Web Calendars Help
1. Version
This document relates to the current version WebCalPro II.
Further enhancements are already in progress, and we would appreciate your comments on how you feel we can improve it further.
2. Quick Start
For the impatient:
- Log in with email/demo to enter the Demo pages.
- Complete your Profile and change your password (required to generate the code).
- Go to "Set up Calendar" to design a new Calendar.
- Go to "Set up Prices" to create the price structure.
- Go to "Set up Prices" to create the tariff.
- On the "Set up Calendar" page request the codes to insert.
- Add the codes to your web pages.
- Enjoy!
3. Overview
The Web Calendars Online Booking System is designed to be as easy as possible to set up and use, both for you and for your visitors.
You do not need any programming skills other than the ability to add a tiny amount of HTML to your web pages, plus the facility to upload the amended pages to your web server. If you use a web designer for your site it should be very quick and easy for them to do this for you. If you do have any problems with installation please contact our Help Desk.
Nothing needs to be installed on your server. The programs, databases and administration software all reside on our secure server and you will be e-mailed automatically as soon as a booking is received.
There are three parts to the system:
- a calendar for each of your letting units, or a group of similar units, which can be displayed anywhere on your website, or indeed, on any other website such as a portal where you have a listing.
- the online booking pages which can easily be incorporated into your existing web page design.
- the administration system which resides on our secure web server.
The first two of these are accomplished by adding a single line of HTML code at the appropriate points in your existing website.
The third part requires you to login at WebCalPro in order to set up, configure and administer your web calendar(s) and bookings, and to obtain the necessary codes to set up your own online booking system.
4. Installation
A "letting unit" is usually a cottage, apartment, chalet, or a room. It may also represent a "Group" of non-specific but identically-priced accommodation units, such as in a hotel.
Each letting unit uses a different calendar to show prices and availability. The code(s) for these can be placed anywhere you wish on your web pages, more than once if required. Simply add the line(s) of HTML code you will receive from WebCalPro when you configure your system. Some small adjustment can be made to the code if required to suit your existing page design – see the Appendix for details.
You will need to create two additional pages for your website:
- The Booking Form
- Terms and Conditions
The Booking Form uses your standard web page layout; in place of the main content simply add the single line of HTML code you will obtain from WebCalPro when you set up your calendar. Only one page is required, since this will display the booking form, the “check your details” page, or the booking confirmation page as appropriate. It will also generate the confirmatory emails to your customer and to you. Some small adjustment can be made to the code if required to suit your existing page design – see the Appendix for details.
If the dimensions or layout of your web page design are unsuitable for the Booking Form, leave the "URL for bookings" box blank in Unit Setup. A Standard Booking Form, which can be customised with your logo, will then be called up automatically from our server.
The Terms and Conditions page is entirely up to you. It will simply be linked to by the Booking Form.
5. Set up and configure Calendars
You must first log on to the Web Calendars website at http://www.webcalpro.co.uk. If this is your first visit use your email address as the username and "demo" as the Password.
As a demo user you can set up and configure as many calendars as you wish. To obtain the codes for your calendar(s) you will first need to complete the “My Profile” page so that we can generate the codes correctly for your website.
Start with the “Set up Calendar” page.
| Unit name | Fairly obvious – “Flat 1”, “Sunny View” etc. |
| No. in Group | You can use a single calendar for any number of identically-priced, non-specific letting units. The calendar will show "Booked" when all units in the Group are taken. Enter the number of units in the Group. |
| Copy details from | If you have several letting units where the prices and other details are the same, you can save time by setting up one and then making copies. |
| Theme | Choose a colour scheme for your calendar. These will be added to in course of time. |
| Booking Period | Select whether weekly or daily bookings are permitted. |
| Hide Button | You may wish to hide the 'Book Now' button if you only wish to take bookings by phone. There is an over-ride code for this if you want to hide the Button on certain pages only, such as the Booking Form itself (see Appendix). |
| Hide Key | Check this box to hide the small coloured "Booked" key which appears below the calendar. |
| Weekly Tariff | If this box is ticked weekly rental rates are shown in a list on the left of the calendar. This would not be suitable where daily rates apply. |
| Daily 'mouse-overs' | If this box is ticked it will “pop-up” a larger view of the price when the mouse passes over a particular day on the calendar. This is useful where the Weekly Tariff is not displayed, or simply to aid partially-sighted users. |
| Enquiries Tel. | Home/office number for enquiries. |
| URL for bookings | Insert the FULL web address of your intended bookings page, e.g. http://www.mywebsite.co.uk/bookings.htm. Leave this blank to use our Standard Booking Form. |
| Banner Filename | Only required if want to use our Standard Booking Form rather than incorporating one into your own website. Click the "Upload a File ..." button to pop up a separate file-upload window. Click the "Browse" button to find the file on your computer, and then the "Upload" button. The file name, appended to your User ID number, will then appear in the "Banner Filename" box. |
| URL for terms | Insert the FULL web address of your intended terms and conditions page, e.g. http://www.mywebsite.co.uk/terms.htm |
| Cheque by post | Tick this box to accept deposits by post. During the booking process appropriate messages will be displayed inviting the user to print their booking details and send them to the address you supply below. If you do not select PayPal payments, this will be turned on by default. |
| Payee Name | For cheques. |
| Payee Address | For sending bookings and payments by post. |
| PayPal | Check this box if you are happy to receive deposits through PayPal. You will need to enter your PayPal account name below. |
| PayPal Account name | Usually this is your email address registered with PayPal when you set up your account. |
| URL for web page | Enter the URL for a link to be included on the Search Results page e.g. http://www.mywebsite.co.uk/cottage.htm. This is only required if using the Search Box. |
