ThreadWare is built from modules - Sales, Production, Quality and so on. An administrator gives you a role in each module, for each company you work in. The menu is built from those roles. So if something in this guide is not in your menu, it has not been given to you yet. Ask your administrator, or log a support ticket. To see what you currently hold, click your initials in the top right and choose My Access & Roles.
Can I use it?
You need Instrument Admin (in the Instrument Graphs module), or the platform Administrator role. Setting up tags is a technical job - most people only ever look at the charts, which is a different guide.
Where to find it
Menu ▸ Administration ▸ Configuration ▸ Tag Management
Get a tag wrong and every chart, alarm and model that uses it is wrong too. Change one thing at a time, save, and check the Status tab to see that real readings are still coming in.
The screen
The left side is a list of every tag with a Search box (type a tag name or ID) and a New Tag button. Click a tag and it opens in the editor on the right, which has eight tabs.
At the bottom of the editor:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Save | Saves your changes, on every tab - the believable range on the Data quality tab included. |
| Copy | Makes a duplicate of this tag as a new one. The fastest way to add the second of eight identical sensors - copy, then change the ID, name and device details. |
| Delete | Removes the tag. Greyed out while you are creating a new one. |
Tab 1: General
What the tag is and where it lives.
| Field | What to put in it |
|---|---|
| Tag ID | The unique number. You set it when creating the tag; after that it cannot be changed. |
| Tag Name | The short name used everywhere in the app. Keep it consistent with your other tags. |
| Name and Long Description | A friendlier name and a fuller explanation. Worth filling in - it is what appears on charts and in AI answers. |
| Aliases | Nicknames people actually use, separated by semicolons - for example
Line 3; the new dryer. This is what lets the AI Assistant understand
"how hot is the new dryer?". See the note below. |
| Tag Type | Free text used for grouping, such as Temperature or Counter. |
| Unit | What the number is measured in - degC, kWh, %.
Shown on every chart and tile, and used to pick the tile colour and icon. |
| Node, Node Description | Which controller or box this reading comes from. |
| Data Type | The kind of value - a whole number, a decimal, a true/false. |
| Site ID | Which site the tag belongs to. Important: people only see tags at sites they are assigned to, so a wrong site here hides the tag from the right people. |
| Tag Location | Where it physically is, in words. |
| Machine | The machine this tag hangs under (set up under Machines & Work Centres). A machine's output tag is chosen on the machine itself, not here. |
| Section | Optional part of the machine the tag belongs to - Drive end, Motor, Oven zone 3 - so it is found by section on the Machines & Tags page. |
| Role on machine | What the tag measures on its machine: Process (speed, pressure, zone temperature), Condition (bearing temperature, vibration), Utility (power, air, water). Output is set by the machine. |
ThreadWare checks a new alias against every other company, site and tag. If it is already in use, the save is refused. That is on purpose - if two machines answer to "the big one", the AI Assistant cannot tell which you meant, and would rather say nothing than guess wrong.
Tab 2: Device
How ThreadWare talks to the equipment. Usually filled in once by whoever installs the sensor.
| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| Device IP, Port | The network address of the device. |
| Protocol | The language it speaks - for example Modbus or OPC-UA. |
| Node or Topic | The exact address of this one value inside the device. |
| Field Device ID | The device's own identifier. |
| Read Rate (ms) | How often, in thousandths of a second, the value is read. Also used by Tag Analytics to judge whether a tag is sampled often enough to model. |
| Write Rate (ms) | The same for outputs. |
| Read/Write Permission | Whether ThreadWare may only read, or may also send values back. |
| User Name | The login for the device, if it needs one. |
Tab 3: Scaling
Turning the raw number from the device into a number a person understands.
| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| Factor | Multiply the raw reading by this. |
| Offset | Then add this. Together: real value = (raw x Factor) + Offset. |
| Calc Per Minute | Turn a running total into a rate per minute - useful for counters. |
| EU Min, EU Max | The lowest and highest value this instrument can sensibly show. Used for the chart scale and for the coloured bands on the TV display. "EU" means engineering units. |
| Display Type | How to draw it - a line, an area, a dial. |
| Picture | An optional image for the tag. |
| Default Num Records | How many readings a chart loads by default. |
| Machine Order | The position of this tag when tags for one machine are shown together. Lower numbers first. |
Tab 4: Alarms
When ThreadWare should raise the alarm on this tag.
| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| Alarm Enabled | Turns alarming on for this tag. |
| Alarm Active | Shows whether it is in alarm right now. |
| Alarm Tag ID | Links to another tag that carries the alarm signal, if the alarm comes from elsewhere. |
| Alarm Type, Alarm Severity | What kind of alarm and how serious. Severity decides how loudly it is escalated. |
| Alarm Message | The wording people receive. Write it so somebody at 2am knows what to do - name the machine and the action. |
| Above Level | Alarm when the value goes above this. |
| Below Level | Alarm when the value drops below this. |
| Hysteresis | How far back inside the limit the value must come before the alarm clears. Without it a value sitting exactly on the limit alarms, clears, alarms, clears, over and over. |
| Alarm Delay (s) | The value must stay bad for this many seconds before anyone is told. Stops a one-second spike waking people up. |
| Alarm Reset Delay (s) | The same for going back to normal. |
Tab 5: Visibility
Who and what sees this tag. Small switches with large effects.
| Switch | What it does |
|---|---|
| Log Data | Whether readings are stored at all. Turn this off and there is no history to chart or model. |
| Hide in App | Hides the tag from the normal app screens. |
| Hide General | The big one. Hides the tag from the Tag Status dashboard, from Machine Graphs and from every AI Assistant question. Use it for tags that are internal plumbing rather than something a person should read. |
| Hide in Reports | Keeps it out of printed reports. |
| Can Use Production Orders | Lets ThreadWare connect this tag to production orders, so it can answer "what is running on this line?". |
| ERP Machine, ERP Work Centre | Links the tag to the matching machine in the ERP system, where one is connected. |
Tab 6: Hardware
Only used for tags wired straight to a small controller board.
- SoC Board Type - which board.
- Pin Number - which pin on it.
- Pin Type - input or output.
- Pin Command - what to send.
Tab 7: Status
Read-only. This is where you check that the tag is actually working.
| Field | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Quality | Whether the device reported a good reading. |
| Last Value | The raw number from the device. |
| Converted Value | The same number after Factor and Offset. This is what people see. |
| Current Count, Previous Count | Counter readings, for tags that count things. |
| Last Update Time | When the last reading arrived. If this is hours or days old, the tag is not working. |
| Output State, Output Set By | For output tags: what it is set to, and who set it. |
Tab 8: Data quality
The believable range of this tag: the lowest and highest value the sensor can physically report. A reading outside it is impossible - a loose wire, a failed sensor - and ThreadWare treats it as such instead of drawing it, alarming on it and averaging it.
| Field | What it is |
|---|---|
| Believable minimum, Believable maximum | The range, in the same units as the graph and the alarm levels. Leave one empty and that side has no limit. Leave both empty and the tag is not checked for range. |
| Jump limit | The largest believable change between two readings. Optional. A reading that jumps further is kept and listed, never discarded, because a sudden change can be real. |
| Mode | Follow the company (the usual choice) does whatever the company's setting on the Data Quality page says. Off, Watch only and Discard set this one tag apart from its company. |
| Why this range | A note for the next person, for example "thermocouple type K, oven rated to 280". |
Under the fields the tab shows what happens to this tag's readings now, the range actually seen in the last 12 months, the alarm levels, and the last ten listed readings. Remove the limits takes the range away altogether; the tag is then not checked.
