Checkout is a program that allows you to keep track of your stuff. Your stuff could be anything from computers to cameras to books to your old marble collection. At the heart of the program is a system which makes it easy to reserve equipment, loan that equipment out, and make sure that no equipment is double-booked in the process. Of course, there’s a lot more to it than that since checkout is able to scale to thousands of users and items, but first lets look at the basics.

Shoppers or general users of checkout will likely want to look at the Checkout FAQ to see if it answers their questions before reading this document.

When you first log into checkout this is the screen you will see (Screenshot). It provides you a snapshot of what items are going out and coming in to your shop. On the left are the active carts, in the middle are the upcoming reservations, and on the right are the incoming loans.

Tip: By default the summary page shows the reservations occuring in the next 24 hours and the loans which are due back in the next 24 hours (as well as all loans which are overdue). However, you can change the time period to match your workflow by changing reservations_lookahead and loans_lookahead in checkout’s config file.

Note: The directions below assume you’ve already created items or groups.

A cart contains a user’s items while they are in the process of deciding what they want. Creating a cart is always the first step to creating a reservation or loan. Carts allow a user to add items to their cart over a period of time without holding everything up. To create a cart follow these steps:

• Click on “Add New Cart” in the upper right hand corner.
• Select a borrower by clicking on the icon and selecting them from the list or by typing their ID number into the box.
• Add items or groups to the cart by clicking on the icon to add items or the to add groups. Or you can type item barcodes into the text area separated by spaces, newlines, or tabs (Useful if all your items are barcoded and you have a barcode scanner).
• Optionally, add a comment about the cart.
• Select your next action.
• Click Add Cart.

A reservation allows the user to reserve a set of items for use at a future date. To create a reservation follow these steps:

• From the summary page, click on the to convert a cart into a reservation or select “Proceed to Reservation” when creating a cart.
• Set the start date and due date to the date and time you desire.
• Click “Create Reservation”.
• If an error pops up due to rules, demos, or red dots you can use an override code (assuming you have permissions) or force override without a code (also assuming you have permissions) to force the reservation to be created.
• Once the reservation is successfully created you will be presented with a confirmation page that can be printed out as a receipt.

When items actually leave your location then it’s time to create a loan. A loan marks the items as unavailable and won’t mark them available until they are returned. To create a loan follow these steps:

• From the summary page, click on the to convert a cart or reservation into a loan or select “Proceed to Loan” when creating a cart.
• Set the due date for when the items are due to be returned.
• Remove all groups from the loan. Groups cannot be loaned out because a loan means the user is taking real items from your location and groups are virtual sets of items.
• Click “Create Loan”.
• If an error pops up due to rules, demos, or red dots you can use an override code (assuming you have permissions) or force override without a code (also assuming you have permissions) to force the reservation to be created.
• Once the loan is successfully created you will be presented with a confirmation page that can be printed out as a receipt.

You can view the details of a cart, reservation, or loan by clicking on the borrower’s name on the summary page. Or, using the menu on the left-hand side you can view all carts, reservation, and open & overdue loans. On the display page you’ll see the following:

• The borrower’s name and image (if available).
• The start and due dates.
• Who processed/created it.
• A list of items/groups in it. For loans you can also see a list of items that have been returned.
• The history of who has modified it and when.

When an item that is on loan is brought back it must be returned so that the user’s loan is deleted. To return an item click on the “Return Items” link in the upper right-hand corner. Enter the barcodes or select the items are being returned (items from multiple loans can be entered). When you are finished click “Return Loaned Out Items.” You will be given a page with a receipt for each person who returned items. When all the items in a loan are returned the loan will be deleted.

Borrowers are those people who can reserve and loan out your items.

When creating a borrowr you can modify the following fields:

• First and Last Name
• Their Image so that they can be easily identified when they come to pick up equipment.
• Their Barcode. This must be unique to the borrower. This is what you can type or scan in when creating a cart.
• Their Email Address. This is the address to which a confirmation of the the loan or reservation will be sent if email_borrower_on_reservation or email_borrower_on_loan is enabled in checkout’s conf.php file.
• Their Type. This allows you to classify them based on general categories, such as student or faculty. You can set up custom borrower types in checkout’s conf.php.
• An Associated Profile. This connects the borrower to an actual login. Learn more about shopper mode.
• A number of custom fields are available, such as city, state, and address. These custom fields can be set up in checkout’s conf.php file.
• A Comment about the borrower can be added. If a borrower has a comment then a small notepad icon will show up next to their name when creating a loan or reservation.

When viewing a borrower’s information you see all the information above plus these additional fields:

• Their Loan History. Clicking on this link will take you to a page listing all of their reservations and loans.
• Their Demos. Clicking on this link allows you to view their demos, delete their demos, or give them new demos. Learn more about demos.
• Their Red Dots. A brief summary of their red dots is shown. Clicking on the link takes you to a page where you can view and add red dots.

