Tutorial: set up your first makerspace

In the first tutorial you installed Space Works and the installer created a makerspace for you. Now you’ll make it yours: give it its full name and public details, invite a staff member, add your first item, print its QR label and check what the public sees.

Everything here happens in the browser, in the staff console at /admin. You only need the terminal for one optional step.

Thing	In this tutorial
Makerspace	Kochi Makers Lab, slug kochi-makers
Website	https://makers.example.org
Staff member	Asha, asha@example.org, who will be an Inventory Manager
First item	Arduino Uno, 5 in stock, in the Electronics category

What you’ll build

• A makerspace called Kochi Makers Lab with its location, hours and currency filled in.
• Asha’s staff account, able to run the inventory but not the makerspace’s settings.
• An Electronics category holding an Arduino Uno product with 5 units.
• A printable QR label for the Arduino Uno.
• A public catalogue at https://makers.example.org/m/kochi-makers showing the Arduino Uno as Available, without revealing exactly how many you have.

What you need

• A finished first install, and the superadmin username and password it gave you.
• Asha’s email address, and a way to send her a link (email, chat or a message).
• A printer, if you want to stick the QR label on something today.

Time

About 30 minutes.

Words you’ll meet

Word	Meaning
Staff console	The admin side of Space Works at /admin, where staff run the makerspace. The public sees the catalogue instead.
Slug	The short web-safe name in an address. kochi-makers is the slug in /m/kochi-makers. It is fixed when the makerspace is created.
Superadmin	You: the account that runs the whole server and can change everything, in every makerspace.
Role	A named set of permissions inside one makerspace, such as Inventory Manager.
Module	A whole feature area, such as events or machines, that can be switched on or off.
Product	One kind of thing you lend, like “Arduino Uno”, with a stock count.
QR label	A printed square code. Scanning it tells Space Works exactly which item or box is in your hand.

Part 1: name and public details

1. Sign in. Open https://makers.example.org/admin and sign in as admin (with your authenticator code if you set one up). If the console asks you to choose a makerspace, pick Kochi Makers.

   You should see the Dashboard, with a setup checklist listing items such as Set the profile and location, Add your first item and Invite staff. Each one ticks itself off when you’ve done the work, so watch it fill up as you go.

2. Give it its full name. Open Admin → Settings. The page is titled Makerspace settings and is one long page of sections. In the first section, Branding:

   • Change Registered name from Kochi Makers to Kochi Makers Lab.
   • Choose Save registered name.

   The slug stays kochi-makers, so your public address doesn’t change. That’s why the first tutorial typed the shorter name into the installer.

   Public display name is optional. Fill it in only if you want visitors to see something different from the registered name; leave it blank to use the registered name.

3. Add a logo and cover (optional). Still in Branding, upload a Logo and a Cover image (wide banner). Without a logo, the public site shows the name as text, which is fine to start with.

4. Set the location. Scroll to the Location section:

   • Location label: Kochi, Kerala
   • Google Maps link: optional. In Google Maps, use Share → Copy link and paste it here.

   Choose Save location. This label is shown on your public pages.

5. Set hours and currency. Scroll to Location & hours:

   • Timezone: check it says Asia/Kolkata (you chose it in the installer).
   • Country: India. Country is only visible to staff.
   • Default currency: check it says inr.
   • Fill in the weekly opening hours.

   Choose Save location & hours.

   You should see Saved. under the form.

Part 2: check what’s public and what’s switched on

1. Check the public switches. In the General section of the same Settings page:

   • Show public inventory should be ticked (its badge says On). This is the catalogue visitors browse.
   • Publish public site should be ticked. It controls whether the makerspace appears in the public directory at all.
   • Public home can stay on Automatic. With lending switched on, /m/kochi-makers opens on the catalogue.

   Both switches are on for a new makerspace. Turning either off hides things but deletes nothing.

2. Review the modules. Open Admin → Modules. Modules are grouped by area. Each group shows a badge such as “3 of 5 installed”, or Always on for the parts every makerspace has.

   Open a group to see each module, what it does and an Install or Uninstall button. The areas you chose in the installer (Inventory & lending, Machines and Reports) are already installed, so you don’t need to change anything for this tutorial. Uninstalling a module later hides its screens and keeps its data.

   Only a superadmin sees this page. The installer’s area menu is also available from the server:

   On the server, in /opt/spaceworks

   bash scripts/update.sh --modules-only

   Modules explains each one.

Tip

Smaller switches inside a module, such as loan renewals or kiosk stations, live in the Feature settings section of Admin → Settings.

Part 3: invite Asha as Inventory Manager

An Inventory Manager can run the whole lending side: add and edit inventory, print QR labels, review borrow requests, hand items out and take them back. They can’t change the makerspace’s settings, staff or money. That suits Asha, who looks after the lab’s tools.

1. Create the invitation. Open Admin → Users and scroll to Staff invitations:

   • Email: asha@example.org
   • Role: Inventory Manager

   Choose Invite staff.

   You should see a delivery status, the words You can also share this link privately: and a box holding the invitation link. The invitation also appears in the list below with its expiry date. Invitations last 7 days.

2. Get the link to Asha. If you’ve set up email, Asha receives the link by email. If not (a brand-new install has no email yet), click into the Invitation link box, copy the link and send it to Asha yourself. Treat it like a password: anyone with the link can accept it before Asha does.

   Lost it? Use Resend beside the invitation to get a fresh link, or Revoke to cancel it.

