Glossary

These are the words the manuals use, in the product’s own terms. Each one links to the page that explains it.

Your space

Space

Your makerspace, shop or lab in MakerOps. A space has its own people, equipment and settings, and its own address, such as yourspace.makerops.ai. One account can belong to several spaces. See Getting started.

Workspace

The word some screens use for a space. You see it at sign-up (Workspace address), in the Workspace group in Settings, when you switch between spaces, and in Partner workspaces. It means the same thing as space.

Two-factor authentication

A second step after your password: a 6-digit code from an authenticator app on your phone. Every account that signs in with a password needs it. Recovery codes, saved when you set it up, get you in once each if you lose your phone. See Sign in and two-factor authentication.

Area

A place you walk into inside your space, such as a room or a shop. Each Area has a type: Facility, Room, Work area or Other. Machines, shifts and tasks can each belong to an Area, and trainings can be grouped by one. Areas are listed under Facility › Areas. See Add a machine.

Module

A part of MakerOps you turn on or off for your space, such as Equipment, Loans or Controllers. Modules are under Settings › Modules. See Choose your modules.

Dashboard layout

A named arrangement of dashboard widgets that your space hands to people: one for staff and admins, one for everyone else, and others for the ways people join. Layouts are under Settings › Dashboards. See Dashboards.

Machines and access

Equipment

Everything on the list under Facility › Equipment & Fleet, and the module that holds it. The manuals say equipment for the list and the module, and machine for one unit on it.

Machine

One physical unit on the equipment list, such as one laser cutter. The web forms call it equipment (New Equipment). See How equipment is organized.

Machine type

A kind of machine, such as “Laser cutter”. Maintenance schedules are set on the type, and a machine can also have no type. All the machines of one type or model are a fleet. See Add a machine type.

Model

One specific make and model inside a machine type, such as “Prusa Core One”. It shares the machine type’s schedules and can add its own. See How equipment is organized.

Fleet sweep

The app screen for working through one fleet’s open maintenance in one pass. It lists each open maintenance task with the machines that have it, and you tick them off as you go. See Sweep a fleet in the app.

Controller

The MakerOps controller. It mounts next to a machine and powers it on only for people your rules allow. Controllers are listed under Facility › Controllers. See Controller overview.

Session

Time on a machine through a controller. It starts after a member scans the controller’s QR and the machine powers on. It ends by timer, by checkout or by staff. Every session is recorded on the machine’s Sessions tab. See Running a session. A training session is something else (below).

Offline pass

A pass the MakerOps app saves for each machine a member is trained on. It lets them start the machine over Bluetooth when the controller can’t reach MakerOps. Passes renew while the app is online. See When the internet is down.

Booking rule

A rule that sets who can book a machine, when, and for how long. A rule can also reserve a machine for a group at set times, so only that group can start it. Booking rules are under Facility › Booking Rules. Older pages and some screens call them group access windows or access windows. See Booking rules.

Training

Training

A course. It is either self-paced or in person. Members find trainings under Training, and admins build them in Learning › Training Catalog. See Training & credentials.

Credential

The clearance a training earns, such as “Laser Cutter Certified”. It can also be granted by hand. Machines require credentials, not trainings, under Required credentials. Credentials can expire. See Training & credentials.

Self check-in

A setting on an in-person training that lets members check in to its sessions by tapping Check in in the app, without scanning the trainer’s code. It records attendance only. See Let members check in from the app.

Skill

One small sign-off on a training’s skills checklist, such as “Drill press”. A trainer grants it in person. Each skill is its own credential, so a machine can require it. Holding every skill on a training earns the training’s credential. See Add a skills checklist.

Teaching guide

The ordered list of points a trainer covers in an in-person training. The trainer records, in the app, which members were walked through each point. It isn’t a credential. See Add a teaching guide.

Training session

An in-person training at a set time that members sign up for. Sessions are on the Sessions tab of the Training Catalog. See Training sessions & signup questions and Sign up for a training session.

Bookings and loans

Reservation

A booking of a machine or other resource for a time in the future. Members book from Scheduling › Book a Resource and see their bookings under My Stuff › My Reservations. See Machine reservations.

Loan

A record of who has a tool or item, since when, and until when. Check out starts a loan and Check in ends it. A loan is for things that leave with the borrower. Time on a machine is a session. See Loans.

Tasks

Task

One piece of work for the space, such as “Restock the sanding discs”, with a status, a priority and the people or groups who should do it. A task can repeat, carry a checklist and have sub-tasks. A task linked to a machine is maintenance. Tasks are under Tasks in the sidebar. A task is not a to-do: a to-do is a requirement on one person’s account. See Tasks.

Task list

A named group of tasks for a session or an initiative, such as a shop-opening checklist. A list can have start and end dates, and a template can make a new list each month. Lists are under Tasks › Task Lists. See Task lists.

Roles

These are the built-in roles by their default labels. Your space can rename any role except Admin and add its own, so your list may differ. A person can hold more than one role. See How roles work.

• Owner: has every permission, always. Only an Owner can make someone else an Owner.
• Admin: runs the space. Out of the box it has nearly every permission, including Manage permissions.
• Area Manager: out of the box, runs equipment, maintenance, controllers, inventory, tasks and reservations.
• Coordinator: out of the box, approves purchases, edits members, sends announcements, manages forms and reservations, and manages staff time.
• Purchasing Agent: orders purchases and manages suppliers. Out of the box it can’t approve purchases.
• Purchasing Approval Admin: approves or rejects purchase requests.
• Staff: the everyday role for people who work in the space, such as the loans desk, maintenance tasks and looking members up. Student workers hold Staff and Student together.
• Student: for students who use the space. They book machines, borrow tools, take trainings and report problems.
• Member: the same permissions as Student by default, named for spaces that aren’t schools.
• Guest: for visitors. It comes with no permissions switched on.
• Funding Source Manager: a Student’s permissions plus managing their own funding sources. MakerOps adds it when someone becomes a manager of a funding source.
• Billing Owner, Billing Viewer and Credit Code Admin: built-in roles that come with no permissions switched on. They have no column on the permissions screen; you give them from the person’s page. See People, roles & permissions.