Red dots are what allow you to flag problem borrowers (i.e. borrowers who return items late, damage equipment etc.). When you are on the page listing red dots you can give the borrower a new red dot, edit a red dot, or cancel a red dot. When adding or editing a red dot you give it a short description and a longer reason for why you are giving it. You can also specify that the red dot is a blocking red dot. This leads us to how the rules for red dots work:

• If a borrower has a blocking red dot then they will not be able to make any loans or reservations until the red dot is cancelled.
• A borrower is also blocked if they have more than 2 reddots that were given in the last 180 days, and at least one of those reddots occurred in the last 60 days. Tip: All of these numbers can be changed in checkout’s conf.php file.

Demos (short for demonstrations) allow you to make sure a borrower has been trained on how to use a piece of equipment before they can use it. When you create a demo you give it a name and description and then you put any items or groups into it. Now, when a borrower goes to reserve or loan the equipment in the demo they will not be able to unless they have been given the demo. Note: If you add a group to a demo then all the items in the group will also require that demo.

There are two ways to add a demo to a borrower:

1. On the demo list page you can click the icon. You will be presented a page where you can enter as many borrower barcodes as you wish. The demo will then be given to each of those borrowers.
2. When displaying a borrowers information there is a link to View the Borrower’s Demos. That will take you to a page listing all their demos. You can also add additional demos or remove demos from the borrower on that page.

There are several ways you can enforce consistency and organization in your checkout system: demos, red dots, and rules. However, there are always exceptions to the rule and this is what override codes are for. They allow a manager (we’re assuming managers have the ability to just use the force override feature and thus don’t need override codes) to give an assistant a one time code for overriding a condition that is blocking a borrower from completing a loan or reservation. When you add or edit an override code you can modify the following fields:

• Set the Borrower to which the override code applies.
• Set the Start Date and End Date of the code. This is not the time of the reservation or loan, but the time period during which the code is active.
• Set whether it is a Multiple Use Code. Normally a code is invalidated after one use, but by checking this box you can make it good for any number of times as long as it is used between the start and end dates.

Vendors are those companies or individuals from whom you purchase your equipment. This allows you to keep track of what items come from what suppliers. When adding or editing a vendor you can change information such as their name, address, city, state, zip code, phone number, and email. When displaying a vendor you can click on the Vendor’s Items link to display all the items associated with that vendor.

Categories are a series of hierarchical folders in which you put your items and groups. This allows you to find specific items or groups easier because you can browse by category when searching for items (Screenshot). When you create or edit a category you can choose a name and the parent category. Note that when you delete a category all of it’s sub-categories will be deleted as well.

Items represent actual pieces of equipment in your inventory. When adding or editing an item you can modify the following fields:

• The Name and Description
• An Image of the item. Note that this will be displayed on the list page when shoppers are browsing items.
• The Barcode of the item. This must be unique to the item and is the number typed or scanned into the text area when creating a loan or reservation.
• The Serial Number, Category, and Vendor are all optional fields.

* The Status of the item. If it is set to “Missing,” “Unavailable,” or “Repair,” it will not be available for loan or reservation. If you change the status from “On Loan” to “Available” the item will automatically be returned from the borrower’s loan.

• Shopper Viewable lets you toggle whether or not shoppers can see the item.
• Store is also used in shopper mode. It allows you to classify items into separate stores so that a shopper could browse just the Book store or just the Computer store. You can set up the available stores in checkout’s conf.php
• The Associated Rules are what allow you to associate any number of rules with the item.
• You can also attach files (i.e. a purchase receipt) or comments to the item.

When displaying an item all of the above fields are shown, plus you can click on the Loan History link to view all the loans and reservations the item has been a part of.

Groups are a collection of items. They solve two problems:

1. Sometimes you have several identical items (i.e. 10 digital cameras) and you want to reserve one of them. However, when you make a reservation for one of these items there is no way to know the exact item to reserve since the items you will actually have in your shop depend on which ones are loaned out. By creating a group of similar items you can reserve one instance of the group and the system will ensure that at least one of the items is available when it comes time to loan out the item. When it comes time to make a loan you remove the group and select one of the items in the group.
2. Sometimes you have a kit of items that always go together (i.e. a camera, camera bag, and lens). Instead of reserving all three of those you could just reserve the group and the system would ensure that all three items are available. When it came time for the items to be loaned out the group would auto-expand to include the items in the group.

When adding or editing a group you can modify the following fields:

• The Name and Description
• An Image of the group. Note that this will be displayed on the list page when shoppers are browsing items.
• The Category of the group.
• Shopper Viewable lets you toggle whether or not shoppers can see the item.
• Store is also used in shopper mode. It allows you to classify items into separate stores so that a shopper could browse just the Book store or just the Computer store. You can set up the available stores in checkout’s conf.php
• Is this a Kit? toggles whether the group functions as a kit (see above).
• The Associated Rules are what allow you to associate any number of rules with the item.
• You can change which Items are in the group.

When displaying a group all of the above fields are shown, plus you can click on the Loan History link to view all the loans and reservations the group has been a part of.