A reading beyond the believable range is discarded before the alarm ever sees it. If the alarm goes off above 320 and the believable maximum is 300, that alarm can never go off. ThreadWare warns you when you save such a pair, but it does not stop you.
These limits are safe from a device restart. They are stored apart from the tag itself, so a device that re-registers its tags cannot wipe them. Since the same release a device also cannot change a tag's alarm settings, site, owner, visibility switches or chart range: only a signed-in administrator can.
To set ranges for many tags at once, and to have ThreadWare propose them from each tag's own history, use the Data Quality page - see the Administration guide.
Things that are not here
- There are no tag groups. Tags are grouped by Site, Node, Machine ID / Machine Order, and the free-text Tag Type.
- There is no calibration record. EU Min / EU Max on the Scaling tab only scale the charts; the Above / Below / Hysteresis levels on the Alarms tab are the normal operating range; the believable range on the Data quality tab is what the sensor can physically report.
- There is no "one range for every tag with this unit". Each tag has its own range, because two temperature sensors rarely measure the same thing.
Where the readings come from
ThreadWare does not read a machine directly. A small program near the machine reads it and sends each value to ThreadWare, quoting the Tag ID. Which program depends on the device:
- OPC client - reads a PLC or SCADA system that speaks OPC-UA.
- Modbus reader - reads Modbus devices such as energy meters.
- Other devices - Raspberry Pi units, Node-RED flows and similar send their own readings.
A separate program, the Alarm worker, watches the readings against the levels on the Alarms tab and sends the alarm messages. If it is not running, no alarm is sent.
These programs run as Windows services, so they start by themselves when the server or plant PC is restarted. An administrator can see whether each one is running under Administration ▸ Product Licence ▸ Supporting programs. If readings stop for every tag on one Node at the same moment, the program that feeds that Node has stopped or lost its connection - tell your administrator.
Related setup pages
| Page | What it is for | Who |
|---|---|---|
| Data Quality Administration ▸ Configuration |
Every discarded reading, the believable range of every tag in one grid, proposals from history, and each company's mode. | Administrator or Instrument Admin |
| Minidashboard Tags Administration ▸ Configuration |
Choose which tags appear as live tiles on a company's mini dashboard. | Administrator |
| My Dashboard Tags | The same idea, but your own personal selection. | Any user |
| Device Control Management Administration ▸ Configuration |
Set up outputs that can be switched from ThreadWare. | Administrator |
| Tag Editor (Legacy) | Obsolete and removed from the menu (September 2026). Use Tag Management. | Administrator |
When something looks wrong
| What you see | What to check |
|---|---|
| The tag shows as Stale on Tag Status | Status tab: is Last Update Time old? Then it is a device or network problem, not a ThreadWare one. Check Device IP, Port and Read Rate. |
| Somebody cannot see the tag | Site ID on the General tab, and whether they are assigned to that site. Then check Hide General and Hide in App. |
| The AI Assistant does not know the tag | Hide General hides tags from AI queries. Also check the tag's site is one the person is assigned to. |
| The chart values look ten times too big | Factor and Offset on the Scaling tab. |
| The alarm keeps going off and clearing | Increase Hysteresis and Alarm Delay. |
| Good readings are being discarded | The believable range on the Data quality tab is too tight. Widen it, then put the readings back with Keep it on the Data Quality page. |
| An alarm never goes off although the value is clearly too high | Check that the alarm level is inside the believable range. A value beyond the range is discarded before the alarm sees it. |
| A device was restarted and the alarm or the site of its tags changed | That can no longer happen: a device cannot change those. If it happened before this release, set them again; they will now stay. |
| Saving is refused with an alias message | That nickname is already used by another tag, site or company. Pick a different one. |
| Tag Analytics says the tag cannot be modelled | Usually not enough readings. Check Log Data is on and look at Model Health. |
Related guides
- Instrument charts - looking at the readings.
- Tag Analytics - using tags to predict things.
- AI Assistant - where aliases pay off.
- All guides