Choose which warehouses a teammate works at in OpenBoxes

Many teams have someone who runs one warehouse and never needs to pick another one in OpenBoxes: a store manager at the depot, a clerk at a clinic store. In OpenBoxes Lift, the account owner or an Admin can set, for each Manager, User and Viewer, which OpenBoxes locations that person works at. This article covers who the setting applies to, how to set it, what it changes in OpenBoxes and what it leaves alone.

The short version: the setting decides what the OpenBoxes location chooser offers a teammate. A location limit organizes who works where. It is not a way to keep a teammate away from one location's records or stock, and the sections below say exactly where it stops.

Who the setting applies to#

Every invited teammate gets one of four roles in the portal, and the role sets their role inside OpenBoxes:

• Admin becomes an OpenBoxes Admin, at all locations.
• Manager becomes a Manager, at all locations or only the locations you choose.
• User becomes an Assistant (a standard user who can record stock and orders), at all locations or only the locations you choose.
• Viewer becomes a Browser, which is read-only in OpenBoxes, at all locations or only the locations you choose.

So the choice of locations is there for Managers, Users and Viewers. Admins always work at all locations: the location choice does not appear when the role is Admin, and making a limited teammate an Admin gives them every location. Only the account owner can make someone an Admin, and billing stays with the owner either way.

Two more cases sit outside the setting. The account owner stays the Superuser in OpenBoxes, and nothing on the Users page changes the owner's OpenBoxes user. For a teammate whose OpenBoxes user is a Superuser, the member's page shows "Managed inside OpenBoxes (Superuser). Their locations are set there."

Setting it when you invite someone#

1. In the portal, go to Users and click Invite User.
2. Enter the person's email address and choose Manager, User or Viewer.
3. Under OpenBoxes locations, choose All locations (the default) or Only these locations.
4. For Only these locations, search the list and tick at least one location. With none ticked, the dialog asks you to "Choose at least one location."
5. Click Send Invitation.

Changing it for someone already on the team#

1. Go to Users, open the teammate's row actions menu and choose View Details.
2. Find OpenBoxes locations, change the choice or the ticked locations, and click Save Changes.

A teammate set to some locations shows a chip on the Users page with how many they have, for example "3 locations". To give them one more warehouse, tick it on the same page, or switch them to All locations.

What the setting changes in OpenBoxes#

With Only these locations, the OpenBoxes location chooser lists only the teammate's locations, so that is where they work day to day. The person who runs one warehouse opens OpenBoxes and finds that warehouse, not a list of every site you have.

Three things to know alongside that:

• Some shared lists, such as products, stay visible to them.
• Some details of another location can still be opened from a direct link, for example a stock movement's page.
• It organizes the work; it does not wall off a location. If two parts of your operation must not see or change each other's stock or records, a location limit is not the tool for that.

What it does not change#

The setting applies inside OpenBoxes. The portal is not narrowed by location:

• The portal's Reports page still shows every location.
• The scheduled CSV export and stock alerts still cover every location for the teammates who receive them.

What a teammate sees on the Reports page depends on their role instead. Managers, Users and Viewers see every quantity and count but not the money values, unless the account owner turns on Show stock and order values to all teammates. Admins see stock values, prices and order amounts.

When a change takes effect#

• A teammate who already uses OpenBoxes: the change is applied in OpenBoxes straight away, or within a few minutes if OpenBoxes can't be updated at once. The page then shows "OpenBoxes will catch up within a few minutes."
• Someone who has not opened OpenBoxes yet: "This limit applies when they first open OpenBoxes."
• A deactivated teammate: "This limit applies when you turn them back on."
• A teammate who already had an OpenBoxes user: the setting is saved straight away and applies once they confirm "Use your existing OpenBoxes user?" at their first Launch OpenBoxes. Until then their existing OpenBoxes access is unchanged, and the page says so.

A teammate set to some locations who has never opened OpenBoxes also needs one Launch OpenBoxes from the portal before Google, Microsoft or GitHub sign-in works on your OpenBoxes login page. Until then the login page says "Open OpenBoxes from app.openboxes.cloud first."

When locations change in OpenBoxes#

Warehouses open and close, and the setting follows what happens to them in OpenBoxes:

• A location made inactive in OpenBoxes stays on the teammate's list, marked "inactive in OpenBoxes". You can untick it, but you cannot newly choose it.
• A deleted location is dropped, and the page says "1 location no longer exists in OpenBoxes."
• A teammate left with none of their locations gets no OpenBoxes access at any location, never more. The Users page shows "No OpenBoxes locations. Choose at least one."

If Only these locations is greyed out with "Location limits aren't available for your OpenBoxes yet.", your OpenBoxes needs an update first. Choose All locations for now, or contact support.

Summary#

• For each Manager, User and Viewer, the account owner or an Admin chooses All locations or Only these locations, at invite or later under View Details.
• Admins always work at all locations, and only the account owner makes someone an Admin.
• With Only these locations, the OpenBoxes location chooser lists only the teammate's locations. Shared lists such as products stay visible, and some details of another location can still be opened from a direct link.
• The setting applies inside OpenBoxes. Reports, the scheduled CSV export and stock alerts still cover every location.

Teammate roles sets out the four roles and the users on each plan on one page, and Managing Users is the full guide. For how locations themselves are set up in OpenBoxes, see Locations.