Concepts
These terms appear throughout the portals, the app and these guides.
Organization
The company that supplies devices. It has an account on the Organization Portal, a subscription plan that sets how many devices it can create, and it receives support tickets and feedback from the people who use its devices.
Blueprint
A template for one kind of product. A blueprint has a name, an optional description and version, a hardware type (for example ESP32) and a connection type (for example WiFi or GSM).
Every blueprint gets a Blueprint Key, a code that starts with BLUE, for example BLUEbV7N2u5diuUi. The device firmware needs it.
Device
One physical unit, created under a blueprint. Each device has:
| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| Device name | A label such as "Hall" or "Pump 3". The user who adds the device can rename it for themselves. |
| Auth Token | The device's secret identity, a long code. It goes into the firmware and must not be shared publicly. |
| Barcode | A 13-digit code, usually printed on the device's label or packaging. Users type or scan it to add the device. |
| Status | Online while the device is connected, Offline when it is not. |
| Last report | When the device last sent anything. |
Widget
One tile on a device's dashboard. A widget either shows something the device sends (a gauge, chart, label, LED, map…) or sends something to the device (a switch, button, slider, colour picker…), and some do both. The organization sets up the widgets; users see and use them.
The full list is in Widget types.
Virtual pin
The channel a widget and the device use to talk to each other, named V0 to V124. If the firmware sends a temperature on V1, the widget set up on V1 shows it. If a switch widget is on V8, the firmware listens on V8 for its commands.
Virtual pins have nothing to do with the ESP32's physical GPIO pins.
Data type
What kind of value a widget carries: Integer (42), Float (23.5), Boolean (on/off), String (text) or, for complex widgets such as the colour picker or map, structured data. Each widget type allows certain data types; see Widget types.
User
A person with an account on the User Portal and the app. A user adds devices to their account and uses their dashboards. A device belongs to one user account at a time.
Online and offline
A device reports itself online when it connects. If it loses power or its connection, ThingsLinker marks it offline. Commands sent while a device is offline are kept for many widget types and delivered when it reconnects; see Using widgets.