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Uniform stock management for healthcare linen rooms: the coordinator app, the phone counter and the staff app, for your own server. Built from 38e16eb on 2026-09-15. Licensed under the Functional Source License (FSL-1.1-ALv2).

docs/manual/start/the-two-roles.md

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+---
+title: The two roles
+section: start
+order: 3
+summary: What an Admin can do that an Issuer cannot, as the server enforces it, and what staff see when they sign in to the staff app.
+screen: Settings › People & sign-in
+role: Anyone
+keywords: roles, permissions, admin, issuer, access, user, users, staff sign-in, staff app, activation code, who can
+---
+
+## Two roles, checked on the server
+
+Every user of the linen-room app is either `Admin` or `Issuer`. The server checks the role on every change, so hiding a button is not the only protection. If an Issuer attempts a change they are not allowed to make, the server refuses it with `Admin only`, whichever screen it came from.
+
+Your name and role are at the foot of the menu, or at the bottom of the `More` sheet on a phone. A sign-in lasts 14 days, or 30 days if you tick to stay signed in on that computer. Changing a password ends every older sign-in for that user.
+
+## What each role can do
+
+An Admin can do everything an Issuer can, plus everything in the Cannot column. The one thing an Admin cannot do is remove or demote the last active Admin.
+
+| Role | Can | Cannot |
+|---|---|---|
+| Issuer | Issue, return, swap sizes and take hand-ins on `Counter` | Add, edit or delete catalogue items, sizes or barcodes |
+| Issuer | Work requests, pickups and delivery rounds | Change reorder levels, supplier codes or catalogue prices |
+| Issuer | File a count on `Stock › Count`, receive stock, add to the pre-loved pool | Set on hand, adjust or write off stock, or set opening balances |
+| Issuer | Create an order with `New order` or `Order for a person`, and receive deliveries | Raise the `To order` list, email a supplier or cancel an order |
+| Issuer | Read `People` and `Reports` | Add, edit or delete staff, departments or locations, or generate staff-app codes |
+| Issuer | Read `Settings`, where the fields are disabled | Change settings, staff groups, suppliers, users or the plan |
+| Issuer | Change their own details and password | Read the audit log, import CSV, restore a backup, wipe or reset data |
+
+On `Orders`, an Issuer sees `Recent orders` where an Admin sees `To order`. The `Mark ordered` and `Order sheet` buttons on an order, and `Mark shipped` in its menu, are shown to Admins only.
+
+## Managing users
+
+Admins see the `Users` list under `Settings › People & sign-in`, with `Add user` and an `Edit` button on each row. The user dialog's `Role` sets `Admin` or `Issuer`. The facility must always have at least one active Admin, so the server will not demote or remove the last one and replies `Keep at least one active admin`. See [Users](/docs/account/users).
+
+## Staff sign-ins
+
+Staff on the register are not users, and they never have either role. A staff member signs in to the staff app, at `/my`, with a separate account.
+
+1. **An Admin generates a code** on the person's record, under `People › Details & access`, in the `Staff app` panel. It is twelve characters in three groups, and `Print the slip` prints it.
+2. **The staff member activates it** at the staff sign-in with `First time? I have a code`, then chooses an email and password. A code generated 14 or more days ago is refused as expired.
+3. **After that they sign in** at the staff sign-in, or through the ordinary sign-in on the website.
+
+A staff sign-in lasts 30 days. It is a different kind of session from a user's, so it cannot open the linen-room app. A user's session shows nothing in the staff app either.
+
+## What staff can see
+
+The staff app menu is `Home`, `Kit`, `Orders` and `Messages`. In it, staff can:
+
+- see what they hold and raise a request for garments
+- send messages about their own requests, report damage and raise a dispute
+- join, leave or accept a waitlist place, and answer a kit check when one is open
+- change their own password
+
+Two extra views come from the register, not from a role. If someone is named as another person's manager, they also see approvals. If someone is marked `On the ward desk`, they see the delivery round for their ward.
+
+## What is written
+
+| Record | Change | Undo |
+|---|---|---|
+| User role | `Admin` or `Issuer`, set under `Settings › People & sign-in` | Set it back, as long as one active Admin remains |
+| Staff activation code | Generated on the person's record, stamped with the date | `Cancel the code`; it expires after 14 days anyway |
+| Staff account | Created when the code is used | `Remove access` on the record, which ends its sign-ins |
+
+If a staff member is deactivated on the register, they lose the staff app at once. When they try to sign in they are told `You're no longer on the register at this facility. Ask the linen room.`