Set up your locations
A location is where a copy physically lives. Locations nest as deeply as your real storage does, so "second crate on the left, under the window" becomes something you can actually record. A good location map is what lets you find a specific record in a room full of them.
Locations are account wide: build the map once and every collection uses it. You need the editor or owner role to manage locations.
Start from the defaults
A fresh account comes with five starter locations: Living Room 🛋️, Storage 📦, Display Case 🗄️, Garage 🚗, and Office 🏢. Rename them, nest under them, or delete them. They exist so your first copy has somewhere to go.
Model your real storage
The trick is to mirror the physical world, top down. Noah stores vinyl in two rooms, and inside each room are shelves, and on the shelves are crates:
- Living Room
- Shelf A
- Crate 1
- Crate 2
- Shelf B
- Shelf A
- Office
- Closet
Go to account settings and open Locations.
Add the rooms or areas, leaving the parent empty. Give each an emoji if you like; it makes lists easier to scan.
::screenshot{label="Locations list with nested entries"}
Add shelves, boxes, crates, and binders, each with its parent set. Go as deep as your storage really goes, and no deeper.
Do not over build. If everything is in one closet, one location named "Closet" is a perfectly good map. Add depth when finding things gets hard, not before.
How locations are used
Every copy points at its current location, chosen when you create the copy or whenever you move it. Moves are recorded over time, so a copy remembers not just where it is but where it has been. Locations also power the value by location breakdown in collection statistics, which is how you learn that one display case holds half your collection's value.
Where to next
- Put the map to use in Track the copies you own.
- Record a move properly in Move a copy and keep its location history.