Focus on resource settings

Focus on resource settings

Objective of this page is to provide a comprehensive guide on resources settings with a specific focus on specific booking types such as recurring or punctual appointments, events (ie multi-reservation resources)... For more generic information relating to the "Reservations" feature, please check : https://support.affluences.com/portal/en/kb/articles/reservations

Create and set up resources

Resource type management

A resource type is a folder for your resources. It enables you to group similar resources under a common category. It is critical because it enables users to better find the resource they are looking for when booking on the web or mobile platforms. 
A resource type is defined by an icon, a language & a description. 

You can either use a default resource type that exists in our catalog or customize your resources types by adding new ones (Reservations > Settings > Resource type parameters tab)

Illustration of resources types: 

Customizing a resource type :

You can add new resource icons (to be sent to support@affluences.com or to your account manager) if they meet certain conditions:
  1. Plain color (#1F4453)
  2. Solid pictogram
  3. Transparent background
  4. Square image format
  5. Good image quality
  6. No text
If necessary, here are some icon bases that might be useful: Flaticon or Nounproject
We reserve the right to refuse suggestions, as once an icon has been added, it can be used by all our customers.

Create resource

Go to Reservations > Resources tab and click on "New resource" button at the top right corner of the page. 

General information

Name: name of the resource displayed to users making a reservation on your institution's page. This name will also be visible in the booking confirmation email. 

Type: resources are grouped by type to make it easier to filter resources from the mobile application or the website. Custom types will appear in the dropdown list . 

Description: text below the name to add more information about the resource in question..

Timetables


By default the newly created resource uses the same timetable (standard and exceptional opening hours) as the institution. Uncheck the box to change the resource's timetable..


Click on  to add a slot
Click on  to remove a slot or to completely close the resource for a given day. 

The timetable of the resource and its granularity set will determine the slots offered for booking.

Exemples:
  1. For the same resource open on Monday 10am to 11am and Friday 10am to noon, if its granularity is 1 hour, then booking slots are the following: 
    1. On Monday: 1 slot will be available (10am-11am)
    2. On Friday: 2 slots will be available (10am-11am and 11am-12am)
  2. For the same resource open from Monday to Thursday from 10am to 7pm, on Friday from 10am to 6pm & Saturday from 10am to noon, if its granularity is 3 hours, then booking slots are the following:
    1. From Monday to Thursday : 3 slots of 3 hours each will be available (10am-1pm, 1pm-4pm, 4pm-7pm).
    2. On Friday: 2 slots of 3 hours each  (10am-1pm, 1pm-4pm) and 1 slot of 2 hours (4pm-6pm) will be available.
    3. On Saturday: 1 slot of 2 hours will be available (10am-12am)

Mono-reservation settings


By default mono reservation is activated. It means that only one user can book the available slot. If you want several users to be able to book the same resource for a same slot then you should select "Multi réservation"

Seats: corresponds to the number of places in the resource that will be booked by a single user.
It is possible to hide this information so that it does not appear for the public. 

Granularity: corresponds to the minimum time for which a user is able to book a resource. 

Maximum booking duration: corresponds to the maximum number of consecutive slots a user is able to book for a given resource. It is expressed as a duration proportional to the previously selected granularity. It may differ from the granularity depending on the resources.

It is possible to hide this information so that it does not appear for the public (for example if it is confusing or does not reflect the actual duration of the booking).

This mask will be effective both at the time of booking and in the booking confirmation email.

Multi-reservation settings

This type of resource can be booked by several users in the same booking slot.

Capacity for each slot: corresponds to the number of available seats per slot.
It is possible to hide this information so that it does not appear for the public.

Granularity: corresponds to the duration of the slot for which a user can book the resource in question. 

It is possible to change the number of seats available via multi-reservation mode even if some reservations are already booked for the slot. However, if the number of seats is decreased you cannot go below the number of reservations already booked.
Contrary to mono reservation, there is no maximum booking duration. It is necessarily equal to the granularity.
Min/Max bookable seats : allows a user to book several places for the same slot. 
It is possible to enter both the minimum and maximum number of places that can be booked by a single user..
Example: a family of 5 would like to book a slot for an audio tour. A member of the family will be able to choose a slot, click on book and then enter the number of people in the reservation.
The booking will be possible if there are enough places available and the booking cursor is set to accept a booking for 5 people. 
          
