What Are Locations?
Locations let you digitally map out the physical spaces where your contents move during a job. Think of them as checkpoints in your chain of custody. By setting up locations, you can track every step of an item’s journey — from the customer’s home, to your facility, to the cleaning room, and back again. This ensures you always have a clear record of where each item is at any point in time. It keeps your team organized and makes your chain of custody airtight.
Sites vs. Locations vs. Coordinates
Sites are the larger containers, representing physical facilities like warehouses or offices.
Locations live inside sites and represent specific rooms or zones (e.g., Cleaning Room, Storage Bay, Vaults, Trucks).
Coordinates are optional but helpful if you have 'locations' that can move around, like vaults.
Big Picture: How They Fit Together
Think of your storage setup like this:
Site → a physical facility
Location → a place within that facility
Coordinates → a visual way to map locations on a grid
Together, they let you model your real-world warehouse or yard directly inside ContentsPal.
Key Concepts Explained
Sites
A site represents a physical place, such as:
A warehouse
A storage facility
A contents yard
If you have multiple warehouses or facilities, each one should be created as its own site.
Locations
A location is where contents are actually stored or processed inside a site. Locations can include:
Vaults
Clean rooms
Trucks
Staging areas
Any other place where contents live
(Important: Locations do not have to be vaults.)
Coordinates
Coordinates are optional—but very powerful. They allow you to:
Place locations on a visual grid
Use aisles, bays, and levels
See exactly where contents are stored
Find items faster in large facilities
You can choose to use coordinates only where they make sense.
How to Set Up a Site
From the main navigation, click Sites.
On the site management screen, click Create site.
Enter a name (for example, Main Warehouse).
(Optional) Upload images such as photos or diagrams of your warehouse layout.
Enable the Coordinate system.
Enter the number of aisles, bays, and levels that match your real-world layout.
Click Create site.
(Note: These settings create a grid that mirrors your physical space.)
How to Add Locations
Inside your site, click Manage locations.
Click Add location.
Choose to add:
A single location, or
Multiple locations at once using the batch option
Enter a prefix (for example, Vault) and create multiple locations.
You’ll now see locations like Vault 1, Vault 2, and so on.
Assigning Coordinates to Locations
At first, locations exist—but they won’t appear on the grid until coordinates are assigned.
Option 1: Assign from the Grid
Click a specific spot on the grid.
Choose Assign existing location.
Select the location (for example, Vault 1).
Once assigned, the location appears visually on the grid. You can hover over it to see details.
Option 2: Assign from the Location Settings
Click Edit on a location.
Enable Has coordinates.
Select the aisle, bay, and level.
Save your changes.
The location will now appear on the grid.
Navigating Locations Visually
As you add more locations:
Click a location in the table to highlight it on the grid
Switch between levels to see vertical placement
Quickly understand where everything lives in the facility
This is especially helpful in larger warehouses.
Locations Without Coordinates (That’s Okay!)
Not every location needs coordinates. For example:
Clean rooms
Trucks
Temporary staging areas
If a location doesn’t have coordinates:
It won’t appear on the grid
It’s still fully usable
You can still assign contents to it
(Tip: This lets you mix structured storage with more flexible spaces.)
Using QR Codes for Locations
Each location created will automatically have a unique code. You can:
Print QR codes for a single location.
Print QR codes for all locations at once.
Attaching these QR codes to the corresponding physical areas makes it quick and easy to scan locations using the mobile app. This allows you to check items in and out of a location, see what’s stored there, and maintain complete visibility.
Recap ✅
Sites = physical facilities
Locations = places within those facilities
Coordinates = a visual grid using aisles, bays, and levels
You can use coordinates where they add value—and skip them where they don’t.
Once this setup is complete, managing and finding contents becomes dramatically faster and more organized 🚀
Next Steps
Once locations are set up, you’ll be able to:
Scan items into and out of locations.
View the full history of contents within each location.
Track jobs seamlessly across your chain of custody.
👉 In later tutorials, we’ll cover how to use locations during active jobs to scan items, move them, and view full histories.