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homelabforge edited this page Sep 25, 2026 · 6 revisions

Family Multi-User System

MyGarage's Family Multi-User System enables household vehicle management with user relationships, vehicle sharing, ownership transfers, and a unified family dashboard.

Overview

The Family Multi-User System extends MyGarage beyond simple user accounts to support real-world family scenarios:

  • User Relationships - Define how family members relate (spouse, child, parent, etc.)
  • Vehicle Sharing - Grant read or write access to vehicles without transferring ownership
  • Vehicle Transfer - Permanently transfer vehicle ownership between family members
  • Family Dashboard - Unified view of all family vehicles with overdue reminders

Requirements:

  • Multi-user mode must be enabled (Local or OIDC authentication)
  • Admin role required for transfers and family dashboard access

User Relationships

Setting Relationships

Admins can assign relationships to users, which display throughout the interface:

  1. Go to Settings → System and click Manage Family in the Family Management card
  2. Click Edit user (pencil icon) on a member
  3. Select Relationship from dropdown:
    • None
    • Spouse/Partner
    • Child
    • Parent
    • Sibling
    • Grandparent
    • Grandchild
    • In-Law
    • Friend
    • Other (with custom text)
  4. Click Update

Custom Relationships

When "Other" is selected, a Custom Relationship field appears for custom relationship names (e.g., "Roommate", "Cousin", "Au Pair").

Where Relationships Display

  • Family Management member cards
  • Vehicle sharing dialogs
  • Transfer history timeline

Vehicle Sharing

Share vehicles with other family members without changing ownership.

Permission Levels

Permission View Records Add Records Edit Records Delete Records
Read Yes No No No
Write Yes Yes Yes Yes

Note: A write share covers a vehicle's child records (service, fuel, documents, etc.), including deleting them. Vehicle-level actions stay restricted: archive, share, and deleting the vehicle are for the owner or an admin; transfer is admin-only.

Sharing a Vehicle

As Owner or Admin:

  1. Go to vehicle detail page
  2. Click Share
  3. Click Share with another user
  4. Select the user from the dropdown
  5. Choose permission level (Read or Write)
  6. Click Share

Managing Shares

From the same Share Vehicle panel, you can:

  • View all shares - See who has access
  • Change permission - Upgrade from Read to Write (or downgrade)
  • Revoke access - Remove share entirely

Shared Vehicle Indicators

On the main dashboard, shared vehicles display:

  • Blue "Shared" badge - Top-left corner of vehicle card
  • Shared by - Who shared it, and "(can edit)" or "(view only)"

Vehicles shared with you also get their own Shared with me section on the dashboard, so they stay visually separate from the ones you own.

Reference Vehicles

Sometimes you want a vehicle in the app that nobody here owns: a parent's car you help maintain, or a friend's truck you service once a year. A reference vehicle is a lightweight record for exactly that, with no fuel log, telemetry, or full history behind it.

An admin turns it on under Settings → System → Garage sections → Show Family & Friends. It is off by default. The dashboard then has a Family & Friends section with an Add reference vehicle button.

Adding one asks for the basics plus an optional contact name and phone. If you supply a VIN it is decoded through NHTSA the same way a real vehicle is, so year, make, and model fill themselves in.

Vehicle Transfer

Permanently transfer vehicle ownership to another family member.

What Transfers Include

All of the vehicle's data stays with it. The transfer asks you to tick which data categories exist (Service Records, Fuel Logs, Documents, Maintenance Schedule, Notes, Expenses, Photos), but that is recorded in the transfer history only.

Also on transfer:

  • Insurance: the vehicle is removed from the previous owner's policies, which stay with them and their other vehicles
  • Existing shares stay; a share the new owner had on the vehicle is removed
  • LiveLink device associations stay with the vehicle

Performing a Transfer

Admin Only:

  1. Go to vehicle detail page
  2. Click Transfer
  3. Select New Owner from the active users
  4. Tick the data categories to record
  5. Add optional Transfer Notes
  6. Review the summary and type TRANSFER to confirm
  7. Click Transfer Vehicle

Transfer Restrictions

  • Cannot transfer to current owner
  • Cannot transfer to inactive/disabled users
  • Only admins can perform transfers
  • Recipient must be an active user

A vehicle with no current owner can be transferred too. That assigns ownership for the first time, which is how you adopt records that predate multi-user, or vehicles left behind when a user was removed. The history shows the previous owner as Unassigned.

