Forms vs products vs categories
Which settings page does what, and how they fit together at intake.
A few settings sections look related and get confused with each other. Here's what each does.
Categories
Products → Categories. A high-level type of product — "Laptop", "Phone", "Power tool". Categories are used by warranty rules and can each have a default supplier (or be flagged as in-house), so picking a category at intake suggests where the repair should go.
Brands
Products → Brands. The manufacturers of the products you repair (Apple, Samsung, etc.). Like categories, brands can have a default supplier. Warranty rules can match on brand, category, or both. (Not to be confused with branding themes — see the "Branding themes vs product brands" article.)
Products
Products → Products. Specific items in your catalog — model numbers, SKUs, variants. Products are optional; they're for distributors who track inventory or want a quick-pick list. Linking a product to a repair is advisory and doesn't change any routing.
Forms
Settings → Forms. Controls the repair submission form — which built-in fields appear, which are required, and any custom fields or intake channels you want to add. Whatever you choose here applies whether you're filling in a new repair yourself on RepairStep or a customer is filling it in via a public link.
Rule of thumb: Categories = what kind of thing, Brands = who made it, Products = which specific model, Forms = how it's captured at intake.