A folder you choose
Documents are stored as ordinary files in a document folder you pick freely – including outside the web directory. You can still reach them any time through a file explorer, SMB or a cloud sync.
DocWeb is a self-hosted document management system with OCR full-text search for your own Synology NAS or any other server you run. Plain PHP – no cloud, no third parties, no subscription. Your documents stay as ordinary files in a folder that you choose yourself.
The idea
Many document management systems store everything in their own containers or database blobs. After that the collection can only be reached through the application, exporting becomes awkward and a look into the file explorer is impossible.
Documents are stored as ordinary files in a document folder you pick freely – including outside the web directory. You can still reach them any time through a file explorer, SMB or a cloud sync.
Sorting and renaming in the file system is picked up by the next sync. Only paths relative to the root folder are stored – moving the whole collection needs no database migration.
Backup, restore and migration are ordinary file operations. Your collection can only be lost if the folder itself is lost – not because an application or its database fails.
Features
Everything runs on your server. There is no account with a service, no usage limit and no transfer of your documents to third parties.
The search covers file names, category path, tags and the extracted text – including the inside of scanned PDFs and images. Typos are handled automatically by a fuzzy search.
Text from PDFs, scanned pages and images (Tesseract) as well as from Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. Embedded PDF text is read even without extra tools.
New, changed and deleted files are detected during sync and only those are processed. "Reindex" rebuilds the entire full text – with a progress display and can be cancelled at any time.
A hierarchical category tree that mirrors your folder structure, plus freely assigned tags with suggestions. So you can find a document by another route than the folder as well.
New scans arrive in the inbox first: check, rotate, rename and file them with a category suggestion that learns from your own collection – a missing category can be created right there while filing.
A whole stack with separator sheets is captured in one pass and split into individual PDFs automatically – ideal for files and binders.
Fetch e-mails via IMAP or POP3, check them and file them as PDF – with a sender filter list and checks of SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Rendering runs in plain PHP without loading any external content.
Duplicate files are found by checksums and text comparison. Administrators can start the clean-up as a separate background run and cancel it at any time.
Roles for admin, editor and read-only, document-level sharing for individual people and two-factor sign-in by e-mail code or authenticator app.
Deleted documents can be restored. The backup saves database and documents in one step – as a ZIP that you can open at any time, even without DocWeb.
Administrators see the number and size of documents, the distribution by file type, the size per category and the log of the most recent sync runs.
The interface is available in German, English, French and Italian – each user chooses their own language. The responsive UI can be installed on the home screen as an app (PWA).
On the move
The iOS app is a pure client for your DocWeb installation. It connects directly to your server – there is no account with us and no caching in a cloud.
Full-text search, category tree and previews for PDFs, images and Office files – including the text recognised by OCR.
Photograph a document, detect the crop corners automatically and adjust them by hand, straighten pages that were captured at an angle. Several shots are combined into one multi-page PDF.
Rotate pages, split page areas and merge several PDFs. The results arrive in the inbox as new files and the originals stay untouched.
If you wish, the app also connects to servers on the local network that use a self-issued certificate – for example a Synology NAS. For addresses on the internet the strict check remains in place.
Security and privacy
DocWeb is built so that as little data as possible leaves your premises at all. What you file stays on your storage – not on someone else's server.
DocWeb transfers no data to the developer and none to any third party. There are no analytics, tracking or advertising services and no telemetry.
Roles determine who may view and edit. Individual documents can be shared with selected people. Sign-in can be protected by a two-factor code.
No external scripts, no calls to third-party services, no hidden accounts. The database credentials live in a configuration file that sits outside the web root or is blocked by a web server rule.
Technical data
DocWeb is deliberately simple: no framework dependency, no build steps, no Node.js. That keeps the installation manageable and maintainable for years to come.
| Backend | PHP 8.x, without a framework |
|---|---|
| Database | MariaDB 10 with utf8mb4 and a FULLTEXT index |
| OCR tools | Tesseract and Poppler – optional, for scanned documents and images |
| Front end | HTML, CSS and JavaScript without a build step, installable as a PWA |
| Server | Synology DSM (Web Station) or any Apache/nginx server with PHP |
| Storage | Ordinary files in a folder of your choice, also outside the web directory |
| iOS app | DocWeb Connect, iOS 16.0 or later, iPhone and iPad |
| Languages | German, English, French, Italian |
Get started
DocWeb runs on a Synology NAS or on an ordinary web server. Both routes are described step by step in the guide – including the setup of the OCR tools.
Set up Web Station and MariaDB, place the app files in the web directory, install the OCR tools via Entware.
Route BApache or nginx with PHP and MariaDB – on a rented server, your own machine or in your home network.
.env with the database credentials, open install.php in the browser and delete it afterwards, then run Sync once in the app. Details are in the Installation.