Managing features
The Features tab, what modules are, what each Free and Pro feature does, how modules depend on each other, what turning one off actually changes, and why your data is always kept.
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Vakanssi is built from modules: self-contained features you can turn on or off from one screen. A module that is off loads no code at all, meaning no admin screens, no settings, and no scripts. That keeps your admin fast and lets you run Vakanssi with exactly the features you use.
To manage them, click Hiring in the left sidebar of the WordPress admin, click Tools, then open the Features tab.
How the Features tab reads
Since v0.36.0, every module your site has sits in one list, not split into Free and Pro groups. Each card shows the feature’s name, a one-line description, a status badge (Active or Off), and a control:
- An on/off switch for modules you can toggle.
- Always on for Core, Jobs & Careers, and Privacy & Data Retention, which cannot be turned off.
Since v0.35.1, a card also says what depends on it. A running module that others ride on reads “Switching this off also switches off…” and names them, before you click. A module held back by a dependency reads “Waiting on…” and names the one to turn back on.
Free features
These ship with the free plugin and are on by default. On the free plugin, they are the only cards on the tab.
| Module | What it does |
|---|---|
| Core | Foundation services: the data layer, REST API, and roles. Always on. |
| Jobs & Careers | Job listings, departments, a branded careers page, and Google-for-Jobs structured data. Always on. |
| Application Intake | The application form, secure CV handling, spam protection, and candidate capture. |
| Applications | The applications inbox with configurable hiring stages, bulk actions, and a REST API. |
| Notes | Private notes on a candidate from the candidate drawer. |
| Interviews | Schedule interviews and send calendar invites from a candidate. |
| Email & Notifications | Automatic applicant confirmations, recruiter notifications, and rejection and offer emails with editable templates. |
| Privacy & Data Retention | Personal data export and erasure, plus scheduled data-retention purging. Always on. |
| Import | Bring jobs (and, where the source supports it, applications and CVs) over from another hiring plugin, without touching the source data. |
| CSV Import | Bulk-create job listings from a CSV file: upload, map columns, and publish. See Import jobs from a CSV. |
Why Privacy & Data Retention cannot be switched off
Since v0.35.1 it is always on. It owns personal-data export, erasure, and the data-retention purge, and switching it off used to stop all three with no warning. Renamed from Privacy & Compliance in v0.37.11.
Pro features
These modules ship only in Vakanssi Pro Pro feature, requires a Vakanssi Pro license, the premium build of the plugin. The free plugin contains none of their code, so they never appear on a free site’s Features tab, not even as locked cards. On Vakanssi Pro they run when your license covers them and their switch is on.
| Module | What it does |
|---|---|
| Scorecards | Structured interview scorecards: reviewers rate candidates against a shared rubric, aggregated for the decision. |
| Analytics | Hiring dashboards: pipeline distribution, outcomes, time-to-hire, and source effectiveness. |
| Scheduling | Let candidates self-book interviews from times you propose, on a private booking page. |
| Sourcing & CRM | A candidate database with profiles, tags, manual sourcing, and duplicate merge, which is the Candidates screen. |
| Collaboration | @mentions on candidate notes, candidate assignment, and assignment-based visibility. |
| Presence | See which teammates are viewing the pipeline right now, with live board and list updates as they work. |
| Integrations | Send hiring events to Slack, Teams, or any webhook, with signed payloads and a delivery log. |
| Advanced anti-spam | Adds hCaptcha and reCAPTCHA v3 as CAPTCHA options for the application form, alongside the free Cloudflare Turnstile support. |
| Screening Questions | Add custom questions to a job’s application form, and auto-filter applicants who miss your must-haves. See Screening questions. |
| Email Automation | Auto-send a chosen email when a candidate reaches any pipeline stage, plus a library of custom templates. See Email automation. |
Two names worth knowing
The free Privacy & Data Retention module (data export, erasure, and the retention purge) is separate from anything Pro. And the Pro Scheduling module is what adds candidate self-booking on top of the free Interviews module.
What turning a module off actually does
Turning a module off takes it out of the plugin entirely for as long as it is off:
- Its admin menu items disappear (turning off Sourcing & CRM removes the Candidates menu item).
- Its Settings tab disappears (turning off Scorecards removes the Scorecards tab).
- Its REST API routes stop being registered.
- None of its scripts, styles, or code loads.
Since v0.35.1, links into a switched-off feature explain themselves instead of dead-ending. A bookmark or an emailed link to the Applications or Candidates screen lands on Hiring HQ with a notice naming the feature that is off. A bookmarked Settings tab opens another tab with the same kind of notice.
The Import tab leaves the Tools screen too when it has nothing to show: CSV Import is off, and either Import is off or Vakanssi has found no data from another hiring plugin to migrate.
Your data is always kept. Turning a module off only saves an on/off preference. It never touches the database. Applications, candidates, CVs, interviews, evaluations, and notes all stay exactly where they are, and turning the module back on brings everything back. See Backups & data for the actions that do delete data.
To toggle a module:
- Click Hiring in the left sidebar, then click Tools.
- Open the Features tab.
- Find the module’s card and click its switch. The status changes to match.
Dependencies
Some modules build on others, and a module runs only when everything it depends on is also running.
- Application Intake and Applications need Jobs & Careers.
- Notes and Interviews need Applications.
- Email & Notifications needs only Core.
- Import needs Jobs & Careers and Applications; CSV Import needs only Jobs & Careers.
Among the Pro modules, Scorecards, Analytics, Sourcing & CRM, Presence, and Integrations need Applications. Collaboration also needs Notes, Scheduling also needs Interviews, and Email Automation also needs Email & Notifications. Screening Questions needs Applications and Application Intake. Advanced anti-spam needs only Application Intake.
Turn off a module that others depend on and their cards read Off, with “Waiting on” naming the module to turn back on. Turn it back on and they return, with their own switches remembered.
Turning off Notes also turns off Collaboration
Collaboration Pro feature, requires a Vakanssi Pro license depends on Notes, so switching Notes off takes Collaboration with it, including assignment-based candidate visibility. Since v0.35.1, Vakanssi warns you when that visibility stops being enforced for this reason.
Pro modules and your license
On Vakanssi Pro, a Pro module runs only when three things are true: its switch is on, your license covers it, and its dependencies are running.
If your license lapses, Pro cards read Off and show Not available in place of the switch. Your on/off choices are preserved, so when the license is active again everything returns exactly as you set it. See Free vs Pro for what each tier includes.