Skip to content

Tags (Print Queue)

The Tags page (Inventory → Tags) is your store's tag print queue. Every row is one item's tag plus a Count — the number of copies that will print. Tags collect here as you receive orders and work with items, and you send them to a label printer in batches whenever you're ready.

The Tags tab in the Inventory menu shows a badge with the number of tags currently listed at your store (both sections combined). Each store has its own queue — tags created while working at one store print at that store.

For how a printed tag physically reaches the label printer (print queues, the VMX Bridge), see Printer Bridge. For designing what a tag looks like, see Tag Types & the Tag Designer.

How tags get into the queue

Tags on the Inventory → Tags page come from several places:

  1. Receiving a purchase order — the receive dialogs include a checkbox reading "Add to list of tags to print" (labeled Print Tags when receiving a single line, Add Tags when receiving all checked lines). It usually starts checked, but starts unchecked for vendors marked Preprices? — and some stores are set up so it always starts unchecked (this default is configured per-client by VMX; contact help@vmxllc.com to change it). With it checked, each received line queues a tag with the received quantity as the print count. These tags land in the On Deck section so you can review them before printing.
  2. The item page — open an item and choose ⚡ Actions → Retag. You'll be prompted "How many tags to queue?" (pre-filled with the on-hand quantity). The tags land in On Deck and you'll see "Tags queued!".
  3. Manually — click + New Tag at the top of the Tags page and fill in the Tag Info form. With the Ready to Print box checked (the default), the tag goes straight to the Ready to Print section.
  4. Automatic re-tagging on price changes — some stores are set up so that changing an item's price automatically queues fresh tags. This behavior is enabled per-client by VMX; contact help@vmxllc.com if you'd like it for your store.

Items whose tag type resolves to None never queue tags — use the None tag type on items (or departments) that shouldn't be tagged.

Queued tags stay in sync with the item: if you edit the item's description, price, or care info, any tags already queued for that item update automatically.

Which tag type a new tag uses

When VMX queues a tag automatically (from receiving or re-tagging), it picks the tag type in this order:

  1. The item's own Tag Type field (on the item page)
  2. The item's sub-department Tag Type (set on the Departments page)
  3. The item's department Tag Type (set on the Departments page)
  4. Your company-wide default tag type (configured by VMX)

If the winning value is None, no tag is queued for that item. You can always change a queued tag's type afterward with the Set Type menu on the Tags page.

Ready to Print vs On Deck

The Tags page is split into two sections:

  • Ready to Print — tags that will print the next time you use the Print menu. The section hint reads "Click Print above to send these to your label printer."
  • On Deck — a holding area. Tags here never print; the hint reads "Select and move to Ready to Print when ready." Tags queued automatically (from receiving, or from Retag on an item page) start here.

Each section shows a badge with its total tag count (counting copies — a tag with a Count of 5 adds 5 to the badge). Within a section, tags are grouped by the purchase order they came from (e.g. PO# 1234 with the vendor name); tags created manually or without a PO appear under Other. The small check/uncheck icons in each group header and in the table header let you check or uncheck a whole PO group or the whole section at once.

To promote tags: check them and use With Checked → Move to Ready to Print (or the green ⬆️ Make Checked Ready button in the On Deck header). To park tags without deleting them, use With Checked → Move to On Deck. A confirmation toast such as "3 tags moved to Ready to Print" appears after the move.

Both tables show these columns: PLU, Description, Ext. Desc., Barcode, Price, Unit, Vendor, Part Number, Count, Type, and Added (the date and the employee who queued the tag).

Create or edit a tag (Tag Info form)

To create a tag manually, click + New Tag. To edit an existing tag, click the pencil icon at the end of its row — or simply click its Count or Type cell in the table, which opens the same form with that field focused.

The Tag Info form contains:

  • PLU — start typing a PLU or description and pick the item from the autocomplete; the rest of the form fills in from the item.
  • Description and Ext. Desc — the text lines available to the tag layout.
  • Care/Info — care information text (used by layouts that include a Care Info field).
  • Barcode — which of the item's barcodes to print; if the item has several, a note like "3 barcodes" appears.
  • Price — the price printed on the tag.
  • Vendor — the vendor to associate with the tag (a "Last:" hint shows the most recent vendor).
  • Count — how many copies to print.
  • Ready? — the checkbox labeled "Ready to Print (uncheck to put on deck)".
  • Tag Type — which tag template this tag prints on.

Click Save to keep the tag or Cancel to discard changes.

Bulk actions on checked tags

Check one or more tags (in either section), then use the menus at the top of the Tags page:

  • With Checked → Move to Ready to Print — promote the checked tags so they print.
  • With Checked → Move to On Deck — park the checked tags.
  • With Checked → Set Count — prompts "Enter tag count:" and sets the print count on every checked tag. Enter a plain number to set the count, or start with / or * to divide or multiply the existing counts (for example, /2 halves every checked tag's count).
  • With Checked → Delete — removes the checked tags after a confirmation.
  • Set Type → (tag type name) — changes the tag type of every checked tag.

If nothing is checked, you'll see the warning "No tags selected."

  1. On Inventory → Tags, make sure the tags you want are in the Ready to Print section (only Ready to Print tags print — On Deck tags are always skipped).
  2. Open the Print menu at the top right. It lists each tag type that has tags ready, with a count badge. If nothing is queued it shows "Nothing to print".
  3. Pick a tag type. The Print Tags dialog opens with:
    • Tag Type — the type you picked (all Ready to Print tags of this type will print).
    • Tag Printer — which label printer to use. A 🟢 icon means the printer looks ready; a ⚠️ icon means it has a configuration problem (details appear below the dropdown — see Printer Bridge or contact help@vmxllc.com).
    • Sort By — print order: PO, Line, PO, Description, Description, or Ext. Description.
  4. Click Preview to see rendered tag images on screen without printing, or Print to send the batch to the printer. Preview is available for tag types designed in the Tag Designer; for other types you'll see "Preview not available for this tag type."
  5. After printing, a "Delete tags?" dialog asks "Do you want to clear the printed tags from the queue?" Choose Delete to clear the printed tags, or Keep to leave them queued (for example, to print them again).

If the selected type has nothing queued, a "No Tags" message appears ("Nothing to print." or "Nothing to preview.").

Tag types with the NiceLabel type don't appear in the Print menu — those tags print through the third-party NiceLabel application instead. NiceLabel printing is set up per-client by VMX; contact help@vmxllc.com with questions.

Tag types with the Letter (8.5x11) type print full sheets through your web browser's print dialog rather than a label printer.

Export the queue to a spreadsheet

Click the download icon (titled Download CSV) above the Ready to Print table to export the queued tags as Tags.csv — handy for a physical tagging checklist or for review.

Manage tag templates

At the bottom of the Tags page, expand Settings & Tools and click Manage Tag Types to open the Tag Types page, where tag sizes and layouts are defined. See Tag Types & the Tag Designer.