Types of sources and resources

Working with resources has been newly modified, which leads to the following changes and new possibilities:

  • each term must be assigned at least one source,
  • the resource does not have to have any resource items assigned to it (service, employee, location), but it is enough if it has a specified name,
  • when setting up resources, it is possible to determine not only what resource items it consists of, but also their order, visibility to customers or administration,
  • the final name of the source then follows as the name of the date and reservation,
  • resources can be archived and the team can streamline work in administration,
  • source edits automatically affect existing events.

If you edit an existing source (name, assigned resource items (location, service, employee)), this change will be reflected on all existing events and reservations that use this source. Removing the source will also remove the events that use the source (they cannot exist without the source), existing reservations will remain unchanged.

If you want to change the source within a event (and the established reservations), you need to use the "Change"** button next to the source in the **event update form. It is not enough to just change the source assignment in the list (checkbox), because in this case the event works with the new source (and does not affect existing reservations), not with its replacement.

The source is what the customer reserves and in principle consists of items such as service, employee or place. The specific combination and use of individual items depends purely on the type of business and the specific setting. Information about individual items is used not only in the offer of reservations, but also in the signpost and all information provided in the reservation process and reservation.

Resources describe the basic features of reservations and answer customers questions:

  • WHAT I reserve (SERVICE)
  • WHERE reservation will take place (PLACE)
  • WHO reservation / service will be made (EMPLOYEE)
  • WHAT is the name of the date and the reservation made

Any combination of service, location and staff creates a resource to be reserved. Its default name depends on the names of individual items, however, by setting the visibility and changing the order, this name can be changed, or it is possible to enter a completely custom name. Resources are an important building block of the entire system, as the right and thoughtful settings will allow you to work more efficiently with reservations using filters or monitor potential collisions. For subsequent display to users, it may be desirable to hide certain items within a given resource that are used primarily for internal purposes.

In which cases it is appropriate to use specific resources (location, service, employee) and why it is important to think about resources:

  • providing guidepost and filtering for customers
  • providing more information on the event offer (photos, address, map, etc.)
  • filtering of events and reservations in the administration
  • checking the conflicts at the level of specific resources
  • limitation of the total capacity of a resource type place
  • limiting user access in the administration (e.g. an employee can only access his reservations according to the resource)

If you don't need to use any of these features, just create a source by name only. In that case, only the name will specify what the customer can reserve according to the event, which in many cases is sufficient. Creating and working with resources of type location, service and employee, is not strictly necessary!

An example is the offer of yoga lessons. In addition to the service (yoga), it is also necessary for the operator to register an employee (lecturer) for each lesson. Thus, a separate resource is created for each employee, containing the service and employees (or also the location). It is possible to keep the default source name for internal display in the appointment calendar, but for display on the reservation page, it will be appropriate to hide the employee's name.

It is also possible to hide the name of the place at the source if, for example, an introductory signpost is set on the reservation page, which ensures that customers are directed to a specific group of dates. The resource name in the administration contains all items, however, the employee's name is probably more important than the branch, so you can also change the order by dragging to the selected position.

Now all you have to do is create a resource for each yoga instructor and then set the appropriate dates. On the reservation page, only the name of the service that is key for the customer will be used for the dates. The individual branches are placed in the introductory signpost and the individual branches of employees are completely hidden from customers.

Resource Archiving

The diversity of the offer can lead to a long and comprehensive list of resources for booking, so it is advisable to archive resources that are no longer used. As a result, the list in the reports will be clearer. Unused resources can be archived, but also used resources for which new terms are not only actively created. The archiving process reduces the list of reserved resources without directly deleting those resources. For existing dates and reservations, nothing changes in the case of resource archiving, as they are further offered on the reservation page, but administration work can be much more efficient. When it's time to create a new term for an archived resource, just change its status back to active by unchecking the appropriate setting and creating the term.

Set up and use resources

Resources can be added, modified or deleted as you wish. However, it is always important to keep in mind that the resource may already be tied to a date and used for specific bookings. The number of simultaneously active resource items (service, employee, location) is limited, depending on the currently purchased reenio prepaid package.

When creating resources, we recommend that you carefully consider what resources you will create and how you will offer them for booking. If this is not necessary for your specific business and booking offer, then there is no need to create and use resources with all resource items. In simple cases, it is not necessary to create a resource as a combination of items (service, employee, location), but just set the resource name.

You can specify up to three different types of source items within a single source and select one specific one within those types. When setting an appointment, you can then select more than one source, which serves to facilitate the creation of appointments. Typically, this is a situation where you set / use all 4 available tennis courts within one term. The system automatically creates an offer, which displays the individual sources separately and the customer will be able to choose from 4 different courts with the same deadline parameters.

The name of the term is taken from the set source / sources, when exactly what is set within the given source is used (name, individual items, order, visibility). Thanks to this, it is possible to very effectively influence what the offer of booking dates will look like.

Collisions monitoring in time

In addition, the resources are also very important element in automating the reservation process. Thanks to collision monitoring, it is possible to set a very comprehensive automatic evaluation of whether it is possible to create a reservation for a specific time or not, due to the use of resources (service, employee, place). You can learn how to work with collisions and how to set them up correctly on separate documentation page.