Rules allow you to make it so that an item or group cannot be reserved or loaned out unless certain conditons are met. After creating the rule you apply it to an item or group via the edit page for the item or group. Note: A rule applied to a group will also apply to all the items in that group. When adding and editing you can modify the following fields:

• Set the Rule Type. Changing the action will cause the page to refresh and a description of the rule will appear at the top of the page and additional fields will show up in the form. Below are the available Rule Types:
  • Limit Start Date: This rule allows you to limit when a reservation/loan can start for a certain item. Additionally, it will auto-set the start date on the loan form to the correct value if a specific time is given.
  • Limit Due Date: This rule limits the either the due date to a specific time or to a maximum number of minutes/hours/days after the start date. It will set the due date to the correct value based on the time limit given.
  • Item Maximum: This rule limits the user to having a maximum number of items. If you make it collective then the user can only have X (where X is the number you set) of any of the items to which this rule is applied. If you set the rule to be individual then the user can have X of each item/group the rule is applied to.
  • Limit Deletion Period: This rule limits limits whether or not a reservation can be deleted based on how many minutes/hours/days are left until the reservation begins.
  • Borrower Field: This rule allows you to ensure that the borrower matches the criteria you specify for the reservation or loan to be successful.
  • Item Dependencies: This rule allows you to ensure that the loan contains any additional items required by the item this rule is applied to.
  • Close Checkout: This rule closes down checkout by not allowing any reservations or loans to start or be due during the time period you choose.
• Set the Name of the rule.
• Set the Error Message of the rule. This is the message that will pop up if a loan or reservation is made that breaks the rule.
• Set whether the Rule Runs On all Items or all Groups. Normally you must apply the rule to each item or group, but using these checkboxes you can easily enable the rule for all Items or Groups.
• Set whether the Rule Pertains To loans, reservations, shopper reservations, or all of them. This allows you to apply a rule only to reservations, but not loans.
• When editing you can click on a link to view all the items and groups using the rule.

Here are some example rules to give you an idea with what can be accomplished using rules:

• Start Time. This rule will ensure that all rules start within working hours.
  1. Create a Limit Start Date rule which pertains only to Reservations and runs on all groups and items.
  2. Set the start time to be between 8am and 5pm.
• Due Date. This rule will ensure that loans and reservations are not made for more than 3 days at a time.
  1. Create a Limit Due Date rule which pertains to All and runs on all groups and items.
  2. Select the radio button that says to limit the due date “By Maximum Time the Reservation/Loan can Last”
  3. Set the time to 3 days.
• Borrower Field. This rule will ensure that the borrower has a company email address.
  1. Create a Borrower Field rule which pertains to All and runs on all groups and items.
  2. Set the Borrower Field to be “Email Address Must Equal”
  3. Enter .*@example.com as the Field Value
  4. Select “Regular Expression” as the Match Method
• Limit Number of Books. This rule will limit the user to only reserving/loaning out 2 books per week.
  1. Create an Item Maximum rule which pertains to All.
  2. Set the How to Count field to “Collectively.”
  3. Set the Maximum number to 2.
  4. Set the Frequency to 1 week.
  5. Apply the rule to all your book items and groups.

The inventory module allows you to quickly determine what’s missing from your facility. The process works as follows:

• You scan or type in the barcode for every item in your facility.
• You click “Process Items”. This will cause all items that are in the inventory list will be marked as Available. Any remaining items that are not in the inventory list, are not marked as on Repair, and are not On Loan will be marked as Missing.
• You will be given a list of all items that are Missing.
• When you have finished going over the Missing items, clear all the items so it is ready for the next inventory.

Checkout keeps a detailed log of who does what in the system. You can see a history of who has added, removed, and processed every loan and reservation by displaying it and clicking on the History link. You can also see the logs for all modules by going to the Logs module in checkout.

The statistics module allows you to seem some fun and useful statistics about your facility and equipment (Screenshot).

Normally checkout users have full access to the checkout system. They can create loans and reservations for all borrowers. They are essentially checkout administrators. However, there is another mode whereby users can log into the system, browse available items, and make reservations for them. This mode is called “Shopper Mode” because users see checkout basically as an online store where they shop for items and reserve them. To enable shopper mode for a user follow these steps:

1. In checkout’s menu.php file uncomment the Check Out Shooping stanza by removing the /* and */ that surround it.
2. Go to the edit page for the borrower and associate them with a login profile.
3. Create a permission group that has only the “Borrower can delete their reservation”, “Borrower can edit their reservation”, “Borrower can shop for groups”, and “Borrower can shop for items” permissions.
4. Assign that permission group to the login profile associated with the borrower. The user should have no other checkout permissions.
5. Log in as that user. You will now have a “Check Out Shopping” link in the left-hand menu.

Tip: You can automate the above process of assigning shopper permissions to certain users through FastFrame’s hooks.php file.

Tip: You might want to link to the shopper FAQ from your login page by editing the motd.php file in the config/ directory of the login application.