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Book a resource

Goal​

Book something for a customer — Court 1 next Tuesday at ten, or the whole of Pitch 1 on Wednesday evening — and have the booking confirmed only if it can really happen.

Prerequisites​

  • You hold Sports & Leisure — receptionist or centre manager.
  • Sports & Leisure is imported (the psl-sports-leisure solution).
  • What a booking costs comes from the price list (Set up prices), or else from the resource's Price an hour.
  • The customer exists under Customers.

Steps​

  1. In Sports & Leisure, open Bookings and select New.
  2. Choose the Customer, when it Starts and Ends, and how many People. If what they are doing decides what their membership covers — coaching rather than play — choose the Activity.
  3. Save. The booking is Pending: it holds nothing yet.
  4. On the Booked resources tab, select New and choose the Resource. Leave its times empty to book it for the whole booking. Add more than one resource if the booking needs them.
  5. Select Confirm. The booking is checked, priced and confirmed — or refused, with the reason.

To see the bookings on a calendar, open Bookings and switch to the Booking sheet view: a day, week or month of every booking that is not cancelled, coloured by whether it is pending, confirmed or completed. Click an empty slot to start a booking at that time.

What happens behind the scenes​

Confirming checks, in this order: the customer is active; each resource is in use and bookable, for a length it allows, starting on its booking interval, inside the location's opening hours on the location's own clock, free, and not over capacity; the customer's membership, if they are a member, is active on the day and covers this; and every booking rule that applies.

Booking a resource that divides into parts takes all of its parts. Pitch 1 booked whole holds 1A–1D too, so none of them can be booked beside it — and while 1A is booked, Pitch 1 cannot be booked whole. Two sections side by side are fine.

The price comes from the price list — members and non-members, weekdays and weekends, peak and off-peak — or, where no rule fits, the resource's price an hour. A member pays nothing when their membership includes it, and less when it gives a discount, though a fee such as floodlights is still added; the booking's How the price was worked out names every rule that counted. When something included has been used up for the month, the next best thing their membership gives applies instead.

Confirming holds the resources in the same step, and the database itself refuses two holds on one resource at one time — so two receptionists confirming the last court at the same moment cannot both succeed. A confirmed booking cannot be moved: cancel it and book again.

To see a day at a glance, open Bookings → Resource sheet: one column for each bookable resource, with every booking that holds it. A pitch booked whole shows as taken in each of its sections too — which is exactly what stops them being booked beside it. The sheet is read-only; bookings are made and confirmed as above.

Troubleshooting​

  • "Court 1 is already booked then." — pick another time or court.
  • "Pitch 1 is not free then: Pitch 1A is already booked." — a part is taken; book the free parts instead, or another time.
  • "… is closed on Mondays" / "… is open 09:00–22:00 on Tuesdays" — the location's opening hours.
  • "… is booked in 60-minute steps from midnight" — start on the hour (or the resource's interval).
  • "Member M-000004 is suspended, so cannot book." — the member's standing, not the booking, needs sorting out.
  • "… does not include this, so member … cannot book it." — their membership type gives nothing for this activity or kind of resource.
  • "… has used all 4 of Tennis courts — 4 a month this month." — the allowance is used up.
  • "This can be booked at most 14 days ahead" — a booking rule; see Set booking rules and prices.