  1. If there is only one place left, the booking cursor will be locked at 1 for the user.
  2. The number of places reserved by the user is clearly indicated in the booking confirmation email.
  3. Make sure that you set the slider to match the profile of the users using your service, so that they can book easily.

Advanced Parameters


Ending bookings: ability to configure your resources by choosing to close bookings a certain time before the start of the slot.

By default, a resource can be reserved until the end of its slot.
For example: if a resource is available from 9am to noon, it can be booked at 10.30am if it has not been booked beforehand, for a reservation up to 12pm.
To close reservations as soon as the slot starts please enter 0 in the time field.

Users information: possibility of requesting additional information when the user books the resource.


It may be useful to ask the user for additional information when making a booking (for logistical or statistical purposes).
By activating the corresponding fields, you can ask for the user's first and last name, telephone number or create an additional field of your own.
Finally, you can make these fields compulsory or optional by ticking the appropriate boxes.
By default, the expected response in these fields is free text and they will appear in the booking confirmation email. It is possible to accept other types of response (drop-down list, date, etc.). To do this, contact Support at support@affluences.com. 
Please note that the longer the reservation form is the fewer users complete the reservation. Therefore we advise to activate those fields only when completely necessary

Booking reservation: possibility to set a custom message as well as a redirection link to be included into the booking confirmation email. 

Beware of not duplicating messages if you already entered a message (and/or a link) in Reservations > Settings > Institution's parameters > Extra information tab. Both messages are included in the booking confirmation email.
  1. Message entered in Reservation > Settings applies to all resources associated with your institution. Therefore, it is more suited for general information.
  2. Message entered in Reservation > Resources only applies to a specific resource. Therefore, it is more suited for specific information associated with the resource. 

Attendance validation setting : possibility to activate manual validation of a user's presence from the portal.



There are several ways of validating a user's presence, depending on your needs and your licence level. Only manual validation of a user's presence from the portal is available via this parameter. More details on validating presence here.
By default, the validation time is equal to the granularity of the resource.
Changing the validation time can have an impact on reservations, see the KB article.

Manage access rights to the resource planning

To avoid any mishandling, it may be important to manage the rights granted to different users (Settings > User management > Edit tab).

For example, for people who only want to consult the booking schedule without having access to the rest of the portal, you can only tick "Manage booking schedule".

Additional useful parameters

Adding a map by resource type

This feature is only accessible for Gold licences and above. 
This feature allows users to view a non-dynamic map for a specific type of resource. For example, users can select the resource they want based on the information available (location, equipment, etc.).

Example of where the map is accessible: 
  

Example of a resource map that can be displayed:


To add a map to your resources, please contact support team (support@affluences.com) with the following details : 
  1. Your institution name
  2. The resources' type impacted
  3. The map you want to integrage in pdf, jpeg or png format. 

Quota management

You can add reservations limits to your resources. More information on https://support.affluences.com/portal/en/kb/articles/reservations#Quotas_management

Manage planning

To manage your reservation planning, you can check the dedicated article: https://support.affluences.com/portal/en/kb/articles/reservations#Planning

Case of a resource that can be reserved for specific days

The following settings are recommended:
  1. Standard times for the resource: "closed" every day
  2. Exceptional times: indicate the days for which the resource can be reserved.
The standard times for the resource can be set when the resource is created.
Example of a studyroom open every first Monday of the month:

If you have several resources with different bookable times, be aware of the impact on the resource times when the establishment's times change, see above.
For the management of bookable events, please consult the dedicated article on our knowledge base: link

Use case: Using the reservation module to regulate an entry flow

By setting up entry slots, you can manage the flow of people into a facility by staggering entries over a given period.
To set up the resource, you need to:
  1. Define the frequency of entry slots (corresponding to the granularity of the resource)
  2. Define the number of admissions possible per slot (using multi-booking), depending on capacity / comfort / average length of visit (corresponding to the maximum number of bookings per slot)
  3. Hide the duration of the reservation, as it is not relevant to the user in this case.
Example: Your museum can accommodate 100 people in the collections room, with an average visit time of 3 hours. Entrance slots are offered every hour with a capacity of 30 visitors.

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