Locations & Areas

Locations are the top-level shared workspaces in OpenBin. Everything — bins, areas, members, and settings — lives inside a location. Areas are optional sub-zones within a location that give bins a physical context.

What is a Location?

A location represents a physical place or organizational unit, such as "Home", "Workshop", or "Storage Unit". All bins belong to exactly one location, and every member of a location can see and interact with its bins (subject to visibility settings).

When you register for the first time, OpenBin prompts you to create your first location before you can do anything else.

Creating a Location

1. From the location selector, choose Create Location.
2. Enter a name and confirm.

You become the admin of any location you create.

Joining a Location

Locations are joined via invite codes. An admin generates a code from location settings and shares it with you.

1. From the location selector, choose Join Location.
2. Enter the invite code and confirm.

You join as a member. Admins can promote you to admin after joining.

TIP

Invite codes can be regenerated by an admin at any time, which invalidates the previous code.

Roles

Role	Capabilities
Admin	Full control: manage members, change settings, create/rename/delete areas, move bins between locations
Member	Add, edit, and delete their own bins; view all location bins; cannot manage members or location settings

Switching Locations

Use the location selector in the sidebar (desktop) or navigation bar (mobile) to switch between locations you belong to.

Areas

Areas are sub-zones within a location. Examples: "Garage", "Attic", "Basement", "Shelf A". Bins can be assigned to an area for organization and filtering.

Creating and Renaming Areas

Only admins can create, rename, or delete areas.

• Create: Location settings → Areas → Add Area.
• Rename: Location settings → Areas → edit the area name.
• Delete: Deleting an area does not delete its bins — they become unassigned.

Assigning Bins to Areas

When creating or editing a bin, use the Area field to assign it. Bins with no area assigned appear under "Unassigned" in filters and the dashboard.

Customizable Terminology

Admins can rename the core terms to match their use case. For example, a warehouse might call bins "Boxes" and areas "Aisles".

Navigate to Location Settings → Terminology to override:

Default term	Example override
Bin	Box, Container, Crate
Area	Room, Shelf, Aisle
Location	Site, Warehouse, Facility

The new terms appear throughout the UI for all members of that location.

Activity Log

Every location keeps a per-location activity log. It records who did what and when — bin creations, edits, deletes, photo uploads, member joins, and more.

Access it from Location Settings → Activity Log.

INFO

Retention period for activity log entries is configurable by admins. Entries older than the configured number of days are automatically purged.

Trash and Retention

Deleted bins are not immediately removed — they move to a trash area where they can be restored. Admins configure how long trashed bins are kept before permanent deletion.

• Restore: Settings → Trash → find the bin → Restore.
• Permanent delete: Permanently removes the bin and all its photos. Cannot be undone.
• Retention period: Configured in Location Settings. Bins older than this limit in trash are purged automatically.

Related

• Bins — Create and manage bins within a location
• Dashboard — Location stats, pinned bins, and area breakdown
• Import & Export — Back up and restore location data
• API: Locations — Locations REST API reference