Settings reference
WP Instances keeps its settings in a few places: the Settings dialog, the status bar at the bottom of the window, and the tray icon's menu.
Settings dialog
Open it with settings in the status bar, the , key, or Settings — ports in the command bar. Port changes apply when you click Apply. The crash-report switch applies right away.
| Setting | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Site port | 8080 | The port in every site's address: http://<name>.127.0.0.1.nip.io:8080. |
| Database port | 3307 | The port database apps such as TablePlus or DBeaver connect to (host 127.0.0.1, user wp). |
| Dashboard port | 7319 | Shown only. Chosen automatically; it moves aside if another program has it. |
| Send anonymous crash reports | On | When something goes wrong, an error report goes to warcal.dev so it can be fixed. See Privacy and crash reports. |
Site port
The site port is part of every site's address, so it never changes by itself. If another program has it when WP Instances starts, the sites can't start, and a bar at the top says so with Change port…. The Settings dialog then suggests the next free port.
When you change it, a warning explains what happens: every site's URLs are rewritten to the new port automatically, and bookmarks to the old address stop working. The change runs as a job: Save settings, Restart the web server and database, then Update site addresses, one site at a time.
Database port
If another program has the database port when WP Instances starts, the database moves to the next free port by itself, and the new port is saved. The status bar and each site's Database tab show the current one. You can also set it here.
Rules for ports
- Both ports must be between 1024 and 65535.
- The site port and the database port must be different.
- Neither can be the mail inbox's port or phpMyAdmin's port, and the site port can't be the dashboard's port.
- The port must be free. If another program uses it, choose another.
If the containers can't start on the new ports, the old ones are restored and nothing changes.
Other ports
These ports are chosen automatically and are not in the Settings dialog. If another program has one when WP Instances starts, it moves to the next free port by itself.
| Port | Default | Used by |
|---|---|---|
| Dashboard | 7319 | The WP Instances window. If another copy of WP Instances is already using it, the second copy doesn't start. |
| Mail inbox | 8025 | Mailpit, the caught-email inbox. See Mail. |
| phpMyAdmin | 8082 | The database browser, started the first time you use it. See Database. |
All ports listen on 127.0.0.1 only, so nothing is reachable from other computers.
Status bar
The bar at the bottom of the window shows whether Docker is running (docker running or stack stopped), the number of sites, the site port (http :8080), the database port (db :3307) and the inbox (mail :8025; click it to open the inbox). On the right:
| Item | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| License status | trial · 14 days left | Opens the license dialog. See License and trial. |
| made by warcal.dev | Opens About WP Instances: version, what's new, the license agreement and open-source licenses. | |
| settings | Opens the Settings dialog. | |
| light mode / dark mode | Dark | Switches the dashboard's theme. Toggle light / dark in the command bar does the same. |
| Language | Your Windows language | English, Español, Deutsch, Français, Português (Brasil) or Svenska. Until you pick one, WP Instances follows Windows. The dashboard switches at once; the start screen and the tray menu use it from the next start. |
Tray menu
Closing the window doesn't quit WP Instances. It keeps running in the tray, so your sites keep working. The first time, a notification says so. Click the tray icon to open the window again.
Right-click the tray icon for:
| Item | Default | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Open WP Instances | Shows the window. | |
| About WP Instances | Shows the About dialog. | |
| Start with Windows | Off | Starts WP Instances when you sign in to Windows. It starts in the tray, without opening a window, and starts your sites. |
| Ask what to stop when quitting | On | When on, quitting asks what to stop (see below). Turn it off to stop asking: WP Instances then repeats your remembered choice, or keeps the sites running if you never chose one. |
| Quit WP Instances | Quits the app. |
Quitting
When you quit, WP Instances asks Stop your sites too?
| Choice | What happens |
|---|---|
| Keep Running | WP Instances closes. Your sites keep running and still load in your browser. |
| Stop My Sites | Stops WP Instances' containers, then closes. Other Docker projects keep running. This is the default button. |
| Stop Sites & Docker Desktop | Also stops Docker Desktop, which stops every other Docker container on this PC. |
| Cancel | Doesn't quit. |
Tick Remember my choice to skip the question next time. Turn Ask what to stop when quitting back on in the tray menu to be asked again.
Where settings are stored
Everything lives in %APPDATA%\WP Instances:
| File | Holds |
|---|---|
.env |
Ports and other stack settings |
settings.json |
Tray and quit choices |
license.json |
Your trial start and license activation |
data\ui.json |
Your chosen language |
data\telemetry.json |
The crash-report setting |
The theme is remembered by the dashboard itself.