Contents: – Introduction – Server requirement – Making a QR code. – Sources of useful material

The QR code or the Quick Response was developed in Japan to track automotive components  Because it can contain coded alphanumeric characters it is more flexible than the bar code.  A common form, perhaps the commonest form, of a QR code contains the web address of a page or the location of a file (for example the PDF file of a map).  When you select it with your smart device the browser in the device goes to that website and opens the page or downloads the file.  There are two broad classes of QR codes: static and dynamic.  This appendix considers only the static QR code.

In order to have a functioning QR code system a community group needs two components.

You need A before you can sensibily get B.

Everything you download from the internet resides on a server.  Your browser has downloaded this webpage (as several individual components) from a server.  A server is a computer (in this context a large one) that runs the correct protocol to interact with devices on the internet.  Server space is an allocated portion of a disc storage (in this context disc storage is a set of large industrial discs).  Small businesses, community groups and the like usually hire their server space from businesses that provide "web hosting".  Large organizations have their own server(s).  A web hosting provider is distinct from internet service provider, ISP.

If your community group has a website, a discussion with whoever maintains the website should resolve the problem.  The community group that doesn't have a website has two choices.  Your group could get a website – in general, this would be a poor choice, it's like buying a truck to carry a single page letter once a week – dispite the low usage and small load you still have the maintenance to do and registration costs to pay.  If you had a need for a website you would have one by now.

The other possibility is to borrow (or hire) space on another group's server.  Look around; is there a likely community group or enlightened business in your vicinity that might cooperate?  Your infrastructure requirements would be modest and invisible to the formal users of the site.

You can organize your own QR code, or if it's for a CCM map and you provide the target URL, CCM will do the QR code for you.

The process for obtaining a code is straightforward and does not require any dealings with bureaucracy.  The aim is to obtain an image (usually in PNG format) of your code for insertion into your documentation.  Free online sites provide this service, you only need to have the target URL to hand.  If you use a desktop computer to do this task you can immediately test the code directly off screen with a mobile phone.  (Use the QR code on this page to trial the process.)

The QR Code Generator  is an online QR code generator that produces codes in a PNG format.  For a cost the user can select the size of the PNG image, however the default size (free) is fine.

The qrcodemonkey  is a free online QR code generator that produces codes in several formats and choice of size.

The ZXing Decoder  is an online method for examining the contents of a QR code.

The QR Code scanner  is an online method for examining the contents of a QR code, it also provides QR code generation in 250px x 250px PNG format.