Navigating OpenBoxes

This guide gives you a tour of the OpenBoxes interface so you can find your way around quickly. OpenBoxes is organized around a top navigation bar — location selector, main menu, and utility icons — and a central dashboard.

The Top Bar#

The top bar is always visible at the top of the screen. From left to right it holds the OpenBoxes logo, the location selector, the main navigation menu, and a row of icons.

Location Selector#

The location selector sits next to the logo on the left. It shows the name of your currently active location (e.g., "Main Warehouse").

Click on it to switch between locations. All inventory views, stock movements, and operations are scoped to the selected location. If something looks empty or unexpected, check that you have the correct location selected.

The magnifying-glass icon on the right opens the search box. Type a product code, lot number, stock movement or request number, shipment number, or receipt number and press Enter: an exact match jumps straight to that record (a product code or lot number opens the product's stock card), and anything else takes you to a product search for the term.

Help#

The question-mark icon opens the help panel, where you can browse OpenBoxes help articles and contact support.

Configuration#

Administrators also see a gear icon. It opens the Configuration menus — Administration (data import, data migration, localization), Locations (locations, location groups and types, organizations, people, roles, users), Transactions (transaction types, transaction list, inventory imports), and Other (reference data such as shippers, GL accounts, payment terms, container types, and the categories/locations configuration wizards). Non-admin users do not see this icon.

Administration's server pages — Settings, Console, Cache and Email — are not included on Shared plans or the public demo. Lift operates the server and manages those settings for you.

User Menu#

The person icon on the far right opens the user menu. From here you can:

  • Edit your profile (including your password)
  • Refresh caches (administrators)
  • Log out of OpenBoxes

There is no notifications icon; OpenBoxes shows feedback as pop-up messages after actions rather than in a notification tray.

The main menu runs along the top bar. Each entry opens a dropdown of the pages in that area. Which entries you see depends on your role and on the activities your current location supports; the full set is Dashboard · Inventory · Purchasing · Inbound · Outbound · Reporting · Products · Stocklists, with Invoicing appearing between Purchasing and Inbound for users who hold the Invoice role. On narrow screens the menu collapses behind a hamburger icon.

Dashboard#

The dashboard is your home screen. Its own left-hand sub-navigation switches between dashboards — My Dashboard, Warehouse Management, Inventory Management, Transaction Management, and Fill Rate — each a set of indicator tiles and graphs for your current location, such as expiring and expired stock, items inventoried, in-progress shipments and putaways, and open stock requests. My Dashboard can be personalized: add, remove, and reorder its tiles.

Inventory#

What is in stock at your current location:

  • View Inventory — Inventory Browser (search everything on hand, with quantities and lot numbers), plus the Inventory Summary, Inventory Details, and Inventory By Location reports
  • Inventory Transaction — Transfer stock internally between bins, replenish picking bins, and list stock transfers (shown at locations with bin tracking)
  • Cycle Count — Manage and perform cycle counts, and review cycle-count reporting

Purchasing#

Your procurement process:

  • Create Purchase Order and List Purchase Orders
  • List Suppliers
  • Ship from Purchase Order — Create an inbound shipment against one or more POs
  • Supplier Dashboard

Inbound#

Goods arriving at your location:

  • Stock Movements — Create Inbound Movement, Create Stock Request, List Inbound Movements, and Create Inbound Return
  • Putaways — Create Putaway and List Putaways

Receiving a shipment starts from its entry in List Inbound Movements. See Receiving for the receive and putaway workflow.

Outbound#

Goods leaving your location:

  • Create Outbound Movement — Pick, pack, and ship stock to another location
  • Import Completed Outbound — Record an already-completed movement from a file
  • List Outbound Movements and List Requests (stock requests from other locations)
  • Create Outbound Return — Send stock back to a supplier

A stock movement goes through a defined lifecycle — created, picked, packed, shipped, and received. To create one, open Outbound › Create Outbound Movement (or Inbound › Create Inbound Movement) and choose the origin, destination, and items to move.

Reporting#

Built-in reports, grouped as:

  • Inventory Reports — Inventory Summary, Inventory Details, Expired Stock, Expiring Stock, Inventory By Location, Cycle Count, and On Order
  • Order Reports — Forecast, Reorder, and Amount Outstanding (Finance role)
  • Transaction Reports — Transaction, Consumption, Request Detail, and Expiration History
  • Data Exports — CSV exports of products, product sources, latest inventory date, inventory levels, requisitions, bin locations, and product demand. OpenBoxes' custom data exports, which run stored SQL, are not available on Shared plans or the public demo

Products#

The product catalog is the foundation of your OpenBoxes data:

  • List Products, and for administrators Create product, Batch edit product, Import products, and Export products
  • Categories, Catalogs, Tags, Attributes, and Associations
  • Products Sources (supplier catalog entries), Components, Product Groups, and the units of measure and their conversions

Opening any product shows its stock card: inventory levels across all locations, recent transactions, and demand history.

Stocklists#

Stock lists are reusable requisition templates for the items a location orders regularly:

  • List stock lists
  • Create stock list (administrators)

Tips for Getting Oriented#

  • Always check your active location. Most screens are filtered by the location shown in the top bar. If you do not see expected data, switch locations.
  • Use global search. It is the fastest way to jump to a specific product, lot, shipment, request, or receipt by its number.
  • Bookmark key pages. If you perform the same tasks daily (e.g., receiving, stock counts), bookmark those pages in your browser for one-click access.
  • Start with the dashboard. The indicators on the dashboard highlight items that need your attention, so it is a good place to begin each day.

Next Steps#