Adding, Editing, and Deleting Inventory Items

An item is a tool or other object (book, tablet, basketball) that is tracked in inventory. Each item (even if you have multiple copies) must be entered into inventory individually to allow for tracking the history of that item (condition, comments, popularity, etc.). You can copy & edit items if you have multiple copies, and you can export, make copies, then re-import multiple copies as well. If you have a large number of items with many copies, please feel free to contact us for additional hints/help and adding them all.

Items can be organized by both "type" (e.g. Hand Tools -> Saws, Power Tools, etc.) and by "use" or category (e.g. "Bike", "Gardening & Yard" etc.). The tool types are organized into a hierarchy or tree, and default values can be set at any point in that hierarchy. For example, all Hand Tools can have a late fee of $1/day by default, while all Power Tools have late fees of $4/day by default.   See "Setting Default Values" for more information.

Please note: at this time, you cannot change the item type list/hierarchy, though you can define and edit your own categories. If you want a new item type or field for that type added to the system, please email: inventory@myturn.com.

When adding or editing items, you only need to fill in fields you wish to override from the "default" values (See "Setting Default Values"). 

To add an item:

1. Click on "Add Item" at the top of the Admin Dashboard or by using Inventory > Add New Item
2. Browse to the type of item you want to add (or start to type it's name in the box toward the top of the page) and hit return or click "create"
   • You can select the item type at any point in the hierarchy (e.g. you can select “Saw” rather than having to select the specific type of saw you are adding to inventory).
3. Fill in as much or as little information as you want about each item (the more the better for searching and to help users learn more about the item). Fields you can set include:
   • Item ID: this is a unique code to identify this item. We recommend it be code that you put on the item or on a tag on that item for easy/fast look up. If you do not enter an id, the system will automatically assign the next available numeric id after the item is saved and will display the item id to you. Some recommendations (not requirements) for Item IDs:
     • Use all numeric values for easy entry and automatic generation
     • Do not encode metadata about the item in the ID, keep that information in myTurn where it can be changed if needed without changing a barcode or other label
     • Do not overlap User/Customer IDs and Item IDs if possible, this will allow myTurn to automagically determine if you are looking to check out an item or start a cart for a user using the Check In/Out form on the left of the admin dashboard.
   • Status: The status for the item (can be changed in the settings). Visibility of items (e.g. "admin only") can be set on each item status.
   • Description: A description of the item which can include links, formatting, and even embedded videos (see below).
   • Location Code: a stock or location code used to help specify the location of the item
   • Maintenance: instructions for how to maintain this item
   • Source: who or where this item came from (e.g. "Jane Smith",)
   • Condition: the relative condition of this item, 1 means poor or broken, 5 means "like new"
   • Image: An image that you can upload for the item. A thumbnail image will automagically be created from the larger image. Please keep image below about 2Meg. You can also read our image recommendations.
   • Keywords: A list of keywords to help people searching for this item. Not displayed. Especially useful for when items are known by their brand name (e.g. "Dremel" for "rotary tools") and you want to allow search, but the items is not of that brand.
   • Amount: If you charge fees, enter the amount to borrow/rent this item
   • Purchased: Check this box if you want to track if this item was purchased (rather than donated)
   • Daily Late Fee: If you charge late fees, enter the per-day late fees for this item
   • Categories: Check off all the categories this item should appear in (zero or more)
   • File Attachment: this allows you to attach a PDF or other document that may contain a user manual/instructions or safety guide
   • Image Attachment: an additional image for this item

To edit an item:

1. Searcy, browse of use the "quick lookup" forms to view/edit the item by id.
2. Click "Edit"
3. Change the information about the item using the same fields as per the "add an item" instructions
4. Click "Save"

To delete/disable an item:

1. You cannot currently delete an item. This is because there may be loan or other history associated with the item that you do not wish to lose.
2. For now, edit the item, and check off the "Disabled" status for the item.
   • Note: the status must be exactly "Disabled" so if you changed that status, you will need to change it back or add a new "Disabled" status

Disabled items will not show up on the public site or in admin reports by default (except when there is a transaction associated with them).

To embed a video in an iem Description:

1. Add a new or editing an existing item
2. Click on the "video camera"
3. Enter the URL / web address to the video (YouTube, Vimeo, and many others supported)
4. Save