Measurement types: what the technician checks
By the end of this article you will have a library of measurement types, know which kind to pick for each one, and understand what happens to a job when you change a type later.
A measurement type is one thing a technician checks while delivering a service: tire pressure in psi, oil level as Low / OK / Full, whether the wiper blades are worn. You keep the library under Catalog → Reference Data, on the Measurements tab, and assign the types to a service on its form — see Create a service and price it by vehicle type. From then on every job of that service asks for those readings, once per vehicle, and the technician records each one as OK, Adjusted or Requires attention. Anyone who can edit services can change the library; everyone who can see the catalog can read it.
Pick the kind
Click Add measurement type, give it a Name (in English and, with the language button beside the field, in Spanish) and an optional Description, then choose the Kind:
- Number — a value in a unit. Under Units, add the units it may be recorded in, optionally narrowing the list with the category picker (pressure, volume, electrical…). The first unit is the Default the job starts in; use the arrows to reorder. The units come from your business’s list — see Units: the measures your catalog uses. An Expected range is optional: a reading outside the Minimum to Maximum suggests Requires attention on the job, inside suggests OK — a suggestion the technician can always override.
- Choice — one of a list you define. Under Options, click Add option for each one and name it in both languages, at least two. The order is the order the technician sees.
- Yes / no — nothing more to set up.
Visible to customer decides whether a reading of this type is shown in the customer portal by default. Each reading on a job carries its own switch, so the office or the technician can hide one reading without touching the type. Notes are never shown to the customer.
Click Save. The new type lands at the end of the list.
Edit, reorder, deactivate, delete
- Edit opens the same dialog with a note: changing the Name, Kind, Units, Options or Expected range keeps history — jobs already booked keep exactly what they were given, and the new version applies to jobs booked from now on. That is deliberate: a range you tighten today should not turn last month’s readings red. The Description, Visible to customer switch and order change in place.
- The Move up and Move down arrows set the order the service form’s picker shows.
- Deactivate hides a type from the pickers without losing history. Turn on Show inactive to see it again, marked Inactive, and use Activate to bring it back. A service that still carries a deactivated type keeps it, and past jobs keep their readings.
- Delete removes a type for good — but only one no service assigns. If any service uses it, Wax Stak refuses, names the services, and offers Deactivate instead. The Used by column shows the same services at a glance.
Search and views
The search box matches either language’s name. Switch between the table and cards with the view buttons; the count beside them is the number of active types.
Good to know
- A type the phone typed in. A technician can add a reading on the spot that is not in the library; it belongs to that job only and never appears here.
- Where the readings go. Each job’s readings and the materials used sit on the job under Measurements & materials — see Measurements and materials on a job — and every vehicle keeps a history across its jobs on the customer’s page.