Requirements
Before installing MBS Attendance, make sure your server and devices meet the following requirements. Most modern WordPress hosting plans will satisfy all of these out of the box.
Server requirements
| Requirement | Minimum | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| WordPress | 6.0 or higher | 6.4+ recommended |
| PHP | 8.1 or higher | 8.2+ recommended. Required for named arguments and enum support. |
| MySQL | 5.7 or higher | MariaDB 10.4+ also supported. |
| SSL certificate | Required | The iOS app communicates with your site over HTTPS. A free Let's Encrypt certificate is fine. |
| PHP extensions | pdo, pdo_mysql, gd, mbstring, json | These are enabled by default on virtually all hosting providers. |
| Disk space | 50 MB minimum | For the plugin files. Employee photos are stored in your WordPress uploads folder and will grow over time. |
In your WordPress admin, go to Tools → Site Health. The Info tab shows your PHP version, MySQL version and active extensions.
iOS app requirements
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Device | iPhone or iPad running iOS/iPadOS 16 or higher |
| NFC scanning | iPhone only. iPad does not support NFC. Any iPhone 7 or newer supports NFC tag reading. |
| Facial recognition | iPhone and iPad both supported. Front camera required (all modern devices have one). |
| QR scanning | iPhone and iPad both supported. |
| Internet | Required for initial setup and syncing. Clock events are queued locally when offline and sync automatically when connectivity returns. |
An iPad mounted at a site entrance works excellently as a self-service kiosk for facial recognition and QR code clock-in. Staff walk up, look at the camera or scan their badge, and they're clocked in — no supervisor needed at that moment. For NFC badge scanning, a supervisor's iPhone is required.
License server
MBS Attendance validates its license key against the MyBad Studios license server at startup and periodically thereafter. Your WordPress server needs outbound internet access to reach mybadstudios.com on port 443 (HTTPS). This is standard on all hosting providers.
If your server is behind a strict firewall, add mybadstudios.com to the outbound allowlist. The plugin caches the last successful validation for 30 days, so a temporary loss of connectivity will not interrupt normal operation.
What you do NOT need
- WooCommerce — MBS Attendance is a standalone plugin
- Any specific WordPress theme — works with any theme
- Biometric hardware terminals — the iOS app replaces dedicated clocking hardware
- A separate database — everything uses your existing WordPress database
- A cloud subscription — your data stays on your own server