| Short description | Enter a short description to be displayed below the link on the Search Results page. This is only required if using the Search Box. |
| Link to image file | Enter the URL for a thumbnail image to be displayed on the Search Results page e.g. http://www.mywebsite.co.uk/images/cottage.jpg. This is only required if using the Search Box. |
6. Set up Prices
| Currency Symbol | Select a currency symbol for the Booking Details pages. |
| Deposit required | What deposit do you require on booking? |
| Round off Deposit | Choose whether to have the deposit rounded off (up or down). The balance will be adjusted appropriately. |
| Refundable security deposit | You may request a refundable deposit for breakages, additional cleaning etc. |
| Reference prefix | You can customise your reference number by adding a prefix, sich as "WM08/". |
| Reference start | This box shows the next reference number to be used. You can reset it by entering a new number. |
| Full payment required | You may require full payment with booking if the start date is near. If you enter a figure of more than 0 weeks the period is automatically calculated and the wording on the Confirmation form is adjusted accordingly. |
| Standard occupancy | Enter the maximum number of residents, above which they will be treated as "Additional Occupants" at the discounted rate below. |
| Minimum Charge | You may impose a minimum charge for accommodation e.g. for short breaks or long weekends. |
| Hichair per week | Cost per week |
| Cot per week | Cost per week |
| Pet per week | Cost per week |
| Miscellaneous Item 1 | You can create your own category for items charged once per week, such as "Linen Hire" or "Parking". Enter the name here, and choose whether you want a Quantity box or a Yes/No dropdown box. |
| Miscellaneous Item 1 per week | Enter price per week |
| Miscellaneous Item 2 | You can create your own category for items charged once per visit, such as "Airport Transfer" or "Lift Pass". Enter the name here, and choose whether you want a Quantity box or a Yes/No dropdown box. |
| Miscellaneous Item 2 per stay | Enter price per stay. |
| Low Occupancy Discount | To allow a discount for low occupancy enter the discount and the maximum number of occupants to qualify. |
| Additional Occupants Discount | If you allow additional occupants, e.g. on a sofa-bed, enter the discount offered and the number of places available. |
| Late Availabiity Discount | If you offer a late availability discount enter the rate and the number of weeks before the start date after which it will apply. |
| Early Booking | If you offer a discount for early booking, e.g. the previous year, enter the discount offered and the number of weeks prior to the start date before which it will apply. |
| Long Stay Discount | If you offer a discount for additional weeks enter the discount offered and the number of weeks after which it will apply. |
| Multiple Bookings | If you offer a discount for making more than one booking in the same year enter the discount offered and the number of bookings after which it will apply. This also applies where more than one unit is booked simultaneously. |
7. Set up Tariff
| Add a new rate. | Enter a rate and the date on which it starts. Each rate will stay in force until a new rate and date are entered. There is no need to enter intermediate weeks. Enter 0.00 at the end of your season, otherwise the last price entered will continue indefinitely. (Booking is disabled where the rate is 0.00). When you have finished, click "Update" to store the changes. Prices can be edited or deleted by clicking on the symbols to right. |
Once you have completed setting up your booking system a link will appear on the left hand side for the code for the calendar and the booking page to be emailed to you.
8. Prices Summary
This is a useful side-by-side overview of the tariffs for all your letting units.
9. Bookings Summary
You can manage all your bookings from here, or from the year planner.
You can add new bookings manually if, for example, you have received a request by telephone or post.
By clicking on the client’s name you can manually edit the booking if anything has changed or if they made a mistake on their booking form. In Admin mode the booking form displays an additional box called "Admin Adjustment", which you might find useful for adding or subtracting arbitrary charges or discounts. The client will not see this entry when booking.
Click one of the amber-coloured buttons when a deposit or balance payment has been received. It will turn green to show that the payment has been accepted. The button will automatically turn red to warn you if a deposit or balance payment falls overdue.
If you subsequently refuse a payment, the button can be clicked again to turn it back to amber (awaiting payment).
10. Month Planner
This is a useful overview of the month's bookings for all of your letting units.
Use the mouse to hover over a booking to see the client's name. Click to view, edit or delete the booking if anything has changed or if they made a mistake on their booking form.
Click on an empty date to enter a new booking manually if, for example, you have received a request by telephone or post.
If an error should occur when you are editing bookings, resulting in a double booking, the date will be highlighted in red to warn you.
Click in the Price column to go to "Setup Prices" to change your tariff or other prices.
11. Year Planner
This is a useful overview of the year's bookings for a selected letting unit.
As above, you can click on the calendars to view, edit or make bookings.
12. Appendix
If you have some understanding of HTML it is possible with care to alter the dimensions of the calendar and the booking form to suit your web site. However, we cannot accept any responsibility for any problems that may arise from this.
a) The code for the Calendar will look something like this:
The minimum practical width including the weekly tariff column is 150 pixels. This should fit into most sidebars. You can experiment with changing the code that says width='150' to something larger to suit your column width.
Without the tariff column the minimum practical width is 120 pixels.
b) Hiding the Book Now button
To hide the Book Now button on certain pages only, such as the Booking Form, first uncheck the 'Hide Button' in the Unit Set Up Page. The calendar code shown above can then be changed as follows to hide the button:
c) The code for the Booking Form will look something like this:
The minimum practical width for the booking form is 400 pixels. You can increase the piece of code that says width='400' to suit your own page layout.
The remainder of the code is produced by the information you provided on the Administration page and should not be altered. We would emphasise that we cannot accept any responsibility for any problems that may arise from changing this information.
13. Help Desk
The best way to contact us is by email to helpdesk@webcalpro.co.uk or via our website http://www.webcalpro.co.uk. Please ensure that you include your telephone number (day/evening) so that we can call you back.