Areas
Areas can be defined within your set up in two ways:
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So that an area tag can be added to a booking i.e., as a preference
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When linked with Bookable Areas. This would then make the selection mandatory and seating assigned to that specific location on site.
Areas Topics
Configuring an Area tag
Follow these steps to your set up a new area:
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Using the Outlets drop down, select the site you will be configuring
If any areas have been previously configured, they will now show in a list with the action to edit or delete beside each
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Click the Add New Area
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Enter an Internal Name
This is a field which will only show to you and your other system users. This is not customer facing
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Enter the Display Name
This field is what will display as part of your booking journey to your bookers
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Enter a Description to help the booker when making their selection
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Click Save Changes
All other fields in the setup are optional. Each is explained below, but we recommend using them sparingly to avoid potential conflicts during further configuration.
Linking Areas to Bookable Areas
Bookable Areas enables site administrators to directly manage capacity for sub-sections of their site, eg bar, beer garden, booths, and snugs, and have capacity update within a set area only. Bookable Areas also allows your customers to book a table in their area of choice, and have their booking automatically assigned to a table in that area, which reduces the workload of site hosts having to manually assign bookings to tables in the correct area.
We recommend reading the full steps on configuring Bookable Areas in order to link your areas to capacity groups.
Schedule Details
| Schedule Details | Optional | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Start Date | Optional |
This is the date your availability begins. Guests will be able to book from this date onward, depending on your configuration. DD/MM/YYYY |
| Start Time | Optional |
The time of day your availability starts |
| End Date | Optional |
This is the final date the availability is active. After this date, guests will no longer be able to make bookings for it. DD/MM/YYYY |
| End Time | Optional |
The time your event or booking slot finishes on each applicable day |
| Recurrence | Optional |
This defines how often the availability repeats. You can set it to repeat daily, weekly, monthly, or on specific days of the week – ideal for regular events or offers. When defining a recurrence, you will need to select a frequency of either:
Defining a recurrence interval. Usually set to "1". Stating an end date that this recurs until: DD/MM/YYYY Along with the days of the week |
| Exclusions | Optional |
Specific dates where the schedule should not apply. For example, if your event recurs every Saturday but you want to skip a specific holiday weekend, you’d list that date here. When defining exclusions, you will need to select a frequency of either:
Defining a recurrence interval. Usually set to "1" Stating an end date that this recurs until: DD/MM/YYYY Along with the days of the week Alternatively within the Occasions, Menus & Areas (but NOT Extras) you are able to select an exclusion type. Aside from the above, you have the option to configure by Manual Date Selection. You can select up to 60 days to exclude from your schedule |
Field Settings & Information
| Setup Options | Type | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Internal Name | Mandatory |
This name will display on reports, and within the Host applications of both Tables and Events |
| Display Name | Mandatory |
This name will display on your customer facing booking journey |
| Description | Optional |
This description will appear on the online booking journey for bookers to understand more about the area they are selecting |
| Email Template | Optional |
When entering details into the Area Email Description, this will enable the provided information to be used as dynamic text to display in your email templates |
| Area Images | Optional |
You can add URL links and descriptions of images to your area. This functionality is reserved for the External API booking journeys and won't be available in the Bookings Widget and Guest Portal |
| Minimum Covers | Optional |
The minimum number of covers that can selected for this area |
| Maximum Covers | Optional |
The maximum number of covers that can selected for this area |
| Maximum Advance Booking | Optional |
This states how far in advance a booking can be made to this area. A numerical value linking to the Maximum Advance Booking Type |
| Maximum Advance Booking Type | Optional |
A choice of either:
|
| Minimum Notice | Optional |
A numerical value linking to the Minimum Notice Type |
| Minimum Notice Type | Optional |
A choice of either:
|
| Key Words | Optional |
These enhance the booking experience for the user by showing key information for the booking in a quick glance such as an area being dog friendly or easily accessible |