3. Asha accepts. Asha opens the link. It goes to https://makers.example.org/staff-invitations/accept.

   She should see the heading Accept your staff invitation. She chooses a strong Password for her new account and selects Accept invitation.

4. Asha signs in. Asha goes to https://makers.example.org/admin and signs in with her email address as the username, plus the password she just chose.

   She should see the console with the Inventory menu group, including Inventory, Categories and QR Tools, but no Settings or Users.

Note

Prefer to hand out a username and password yourself, for example for a shared front-desk login? Use Add staff on the same Users page instead. See Roles and permissions for every role and how to build narrower ones.

Part 4: add a category and your first item

You can do this part as yourself or as Asha.

1. Add the Electronics category. Open Inventory → Categories. In the form at the top:

   • Name: Electronics
   • Slug: leave empty. Its placeholder says “auto from name”, so it becomes electronics.
   • Order and Icon: optional.

   Choose Add category.

   You should see a row for Electronics in the table, with 0 in the # products column.

2. Add the Arduino Uno. Open Inventory → Inventory and choose Add item. Fill in:

   Field	Value	Why
   Name	Arduino Uno	What people search for.
   Tracking mode	Quantity	You count how many you have, rather than tracking each board separately.
   Category	Electronics	Groups it on the public catalogue.
   Description	Microcontroller board with USB cable.	Shown to borrowers.
   Public borrowing terms	Return with the USB cable.	Optional rules shown on the item’s public page.
   Storage location	Shelf B3	Staff only. Never shown to the public.
   Total quantity	5	How many you own.
   Available quantity	5	How many are on the shelf right now. Both start at 1, so change both.
   Public	Ticked	Lists the item on the public catalogue.
   Self checkout	Unticked	Keep loans staff-reviewed for now.
   Show count	Unticked	Don’t show the exact number publicly.
   Public visibility	Status only	Show a simple label instead of a number.

   The other product details (manufacturer, model, barcode and so on) are optional. Choose Save.

   You should see the item open again for editing, so you can upload a photo, and an Arduino Uno row in the inventory list with a total of 5 and 5 available. Back in Categories, Electronics now shows 1 product.

What “Status only” shows the public

You picked Status only, so visitors see a word instead of a number:

Label	When
Available	More than 20% of the total is on the shelf
Limited	20% of the total or less is available (rounded up, so 1 of 5)
Unavailable	Nothing is available

With 5 of 5 on the shelf, the Arduino Uno shows Available. When only one is left it switches to Limited, all by itself. To show the exact number instead, choose Exact count and also tick Show count; the number appears only when both are set. More in Inventory and QR codes.

Part 5: print a QR label

A QR label lets staff scan the item instead of searching for it, and every scan is recorded.

1. Start a print batch. Open Inventory → QR Tools and choose New batch. In Create QR print batch, set Batch title to Electronics shelf and choose Create batch.

   The new batch is selected for you in Print batch.

2. Add the Arduino Uno’s label. Under Inventory QR, choose the Inventory item.

   You should see the option Arduino Uno | quantity | 5 available.

   Because the Arduino Uno is tracked by quantity, it gets one label for the product. Choose Add/reprint item QR.

   You should see the label appear in the batch, and the batch says 1 QR labels accumulated.

3. Download and print. Choose Download all (ZIP). The ZIP file contains one SVG image per label. Open the image in your browser or any image viewer, print it, and stick it on the Arduino Uno storage bin.

Note

Want a separate label on every board, so you know exactly which one went out? Use Individual tracking instead of Quantity. QR Tools then generates one label per unit. Separately, staff hand every reviewed loan over in a labelled box. Both are covered in Inventory and QR codes.

Part 6: see it as the public does

1. Open a private window. Use your browser’s private or incognito mode, so you see the site as a visitor who isn’t signed in.

2. Go to the catalogue. Open https://makers.example.org/m/kochi-makers.

   You can also just open https://makers.example.org: while Kochi Makers Lab is the only public makerspace on the server, the home page sends visitors straight to it.

   You should see the name Kochi Makers Lab, a search box that says “Search tools, machines, kits, or materials”, an Electronics category, and Arduino Uno marked Available.

3. Check what’s hidden. The public page doesn’t show Shelf B3, the QR code or the exact count. Storage locations, QR codes, box IDs and scan history are never shown publicly.

Your makerspace is ready for its first loan.

If something went wrong

• The Arduino Uno isn’t on the public page. Check that Public is ticked on the item, and that Show public inventory and Publish public site are both ticked in Admin → Settings. Archived items never appear.
• The public page says No public programme is available. The public site is switched off, or no public area (such as lending) is installed. Check Publish public site and Admin → Modules.
• The page says Unable to load this makerspace. Check the slug in the address. It’s kochi-makers, from the name you typed in the installer, not kochi-makers-lab.
• Asha’s invitation email never arrived. A new install has no email set up. Copy the invitation link from Staff invitations and send it yourself, or set up email and choose Resend.
• There’s no QR Tools menu item. It needs the QR print batches module, part of the Inventory & lending area, and the manage_qr permission. Check Admin → Modules and the person’s role.

More fixes are in Troubleshooting.

Next

• Tutorial: your first loan, start to finish: Asha lends the Arduino Uno to a member.
• Set up your makerspace: every setting, with a go-live checklist.
• Roles and permissions: build a front-desk role for volunteers.
• Inventory and QR codes: bulk import, boxes and stocktakes.