> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.qrtub.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What Is an Item?

> The individual record a Collection tracks — its four core fields, its custom fields, its photo, and how it connects to Links and Pages

An Item is one record inside a Collection: one excavator, one fire extinguisher, one meeting
room, one product. Items are what you actually manage — the things your QR codes point at.

Every Item belongs to exactly one Collection, and the Collection decides what fields that Item
has. Add a "Service Hours" field to the Collection and every Item in it gains that field.

## What every Item is made of

Four **core fields** ship on every Item and cannot be removed: **Name**, **Item ID**,
**Description** and **Tags**. They live in fixed database columns. You can relabel them, mark
them required, or turn them off in the Collection's Fields tab, but their underlying keys never
change — `name`, `item_id`, `description`, `tags`.

Everything else is a **custom field** the Collection defines: a serial number, an inspection
date, a status, a reference to the site the Item sits on. Custom fields are stored against a
stable internal identifier, which is what makes renaming one safe later.

## The Item photo

Every Item can also carry one photo. It is a system field, not part of the Collection's field
configuration, so it cannot be renamed, disabled, or duplicated as a second image slot. Upload
it from the item form.

That photo appears in three places: the items table, the Item's Page wherever the
`{{item.image}}` binding is used, and the preview shown when another Item references this one
(a reference field displays the referenced Item's photo, name, and Item ID rather than a raw
identifier).

The photo is the one field CSV does not carry. It is excluded from every CSV export and
ignored on import, so a CSV round-trip never changes or clears it.

## How an Item relates to Links and Pages

An Item is not a Link. A Link is the QRtub-managed URL a QR code encodes; the Item is the
record it resolves to. An Item can have no Links, one Link, or several. Depending on the
Collection's link-generation setting, a Link is minted automatically the moment the Item is
created.

When a Link pointing at this Item is scanned, the Collection's page template renders using
this Item's values — `{{item.name}}`, `{{item.status}}`, and so on. Two things to know about
those bindings:

* Values are inserted **exactly as stored**, with no URL encoding. A field containing a space,
  `&`, `?` or `#` will break a Destination URL built from it.
* Collection fields use the `collection.` prefix — `{{collection.name}}` returns the
  Collection's name.

Deleting an Item does not delete its Links. They are released back to your unassigned Links, so
codes already printed and stuck to physical things keep resolving.

## Related

* [Name and Description](/items/name-and-description)
* [Item ID](/items/item-id)
* [Tags](/items/tags)
* [What Is a Collection?](/collections/overview)