What are attributes in Scanlily and how do they work?

Attributes in Scanlily are customizable fields that describe and organize your items. Each item can have multiple attributes storing information like quantity, location, value, or any custom data you need. They appear as editable fields in the app and web interface, allowing you to track exactly what matters for your specific use case.

How do standard attributes differ from custom attributes in functionality?

Standard attributes are the 80+ pre-built fields Scanlily provides covering common tracking needs like serial numbers, purchase dates, and warranty information. Custom attributes are unlimited additional fields you can create as a Pro or Business subscriber, behaving exactly like standard attributes but tailored to your specific requirements like "Aisle Number" or "Inspection Certificate."

What's the difference between attributes and attachments for storing information?

Attributes store single, updatable values (like one description or one quantity number), while attachments store multiple timestamped entries with user tracking. For example, the Description attribute holds one current description, but Note Attachments can include multiple dated notes showing who added each one, creating an audit trail.

How do I add and customize attributes for my items?

Navigate to the Edit Item Type page in the app, where you can enable/disable standard attributes using checkboxes, reorder them by dragging, and click "Add Custom Attribute" to create new fields. Custom attributes require specifying a name and datatype (text, number, date, currency, boolean, or URL).

What special fields does Scanlily offer for business operations?

Scanlily includes specialized fields like Flag (customizable status indicators), Quantity (with increment/decrement controls), Assigned To (user/team allocation), GPS coordinates (latitude/longitude), container relationships (parent-child hierarchies), and transfer basket fields for managing inventory movements between locations.

Which datatypes are supported for different attribute categories?

Scanlily supports text (for descriptions, names, identifiers), numbers (quantities, ratings), dates (purchase, warranty, service dates), currency (prices, values with decimal support), boolean (true/false toggles), URLs (warranty links, documentation), and specialized formats for coordinates, barcodes, and product codes.

How can I use attributes to organize items across multiple locations?

Use the Address attribute for different physical sites, Location attribute for specific places within addresses (Room A, Warehouse 2), and Category attribute for logical grouping. Business subscribers can define unlimited addresses and locations, with items trackable across all sites through the unified system.

What industry-specific attributes are available?

Media/books include author, publisher, ISBN, page count, and links to Google Books/Goodreads. Games feature player count and Board Game Geek IDs. Equipment tracking offers calibration dates, vendor info, and certificate IDs. Each item type can display different attribute sets based on your industry needs.

How does the Flag attribute help with maintenance and status tracking?

The Flag attribute provides dropdown status options like Broken, Need to Service, Need to Recharge, Lost, or Restock. Pro and Business users can customize these values through comma-delimited lists, enabling company-specific statuses. Flagged items are easily filterable in reports and item lists.

Can attributes support depreciation and financial tracking?

Yes, Scanlily includes Original Value and Current Value fields for depreciation tracking, Purchase Date for acquisition records, Asset Life (Years) for depreciation schedules, plus Cost and Price fields for inventory management. Currency fields support multiple currencies (USD, EUR, GBP) with automatic formatting.

Scanlily - All About Attributes

Each item you add to Scanlily can have a set of attributes - also known as “fields.” Attributes can be anything that describes the item. Scanlily provides standard attributes such as “Quantity” or “Model Number”. Paying subscribers can also create custom attributes for your needs, such as “Aisle Number”.

a2. Standard and Custom Attributes

Scanlily’s standard attributes are typical of what might be found in an enterprise asset management system. There are over 80 standard attributes available to enterprise subscribers and an infinite number of customizable fields. They are listed in Section b.

You can create custom attributes if you can’t find a standard attribute that meets your needs.

Custom attributes behave just like standard attributes in the app and the user website.

Image of attributes on the Item page

a3. How to add standard and custom attributes

This section describes how to add and customize attributes as well as reorder them.

a4. Attributes vs. Attachments

Attachments are fully described in the Attachments section, but are mentioned here to clarify their difference from Attributes.

Whereas each attribute stores one updatable value, attachments can store a sequence of values for all to see. For example, the attribute Description can include a single description of the item. However, an item can have many different Note Attachments that are each a description and each timestamped and displaying the name of the person who added the note.

