Help Center

What is Callbook?

Callbook is a theatre program management platform for school programs, community theatres, and college departments. It combines inventory management, show & callboard planning, floor plan mapping, crew training & certifications, and a resource library in one place.

Each program gets its own workspace. Your data is private to your program.

Inventory Management

Catalog everything your program owns across 12 categories:

• Costumes
• Props
• Lighting
• Sound
• Rigging
• Scenic
• Makeup
• Projections
• Soft Goods
• Tools
• Safety
• Other

Inventory uses a two-level model: items (the catalog entry — name, photo, description, production history) and units (physical copies — condition, asset tag, loan history, inspections). If you own eight SM58 microphones, create one item and add eight units. Free accounts can catalog up to 25 item groups. Pro accounts are unlimited.

When you add an item, set how many units you have. Each unit gets an auto-generated label (01, 02, …) that you can customize. Add more units later from the item's detail page.

Loan Tracking

Loans are tracked per unit. Open a unit's detail page (or scan its QR label), then click Check Out. Set the borrower and optional due date — it defaults to two weeks. The inventory list shows a count of units out and flags any that are overdue. Click Check In on the unit page to mark it returned. Every unit keeps a full loan history — borrower, dates, notes, and who logged it.

Owners and users with the Manage Inventory permission also see Overdue Loans and Overdue Inspections widgets on the dashboard.

Inspection Tracking

Mark an item as requiring periodic inspection. The dashboard flags any unit that has never been inspected, has been flagged, or hasn't been inspected in over 30 days. Log an inspection from any unit's detail page or by scanning its QR label. A daily email digest (sent each morning) goes to all program owners covering both overdue loans and overdue inspections — sections are omitted when nothing is outstanding.

Maintenance Issues

Flagging an inventory unit creates a trackable maintenance issue and automatically marks the unit unavailable. The Maintenance page shows what is reported, in progress, waiting on parts, fixed, or intentionally not fixed.

View, Manage, and Resolve Maintenance are separate role permissions. Only a user with Resolve Maintenance can mark an issue fixed and decide whether the unit is ready to return to active service.

Facility issues use their own Submit, View All, Manage, and Resolve permissions on one unified screen. Submitters can see their own reports; View All grants access to all reports; Manage permits triage and assignment; and only Resolve can mark a facility issue Fixed.

Shows & Callboard

Create a show for every production — title, run dates, and venue. Each show includes:

• Roles & Responsibilities — assign roster crew to production roles. Programs define their usual default list in Settings, and each show can add one-off roles.
• Crew — assign tech crew members to the production
• Cast — freeform actor list in Name or Name, Character format; supports paste-in from a spreadsheet
• Inventory — link item groups from your catalog to this production and set how many units you need. Check Out Units opens a unit-selection modal so you can pick which specific physical copies go out, defaulting to the first available units up to your requested quantity; Check In returns only the units checked out for this show
• Linked Files — attach URLs, network paths, or notes so the full production paperwork is findable in one place

Anyone with the View Shows permission can see show details and generate the printable Pre-Production Report. Creating, duplicating, templating, and editing shows requires Manage Shows.

The Callboard opens in agenda view and also has a basic month view. Use each show's iCal subscription to keep the schedule in Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or another calendar app.

Daily Callboard Digest

Each morning, crew members get a personal email summarizing new callboard activity from the last 24 hours — newly posted events and notices. The digest is scoped to the shows you're assigned to: you only hear about the productions you're actually on, plus any program-wide announcements. People with nothing new for them get no email. Anyone can turn this off under Account → Notifications.

Email Notifications

Every signed-in user controls their own email under Account → Notifications. Preferences are per-person — turning something off only affects your inbox.

• Callboard daily digest — new events and notices for your shows (everyone).
• Overdue items digest — daily overdue loans and inspections (owners / Manage Settings only).
• New join requests — when someone requests to join via the public link (owners / Manage Crew only).

Essential account mail — invitations, the "you're in" approval, password resets, and sign-in links — always sends and can't be turned off.

Floor Plans

Upload a venue image or diagram as a floor plan, then place labeled pins for equipment positions, entrances, staging areas, or anything else worth mapping. Pins display the item's name and live inspection status at a glance.

Floor plans are accessible from the main Floor Plans view and linked from individual show detail pages. Multiple areas (stage, grid, booth, etc.) can each have their own plan.

Resource Library

Upload and organize reference files — PDFs, URLs, network paths, or documents — into categories you define in Settings → Resource Categories (e.g. Reference Docs, Show Plots, Safety Procedures). Link resources to specific shows so crew can find production-specific files in one place.

QR Code Labels

Every unit has its own printable QR code. Scanning a label with a phone opens that unit's quick-action view — log an inspection, confirm its location, flag an issue, or check it in or out. No app install required for scanning.

Print a label from any unit's detail page or directly from the unit table on the item's group page. Attach labels to the physical piece — costume bags, equipment cases, storage bins.

Crew Training & Certifications

Callbook includes a full crew training module covering ETC Apex EOS (lighting) and Yamaha DM7 (audio) systems across four certification tiers:

• Observer — Intro concepts, safe operation basics
• Operator — Hands-on operation proficiency
• Lead — Advanced operation and troubleshooting
• TD — Full technical director knowledge

The default tiers are customizable — rename or reorder them from Settings → Training to match your program's terminology. Crew members work through lessons and pass quizzes to advance. Owners (or any user with the Manage Crew permission) sign off certifications and can see a full progress dashboard across the entire roster.

Roles & Permissions

Every program defines its own roles, and each role is simply a set of permission toggles. The Owner role has every permission and can't be edited or deleted. Only people with the Manage Settings permission can create or change roles, from Settings → Users → Roles & Permissions.

New programs start with these default roles, all customizable except Owner:

• Owner — all access; can't be modified or deleted
• Lead — view crew and training progress
• Operator — manage inventory
• Observer — no permissions; training access only

Inventory access can be narrowed further — a role with View or Manage Inventory can be restricted to only the categories you choose.

Public Join Link

Instead of sending time-limited invite links, you can let prospective crew sign themselves up via a persistent URL.

1. Go to Settings → Public Join Link and toggle it on. A unique join-crew.html?code=… URL is generated — copy or regenerate it at any time.
2. Share the link with prospective crew. They fill in their name, email, password, and phone, then land on an "Awaiting Approval" screen.
3. Owners see a Pending Approval queue at the top of the Crew Roster. Click Approve, pick a role, and confirm — the crew member gets an email and immediately gains access. Rejecting a request removes the applicant silently.

Mobile App

Callbook is a Progressive Web App (PWA) — it works in the browser on any iOS or Android device without an app store install. For the best mobile experience, use your browser's "Add to Home Screen" option to install it like a native app.

Mobile is ideal for scanning QR labels in storage and updating inventory on the go.

Plans & Pricing

Getting Started

1. Create a free account — enter your program name, email, and password. No credit card required.
2. Add your first inventory items — start with the things you can never find.
3. Print QR labels and attach them to storage bins or equipment cases.
4. Invite crew members and assign them training tracks.
5. Enable your Public Join Link in Settings so future crew can request access themselves — approve or reject from the Crew Roster.

Contact & Support

Questions, bugs, or feedback — email [email protected]. We typically respond within one business day.