Checking out and returning
One person, one due-back date, as many items as they're taking. The loan stays open until the last item comes home.
Checking out
- Pick the person. Borrowers come from your People directory; if they're not in it yet, add them first.
- Pick the due-back date. The loan is due at end of business (5 PM UTC) on the date you choose.
- Pick the items. The picker lists only items that are actually available — checked-out and out-of-service tools never appear. Type in the filter box to narrow the list, tick as many as they're taking. An optional note rides along on the loan.
The button stays disabled until all three are chosen, and the form tells you
what's still missing. On submit, one loan is created, every item flips to
checked out, and each item's current condition is stamped onto the
loan as its condition out.
Two staff scanning at once can't double-book a tool: checkout locks the item rows, so the second submission is told exactly which items are no longer available instead of silently succeeding.
Returning
Open the loan (from Loans, the dashboard's overdue table, or the person's page), tick the items being handed back, and check them in — optionally recording a condition on return and a return note.
- Partial returns are normal. Return two of three items today; the loan stays open showing what's still out.
- The loan closes automatically when its last item is returned.
- Returned items are available again immediately.
The loans list
Loans shows open loans sorted by due date (soonest first), with closed and all-loans views one click away. Every loan records who took it, who ran the checkout, what's on it, and each item's condition out and in.
Next: Condition tracking