The Stations page
The line at the top, Station health, counts the stations that are online and offline, the printers that need attention, and the people printing right now. Below it:- The filters All, Online, Offline and Needs attention. Not seen 30+ days appears when a station has not been in touch for 30 days or more, or was added 30 or more days ago and never paired. Removed appears for people with Manage stations once a station has been removed; see Removed stations.
- The search box, Search stations, printers, people.
- Locations, which opens the Locations dialog, Print jobs, which opens Print jobs, and Add station.
Click the arrow next to a station’s name to see its devices, what prints there and its recent jobs.
Station health
A station that is offline shows Offline even if it was paused. You cannot pause or resume a station from
Omnilinker: that happens in the Station app; see Pause printing.
Each printer has its own status: Ready, Needs attention, Offline, Error or Unknown (the printer’s
driver does not report its state). A printer that is no longer in Windows on the PC shows Not connected. A
virtual printer, such as Microsoft Print to PDF, shows “Virtual printer · makes files, not paper”.
Add a station
You need Manage stations. Do this together with the person installing the app on the PC, or give them the code.1
Name the station
Click Add station. In Add a station, enter the Station name, for example “Packing desk 4”, and choose a
Location, or leave No location. The location decides who can print at the station. Station names must be
unique.
2
Get the pairing code
Click Get the pairing code. The dialog shows three steps:
- Install Omnilinker Station on that PC: Download for Windows downloads the installer, and Copy a link to open on that PC copies the download link. See Install the Station app.
- Open the app and type this code: a 6-character code. It expires after 10 minutes and works once. Get a new code replaces it; only the newest code works.
- Wait for it to connect: the dialog moves on by itself once the app connects.
3
Say what each printer prints
The Printers step lists the printers the app found on the PC. For each one, choose Shipping labels,
Documents or Don’t use. Omnilinker suggests a choice: a printer that “Looks like a label printer” gets
shipping labels, and virtual printers get Don’t use.Then answer Print shipping labels automatically at this station? with As the location decides, Always
or Never. See Automatic printing.Click Continue to test print, or Set up later.
4
Send a test print
Omnilinker sends a test label to each printer you chose. Check the paper and answer Did it come out right?:
- Yes, looks good finishes.
- It’s cut off or blurry: check the label size and resolution in the printer’s settings, then print again.
- Nothing came out: check that the printer is on, has paper, and prints from Windows on that PC.
Printers
The app reports the printers installed in Windows on the station’s PC, and checks for new, removed and changed printers every 15 seconds. You never add a printer by hand. A printer installed for one Windows user only is invisible to the app; install it for all users of the PC.What prints here
Open Station settings (the gear) to set, under What prints here, which printer prints each kind of document: Shipping labels, Courier manifests and Documents. Choose Don’t print here for a kind this station should not print. One printer per station prints each kind. When no printer has been given a kind yet and the station has exactly one real printer, that printer prints it. With more than one printer, a job that no printer takes waits On hold until you choose one; it then prints by itself.Printer settings
Expand the station and click Printer settings under Prints here.
Omnilinker suggests ZPL for printers whose name or driver says Zebra, ZDesigner or ZPL, and PDF for others.
A label only goes to a ZPL printer when the carrier sent a ZPL copy. Labels from carriers that send only PDF need a
printer set to PDF; see Courier accounts.
Test print in the dialog sends a test page to that printer; Test print in the station’s Actions sends one
to the station’s printer and says where it went. You need Manage printers to change printer settings and to send a
test print.
Station settings
Click the gear in a station’s Actions to open its settings. Without Manage stations, you can look but not change anything.- Station name and Location. The location decides who can print at the station.
- What prints here; see Printers.
- Print labels automatically: As the location decides, Always or Never. See Automatic printing.
- When a printer stops (out of paper, cover open, unplugged): Hold the labels until it’s back, or Send them to another station. See When a printer stops.
- App on this PC: the app’s Version and when it was Paired.
- Pair again with a new code, for a PC that was reinstalled or replaced. The new pairing replaces the old one; the station keeps its name, settings and history.
Locations
A location groups stations the way you work: a building, a floor, a room. It decides who can print at its stations and where automatic labels go. Locations are separate from your inventory warehouses. Click Locations on the Stations page. You need Locations to see the list and Manage locations to change it.1
Create the location
Click New location and enter a Name. Names must be unique.
2
Choose who can print here
Under Who can print here, choose Everyone, or Only these roles or people and add roles and users with
Add a role or person…. Other people do not see these stations when they choose where to print, and cannot
print at them or move jobs to them.
3
Set the printing defaults
- Default station: labels made at this location with no station print at this one. You can pick one of the location’s paired stations, so add the stations to the location first.
- Print labels automatically: “Stations here print a shipment’s label as soon as it’s ready. A station can override this.” It is on for a new location.
4
Ask for a station check each shift (optional)
Select Ask people to confirm their station at the start of each shift. See
Still at the same station?.
5
Save
Click Save location, then Done. To add stations to it, set Location in each station’s settings.
Remove a station
Remove a station when its PC no longer prints for Omnilinker. You need Manage stations.1
Start the removal
Click the bin in the station’s Actions, or Remove station in its settings. To remove several, tick them and
click Remove N stations in the bar above the list; you can remove up to 200 at once.
2
Confirm
Omnilinker says what will happen:
- A station where something was printed or shipped is removed: “Its PC stops printing. Its print history stays in Omnilinker.”
- A station where nothing was ever printed is deleted completely.
- The station’s key stops working at once. The Station app on the PC shows “This PC is no longer connected”.
- Print jobs waiting for the station move to Unassigned, where someone chooses another station. A job the station was printing at that moment becomes Not sure it printed, because the paper may already have come out. See Print jobs.
- People who had chosen the station in the top bar have no station until they choose another one.
- A deleted station also loses its printer settings. Another station that sent its work there when its printer stops holds the labels instead, and a location that had it as default station has none.