Attachments can be notes/text, images, audio, and documents. Attachments can include multiple images for an item and other types. The following is an example of an Attachments section:

Example of an Attachments section showing multiple attachment types

B. Standard Fields

This section (B) lists 80 of Scanlily’s standard attributes. The amount you see in the app will depend on your product level and access level. Pro and Business subscribers can further create new custom attributes.

List of Standard Attributes / Fields

b1. Required Fields

These are some fundamental attributes used to organize your items. They appear in reporting and on screens for sorting.

Display	Datatype	Description
ID	text	The main identifier that appears near the top of many pages. This is normally the eight-character Scanlily QR code (like z/abc123,). Business subscribers can substitute a custom barcode/QR strings at the loss of some functionality.
Type	text	Type is "Item Type". Each item type shows a different set of fields. See the Help documentation for more about this
Name	text

You can read more about Item Types here.

b2. Key Fields

Display	Datatype	Description
Category	text	Subscriber-defined categories.
Address	text	Business subscribers can have more than one address. An item can be at one of them. This short name for the address.
Location	text	Location is a place at an address (e.g., Room A or Basement). Define as many as you like.
Assigned To	text	This is a list of other users and teams for the subscription that can be assigned the item.
Flag	text	A comma-delimited list of values users can select from. This is customizable from the Edit Item Type page within the app.
Public	boolean	Allows users without the app to see items by scanning to web page or opening a link.

You can read more about these attributes and how to use them at the following links: Address, Location, and Category.

b3. Identifiers

Display	Datatype	Description
SKU	text	Customer-provided Product ID or SKU for an item. Can be used in addition to or in place of barcode/ID but doesn't contain all of the functionality and appears below barcode/ID
Model Number	text
Serial Number	text
UPC	text	UPC-A, 12-digit Universal Product Code (aka. GTIN-12).
GTIN	text	GTIN-14. 14-digit number used to identify trade items at various packaging levels.
EAN	text	EAN-13, 13-digit European Article Number (aka. GTIN-13). If it starts with 0, the remaining 12 digits is the UPC.
ASIN	text	The ten character Amazon ID for a product.
ELID	text	eBay Listing ID. 9-12 digits. Can be used to directly look up item in eBay; e.g. http://www.ebay.com/itm/123456780

b4. Item Details

Display	Datatype	Description
Description	text
Brand	text
Manufacturer	text
Color	text
Size	text	String of less than 32 characters describing the item's size. E.g. for clothing or shoes. E.g. '11W'
Weight	text	Describes the item's weight. String contains the unit of measure. E.g '12kg'
Dimensions	text	The item's physical dimensions as a string. There is no standard format.

b5. Dates

Display	Datatype	Description
Purchase Date	date
Last Serviced	date
Next Service	date
Expiration Date	date
Installation Date	date
Retirement Date	date
Creation Date	date
Pub. Date	date	Publication Date
Last Seen	date	The last time the item was scanned.
Date Added	date	The date and time when the item was added to Scanlily
Updated At	date	The date and time when the item was last updated

b6. Money Fields

Original Value, and Current Value are useful if you use Scanlily to track depreciation. Cost and Price are also useful if you use Scanlily to track inventory.

Display	Datatype	Description
Currency	text	Includes values like USD, CAD, EUR, GBP, or SEK. Null or '' means USD
Price	currency
Cost	currency	Useful with Price for inventory management
Current Value	currency	Decimals are optional for this and other money fields, decimals are optional (9, 9.0, 9.00, and 9.5 are all valid).
Original Value	currency

b7. Other Numeric

Display	Datatype	Description
Quantity	int(11)
Asset Life (Years)	decimal(5,2)
My Rating	decimal(4,2)	A rating between 1 and 5 that you can assign to an item. Perhaps it is a book that you want to rate
Inventory Order	smallint(6)	Used to sort inventory for display on the Scanlily shareable Inventory Page, Wordpress or other plugin that displays Scanlily content to customers.

