ContextNotes Documentation

Admin notes for WordPress that live where the work is — on the Plugins screen, in the block editor, and on the dashboard — plus Kanban and Canvas boards with colours, attachments, and voice notes for clean handoffs.

Overview

ContextNotes is a lightweight, admin-only plugin that lets teams and developers leave short, markdown-aware notes exactly where context lives. Instead of scattering handoff details across email and chat, you attach them to the thing they describe — a plugin, a post, or the dashboard — and track shared work on a Kanban team board.

It adds zero frontend footprint: no scripts, styles, or queries run on your public site. In the admin, assets load only on the screens that use them. Plugin and dashboard notes share a single autoloaded option, and editorial notes are stored as post meta.

ContextNotes is licensed per-site with a key in the format CN-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX. Every plan includes the contextual notes and role-based access, plus the Kanban board, the spatial Canvas board, card colours, and image/document attachments. The plans (Lite, Plus, Pro) step up the cards-per-board limit (50, 200, unlimited) and the number of sites you can activate on (1, 3, unlimited); voice notes are included on Plus (up to 10) and unlimited on Pro.

Installation

Download ContextNotes from your Boulley Technology account, then in WordPress go to Plugins › Add New › Upload Plugin, choose contextnotes.zip, and click Install Now, then Activate.

Notes appear automatically: a "Notes" link on each plugin row, an "Admin Notes" panel in the block editor, and a "ContextNotes" dashboard widget. A top-level ContextNotes menu hosts the Team Board. ContextNotes requires PHP 7.4+ and WordPress 5.8+.

Plugin Notes

On the Plugins screen, each plugin gains a Notes action link. Click it to expand a collapsible editor beneath that plugin's row. A small blue dot marks plugins that already have a note. Notes save instantly over AJAX — no page reload.

Use it for: "Do not deactivate — handles the custom CRM webhook," or "Replaced by our in-house block in v2; safe to remove after migration."

Editor Notes

In the block editor, open the document settings sidebar and find the Admin Notes panel. Notes here are stored as post meta and saved together with the post, so there's no separate save step. Great for editorial sign-off or layout warnings like "Client approved this hero layout on May 30 — do not change without asking."

Dashboard Widget

The ContextNotes dashboard widget holds one shared, site-wide note — ideal for announcements or a running team to-do list. It saves over AJAX and renders your markdown live.

Markdown

All notes support a lightweight, safe subset of markdown:

Syntax	Result
`bold`	bold
`_italic_`	italic
`code`	inline code
`[label](https://url)`	a link
`- item` / `1. item`	bullet / numbered lists

Markdown is rendered with an escape-first approach and a strict tag allow-list (wp_kses), so notes can never inject HTML.

Access Control

By default, only administrators (manage_options) can see and edit notes. To open access up, go to Settings › ContextNotes and tick the roles that should have access (Administrator is always on). Granted roles get the block-editor panel, the dashboard widget, and the Team Board.

Note: The Plugins-screen notes only appear to users who can already reach the Plugins page (the activate_plugins capability), regardless of this setting.

Kanban Board

The Kanban boards live under the top-level ContextNotes menu, with three columns — To do, Doing, and Done. Add markdown cards to any column, drag them between columns, and edit or delete inline. Every change is saved over AJAX. Each board holds up to your plan's card limit (Lite 50, Plus 200, Pro unlimited). Two tabs switch between:

Team Board — shared with everyone who has board access; ideal for handoffs and shared tasks.
My Board — a private board for each user, visible only to them.

The shared board lives in a single autoloaded option; each private board is stored in user meta. Drag-and-drop uses the jQuery UI Sortable library that ships with WordPress — no heavy dependencies.

Each card can be colour-coded — open a card's editor and pick a colour (yellow, blue, green, pink, or grey) to organise at a glance. Cards can also carry a voice note.

Canvas Board

The Canvas is a second board style under the ContextNotes menu — a freeform surface where notes are spatial sticky cards instead of column-bound. Click Add note, then drag each note anywhere on the canvas; its position saves automatically. Like the Kanban board, the Canvas comes in shared Team Canvas and private My Canvas variants.

Drag to position — arrange notes spatially for mind-maps, planning, or grouping related ideas.
Colour-code — five sticky-note colours per card.
Markdown — the same markdown title + body as everywhere else in ContextNotes.
Attachments — pin images and documents from the media library; images show as thumbnails, other files as a labelled link. See below.

Canvas data is stored separately from the Kanban board (a dedicated option for the team canvas, user meta for the private one), so the two never interfere.

Voice Notes & Attachments

Cards on both the Kanban and Canvas boards can carry attachments on every plan; voice notes are a Plus and Pro feature:

Attachments (Canvas, all plans) — click the paperclip to attach any file the media library accepts. Images render as thumbnails; documents render as a click-to-open link.
Voice notes (Plus & Pro) — click the microphone to record audio right in the browser, then click again to stop. The clip uploads to your media library and plays back inline on the card. Kanban cards hold one voice note (removable); Canvas cards can hold several. Plus includes up to 10 voice notes site-wide; Pro is unlimited.

HTTPS required for recording. Browsers only allow microphone access on secure (https) origins, so the record button needs your admin to be served over HTTPS. Playback of already-recorded notes works anywhere. Recordings are capped at five minutes.

License Activation

To activate ContextNotes, go to Settings › ContextNotes, enter your license key (format CN-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX) in the License box, and click Activate. This unlocks the full toolset, including the Team Board. To move the license to another site, click Deactivate License first. Manage activations any time from your Boulley Technology account.

Troubleshooting

The boards say they need a license

The Kanban and Canvas boards require an active license (any plan). Activate your key under Settings › ContextNotes. License status is cached for up to 24 hours; if you just activated, reload the page.

I can't add any more cards

Each board is capped by your plan — Lite 50 cards per board, Plus 200, Pro unlimited. Delete cards you no longer need, or upgrade for a higher limit.

The microphone / record button is missing

Voice notes are a Plus and Pro feature, so the record button appears on those plans only (not Lite). If you're on Plus and the upload is refused, you may have hit the 10-voice-note cap — upgrade to Pro for unlimited. Recording also needs an HTTPS connection and microphone permission.

A role I granted still can't see notes

Confirm the role is ticked under Settings › ContextNotes and that the user actually has that role. Remember the Plugins-screen notes also require the user to be able to view the Plugins page.

Copy to clipboard does nothing

Browsers only allow clipboard access on secure origins. Serve the admin over HTTPS.

FAQ

Does ContextNotes slow down my site?

No. It registers no frontend hooks and enqueues nothing on the public site. Admin assets load only on the Plugins screen, the dashboard, the block editor, and the Team Board page.

Where is everything stored?

Plugin notes, the dashboard note, and the shared Team Board each live in an autoloaded option; each user's private board is stored in user meta. Editorial notes are stored as protected post meta. Deleting the plugin removes all of it.

What's the difference between the paid tiers?

All three include the Kanban and Canvas boards, card colours, attachments, and the contextual notes. They differ by the cards-per-board limit (Lite 50, Plus 200, Pro unlimited) and the number of sites you can activate on (Lite 1, Plus 3, Pro unlimited). Voice notes are included on Plus (up to 10) and unlimited on Pro; Lite doesn't include them.

Does it work with the classic editor?

The editorial-note panel uses the block editor. The Plugins-screen notes, dashboard widget, and Team Board work everywhere regardless of editor.

Support

If you run into anything not covered here:

Submit a ticket at boulleytechnology.ca/support.php
Email support@boulleytechnology.ca

License holders get priority response.