How to assign a label to a box

This is the most common job an editor does, and the canonical first task for someone new to the system. The short version: take a fresh QR-code sticker from the stack, put it on a real box, write down what's in the box on paper, then enter it into the Box Tracker on a desktop computer when you're back at the keyboard.

What you'll need. A stack of pre-printed QR labels (Ami Goodman keeps these on hand for the team — ask whenever the stack is running low), a notepad and pen, and access to whichever box (or boxes) you want to label.

Why paper-and-desktop rather than your phone in the attic? Attics are dim, dusty, and cramped, and typing into a phone while you're standing on a stool is slow and error-prone. The two-pass approach — peel and label in the attic, transcribe at home on a real keyboard — is faster overall and produces cleaner data. (See the editing on a phone help topic for the longer rationale.)

The exception: a laptop or iPad in the attic. If you'd rather skip the paper step and enter box details on the spot, you can bring a laptop or an iPad (held in landscape) up to the attic with you. Both pass the system's mobile blocker and let you fill in the form directly. A phone or an iPad held in portrait won't — those route to the “editing on a phone” help page instead of the editor. For most editors the paper-then-desktop pass is still faster (and your hands stay free for the box itself), but if you're only doing one or two boxes the laptop/iPad route can save the second trip to the keyboard.

Step 1: In the attic — peel, stick, and write it down. For each box:

1. Look at what's inside and decide on a short name everyone on the team would recognize — Christmas decorations, Children's choir robes, Easter banners.
2. Peel one fresh QR label off the sheet and stick it on the box. Pick a flat spot where a phone's camera can easily read the QR code — not on a flap that opens, not over a crease.
3. On your paper, write down the box ID printed under the QR code (something like BOX-A7K9P2). You'll need it later to find the box in the system.
4. Next to the ID, jot down the box name, where the box is going on the shelf, and a quick list of what's inside. Don't worry about polish — you'll clean it up at the keyboard.

Step 2: At home — open the editor on a desktop or laptop. Sign in to the Box Tracker with the editor link the church gave you. On the home page, find the Find a box by ID form, type in the box ID from your paper (any case is fine — box-a7k9p2 and BOX-A7K9P2 both work), and press Find.

Because that label hasn't been used yet, the system takes you to a page that says the label hasn't been claimed. Click Sign in to assign this box. If you haven't signed in with your Google account yet, the system will ask you to do that now.

Step 3: Fill in the form. Three things to fill in:

• Box name — the short, recognizable name you decided on in the attic.
• Location — where the box ends up on the shelf. Be specific enough that someone hunting for it later can find it without opening every box — for example North wall, top shelf or Christmas section, row 2.
• Items — one row per thing in the box. If there are multiples (four candleholders, say), put the quantity in the Qty column. Use Notes for anything not obvious from the name: polish before use, fragile, top of box, and so on. Press Add another item for additional rows.

When everything looks right, press Assign this box. The label is now permanently tied to this box, and anyone scanning the QR code from now on will see the contents you just entered.

Mistakes are mostly recoverable. If you realize after pressing Assign this box that the name, location, or items aren't quite right, head to the catalog, open the box, and edit it. See how to enter or change the contents of a box for that flow.

The one thing that can't be undone is which physical sticker is on which physical box. If a sticker turns out to be on the wrong box, the fix is to retire that label and start over with a fresh sticker from the stack. So before you peel-and-stick in the attic, double-check the label is going on the box you mean.