b8. Warranty Fields

Display	Datatype	Description
Warranty Terms	text	Can be text from a long document of warranty terms
Warranty Start Date	date
Warranty (Years)	number	The number of years until the warranty expires. It can be a fraction (e.g., 1.5 years).
Warranty Expiration Date	date	The system will use this date to send out warranty expirations reminders if you set an alert.
Warranty URL	url	A URL linking to the warranty

b9. Media/Book specific

Display	Datatype	Description
Author	text
Artist	text
Director	text
Publisher	text
Media Type	text
Genre	text
Language	text	A 2 character alpha2 code, like 'en'
Edition	text
Audience	text
Duration	text
Page Count	number
Google Books	url	A link to a book on Google Books
Open Library	url	A link to a book on Open Library
Goodreads ID	number	A link to a book on Goodreads

b10. Game specific

Display	Datatype	Description
Game Type	text
Num. Players	text
Board Game Geek ID	number	A link to a game on Board Game Geeks

b11. Equipment Specific

Display	Datatype	Description
Equipment Status	text
Vendor	text
Certificate ID	text	Can be the ID for a document such as a calibration certificate
Calibration Units	text
Calibration Value	number
Calibration Date	date	The last time the equipment was calibrated. But can also be used as the upcoming calibration date. Your choice.

b12. GPS

Display	Datatype	Description
Latitude	text	A string that is in a proper latitude format such as -25.274398 or 57.166266. Have at least five digits after the decimal point, like 43.51751.
Longitude	text	A string in an appropriate format of longitude such as -110.9741769 or 13.1383732. Have at least five digits after the decimal point, like 43.51751.

b13. Inventory Transfer Basket

These are for business customers who are transferring quantities between locations

Display	Datatype	Description
Date Submitted	date	This is the date a Transfer Basket was submitted.
Submitted By	text	This is the Team or person who submitted a Transfer Basket.
Date Received	date	This is the date a Transfer Basket was received
Received By	text	This is the Team or person who received a Transfer Basket.

b14. Hidden Fields

These attributes are used by the system and not shown on the UI.

Display	Datatype	Description
Is Container	binary	A type of item that contains other items.
Parent ID	number	This is the ID for an item’s container.

C. Special Fields

Several special attributes in Scanlily perform specific functions as describe below./

c1. Use of URLS in Description Attribute

Scanlily allows embedding URLs in Description fields and also when creating a Note attachment. To enable this, simply type a URL starting with https:// , http:// or www. in your description:

URL being typed into the description field

When the attribute’s value is displayed, it will be hyperlinked. If clicked, a web page will open:

Item Page with a long description that includes a hyperlink

c2. Flag Attribute

Scanlily’s flag attribute lets you flag an item’s status.

Item screen for item Battery with Flag field set as Need to Recharge

When you click on the down arrow beside the flag attribute, you can view the default options: Broken, Dispose, Flagged, Lost, Need to Recharge, Need to Renew, Need to Service, and Restock.

Flag field option pulldown showing

If you are a Pro or Business subscriber, you can edit the flag field by clicking on the pencil in the Item Type List.

Pencil shown next to Flag attribute on Edit Item Type screen

When in edit mode, you can add or change the comma-delimited flag values:

Attribute Edit Page showing list of Flag dropdown values

c3. Quantity Attribute

It’s possible to have an Item Page in Scanlily represent more than one item. In this case, you might use the Quantity attribute to indicate how many of that item there are:

Quantity set to 2 on the Item Page for Pitchfork

The Quantity field value for that item will then appear in the Item List screen. You can adjust the value further with - and + symbols, or you can simply type to change the value. If the value is 0 and you click on the “-” symbol one more time, it will set the value to null from these two pages. This means that quantity is not being tracked.

Pitchfork item shown in item list with quantity 2

If an item with a quantity attribute is in a container, you can view the quantity of the item at the bottom of the Container Page.
Container page showing Pitchfork item with quantity inside Gardening Kit container

c4. Assigned To Attribute

The “Assigned To” attribute is useful for Business subscribers who have multiple users and want to assign an Item to a Scanlily user or Shared Action Team. For example, in an office setting if the item is a company laptop, Assigned To can be set to the user who is assigned that laptop for their long term work.

An alternative to Assigned To which has a different purpose is Scanlily's Booking System with its check out and reserve feature. This is used when users will be reserving, checking out and returning items. But use the Assigned To field when there aren't booking and you

On this page

A. What are attributes?

a1. Standard vs. Custom Attributes vs. Attachments