Transfer History

After a transfer, view the complete ownership history:

  1. Go to vehicle detail page
  2. On the Overview tab, open the Transfer History card (shown once the vehicle has been transferred)
  3. View timeline with:
    • Previous and new owner (with relationship badges)
    • Transfer date
    • Who performed the transfer
    • Transfer notes
    • Data categories included (as badges)

Family Dashboard

A unified view of all family members and their vehicles.

Accessing the Family Dashboard

Admin Only:

Open Settings → System and click Manage Family in the Family Management card. Family management lives under Settings; there is no top-nav item or standalone page.

Dashboard Features

  • Member Cards - Each family member shown with:

    • Name and relationship
    • Vehicle count
    • Vehicles with last service and next maintenance (expand the card)
    • Overdue reminder count (red badge)
    • Upcoming reminder count

  • Summary Statistics:

    • Members
    • Vehicles
    • Upcoming reminders across all vehicles
    • Overdue reminders across all vehicles

Managing Dashboard Members

Control which users appear on the family dashboard and their display order from the same Family Management view. Each member card has inline controls:

  • Toggle visibility - Eye icon shows or hides the member
  • Reorder - Up/down arrows change the display order

Changes save automatically. Hidden members can be re-enabled at any time.

Permissions Reference

What Each Role Can Do

Action Owner Write Share Read Share Admin
View vehicle Yes Yes Yes Yes
View records Yes Yes Yes Yes
Add records Yes Yes No Yes
Edit records Yes Yes No Yes
Delete records Yes Yes No Yes
Share vehicle Yes No No Yes
Transfer vehicle No No No Yes
Archive vehicle Yes No No Yes

Admin Capabilities

Admins have full access plus:

  • Transfer vehicles between any users
  • Access Family Dashboard
  • Manage all users' dashboard visibility
  • Share any vehicle with any user

Use Cases

Scenario 1: Family with Teenagers

  1. Create user accounts for each teen
  2. Set relationship to "Child"
  3. Share family vehicle(s) with Read permission
  4. Teens can view records; give Write permission if they should log fuel
  5. When teen gets their own car, transfer ownership to them

Scenario 2: Shared Household Vehicle

  1. Spouse has Write access to shared minivan
  2. Both spouses can log service and fuel
  3. Either can add reminders
  4. Owner retains admin control

Scenario 3: Gift/Sale to Family Member

  1. Parent owns vehicle
  2. Admin transfers ownership to child
  3. All service history transfers with vehicle
  4. Parent no longer has access (unless child shares back)

Scenario 4: Multi-Generational Family

  1. Grandparents, parents, and children all have accounts
  2. Each person owns their own vehicles
  3. Family Dashboard shows all vehicles at a glance
  4. Admin can quickly spot overdue maintenance across all family cars

Best Practices

For Sharing

  • Use Read permission for users who just need to track mileage or view history
  • Use Write permission for users who actively maintain the vehicle
  • Revoke shares when no longer needed

For Transfers

  • Add transfer notes explaining the reason (gift, sale, etc.)
  • Review transfer history if questions arise about past ownership

For Family Dashboard

  • Keep the dashboard focused on active drivers
  • Hide users who don't have vehicles or don't need monitoring
  • Order members by priority (e.g., vehicles with most urgent maintenance first)

Troubleshooting

"Cannot share with this user"

  • User may be inactive/disabled
  • User may already have a share for this vehicle
  • You may not have permission (must be owner or admin)

"Cannot transfer to this user"

  • User may be inactive/disabled
  • User may be the current owner
  • You must be an admin to transfer

"Family Dashboard not visible"

  • Only admins can access the Family Dashboard
  • Standard users are redirected to their personal dashboard

"Shared vehicle not showing on dashboard"

  • Look in the Shared with me section, below your own vehicles
  • Verify the share wasn't revoked
  • Ask owner to confirm share still exists

Related Topics

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