  3. Enter vehicle information \u2014 year, make, model, VIN, license plate, mileage<\/li>\n
  4. Tap Save<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    VIN Scanning<\/h3>\n

    Tap the camera icon<\/strong> next to the VIN field and aim at the VIN \u2014 Side Wrench reads barcodes and<\/em> the printed VIN text. A valid VIN is decoded automatically into year, make, model, trim, and engine. If the lookup fails (bad connection, unusual vehicle), you can always enter details manually \u2014 a failed lookup never blocks saving.<\/p>\n

    Work Order Status<\/h2>\n

    Each work order moves through five stages. Update the status as the job progresses \u2014 tap the status badge on the work order and pick the new stage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
    Status<\/th>\nColor<\/th>\nMeaning<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
    Estimate<\/td>\n🟣 Purple<\/td>\nWaiting for customer approval<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    In Progress<\/td>\n🔵 Blue<\/td>\nWork actively being done<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Awaiting Parts<\/td>\n🔴 Red<\/td>\nWaiting on parts<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Invoice Sent<\/td>\n🟠 Orange<\/td>\nInvoice delivered<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    Payment Received<\/td>\n🟢 Green<\/td>\nComplete and paid<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

    Two statuses do a little extra work for you:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Setting In Progress<\/strong> stamps the vehicle’s date-in automatically (if not already set).<\/li>\n
    • Setting Payment Received<\/strong> stamps the date-out \u2014 and if the work order still has a balance due, Side Wrench offers to record the payment<\/strong> right then so your books stay accurate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Search, Sort, and Filter<\/h2>\n

      Search<\/h3>\n

      Pull down on the list to search by customer, vehicle, or work order. On iPad with a keyboard, press \u2318F<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

      Sort<\/h3>\n

      Tap the sort button<\/strong> (up\/down arrows) to order the list by:<\/p>\n

        \n
      • Work order number (low \u2192 high or high \u2192 low)<\/li>\n
      • Status (Estimate \u2192 Paid or Paid \u2192 Estimate)<\/li>\n
      • Number of repairs<\/li>\n
      • Cost<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Filter<\/h3>\n

        Tap the filter button<\/strong> to open the filter panel:<\/p>\n

          \n
        • Status<\/strong> \u2014 show only the statuses you care about (e.g., just “In Progress” and “Awaiting Parts”)<\/li>\n
        • Date range<\/strong> \u2014 show only vehicles checked in between two dates<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          A red dot on the filter icon reminds you a filter is active. Tap Reset<\/strong> to clear it.<\/p>\n

          \"Filter
          Filter by status \u2014 each toggle matches a status color \u2014 or by date range.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

          Quick Actions<\/h2>\n

          Swipe<\/strong> a work order row: swipe right for Edit<\/strong>, swipe left for Archive<\/strong> and Delete<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

          Long-press<\/strong> a row for the full menu: Edit, Archive\/Unarchive, Delete \u2014 and on iPad, Open in New Window<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

          Archiving<\/h2>\n

          When a job is done and paid, archive it to keep your active list clean:<\/p>\n

            \n
          • Archive:<\/strong> swipe left \u2192 Archive, or long-press \u2192 Archive<\/li>\n
          • View archived:<\/strong> tap the archive box<\/strong> button in the top-left of the Work Orders list<\/li>\n
          • Restore:<\/strong> long-press an archived work order \u2192 Unarchive<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            Archived work orders keep all their data and still count in your financial reports. Delete<\/strong>, by contrast, is permanent \u2014 the work order and everything on it is gone for good.<\/p>\n

            Side Wrench on iPad<\/h2>\n
              \n
            • Split view<\/strong> \u2014 the work order list stays on the left while details show on the right<\/li>\n
            • Open in New Window<\/strong> \u2014 long-press any work order to open it in its own window; keep two jobs side by side<\/li>\n
            • Picks up where you left off<\/strong> \u2014 the app restores your selected tab and work order after a restart<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
              \"Side
              On iPad: work order list on the left, full details on the right.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

              Tips<\/h2>\n
                \n
              1. Update status promptly<\/strong> \u2014 the list becomes a live job board for your shop<\/li>\n
              2. Archive completed jobs<\/strong> \u2014 active list stays focused, history stays intact<\/li>\n
              3. Enter customer names consistently<\/strong> \u2014 makes search and top-customer reports better<\/li>\n
              4. Add notes liberally<\/strong> \u2014 future you will thank present you<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                The Work Orders tab is home base: every vehicle, every job, color-coded by status. Here’s how to create, organize, and manage work orders. Your toolbar: Archive (top left), then Sort, Filter, and New (+). Creating a Work Order Tap the + button (or press \u2318N on iPad with a keyboard) Enter customer information \u2014 name, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":20,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-22","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sidewrenchapp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sidewrenchapp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sidewrenchapp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sidewrenchapp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sidewrenchapp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sidewrenchapp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63,"href":"https:\/\/sidewrenchapp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/22\/revisions\/63"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sidewrenchapp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/20"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sidewrenchapp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}