Posted by timeflask on March 19, 2013 at 7:56am
Hi,
The first line probably starts like "we are developing a new booking XXXX".
So we won't start it like that, rather tell us what you look for in a booking system; what industry are you planing to deploy this in? What features and functionalities you absolutely must need, and what others you would like to have but is not critical.
Are all your bookings based on a fixed timeslot? fixed duration or do they vary?
The more features and functions you list and tell us, the better we understand your workflow, and the better we can develop a booking system that meets your requirements and make the system WORK for you.
Thanks,
Stephen
Comments
booking system wants
I have for a 9 library system. Each library has multiple rooms/areas for booking events.
Requirements
enter each location with open hours but allow for booking even when closed
add details for each room like capacity, equipment
integrate smoothly with calendar module
automatically check for conflicts so a room is not double-booked
also want a separate list of equipment that can be booked
so the item, specs for item and where it is located so (1) that it can be requested
(2) and booked, just like a room for a time/date/location
Thanks, Are these
Thanks,
Are these reservations time capped and how do you determine the next availability?
For instance you probably want some manual method to release the resource as available again for the next booker. If thats the case, is the availability as soon as the resource is returned/release, or it must wait till the next scheduled date time.
Time capped
yes times are essential
rooms would have times the respective location is open and so events have to have a start and end time. Based on that conflicts need to be automatic.
equipment should be on a check in/check out basis - so manual in that sense - and as soon as it is checked in, the resource would be immediately available. Also item could potentially be checked in at a different location than checked out - much like redbox. And so current location needs to be apparent - as well as a restriction as to whether an item needs to be returned to a certain location.
Hi, You are 5 hours an member
Hi,
You are 5 hours an member of Drupal.org, right?
Are you really want to build a new booking system?
Why do you not connect with the already available booking initiatives on drupal.org like: www.drupal.org/project/rooms
Which is a great candidate.
A comparison is also made in this group earlier: http://groups.drupal.org/node/137544
Greetings, Martijn
What Martijn?
No I am not a 5 hour member and it wouldn't matter if I was anyway.
I have been a member of drupal.org for a few years and have been working with drupal for years as well. I was responding to a post that I received in email. I am currently working with the Booking Resource module. And interested in any booking modules that may be out there or are being developed.
Your response is unhelpful and makes no sense.
Hi Stephanie, I was referring
Hi Stephanie,
I was referring to the starter of this discussion not to you of course.
Isn't it better to go further on a already paved road than start a new one. Isn't rooms the booking module best practise?
greetings,
Martijn
Hi Martijn, I have no doubt
Hi Martijn,
I have no doubt rooms is a very worthy project and well paves as you speak. Everyone has their own agenda for their own version, and we are no different. But that doesn't mean we can't have more variety or branches, it's abit like arguing for a single distro of Linux instead of all the great versions we have from Ubuntu, RedHat and other BSD variants etc.
Anyhow, can we stick to topic as we aren't here to talk about which project to focus development on.
Thanks,
Stephen
Booking system requirements
When developing a new booking system, the most important thing to keep in mind is that each workflow is unique, even if you compare two similar companies in the same industry. Therefore flexibility of the system is essential. At SuperSaaS we try to offer maximum flexibility in terms of system settings while keeping the user interface simple. This enables us to serve many different types of customers in various industries.
Of course, when building an industry specific system there are similarities in customer needs, but the tricky part is dealing with the so called 'hidden needs'. It's very important to take customer feedback into account, but without a specific starting point or a prototype it's very hard for customers to translate their internal process into system requirements and behaviour.
Regards,
Jennifer
Common Needs
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks for insight. From your experience, what would you say specifically are the common needs of all these booking systems (from down right obvious to the "oh yeah")?
Common needs vs company specific processes
Hi Stephen,
Across industries you would have to take general aspects into account, such as access permission control, confirmations of bookings, available vs week / month /day view, payment, etc.
In addition the type of system used is different per industry. For example a customer that offers fitness classes, will probably want multiple users to be able to subscribe to one class. A customer that offers driving lessons can only handle one student per time slot, but could work with multiple instructors and might want students to be able to choose their instructor. Another example is a theatre which will most likely require advanced seating options, which is also the case for restaurants.
We've started in 2007 with a basic schedule. Over time we've improved the system and added new features based on customer feedback. The most important thing to keep in mind is that although you might think that you're offering a 'complete' system, needs will change and features will always have to be added.
Good luck with the development!
Jennifer
Hi Stephen, I just wanted to
Hi Stephen,
I just wanted to ask you to use building blocks which are already available and not inventing the wheel.
Also a lot of booking initiatives are not moved further, see for instance: http://drupal.org/project/cm_hotel, so to get the positive energy arising it would be great to have a real great drupal-based drupal way Booking System.
Sticking to the topic what seems very difficult but is a functionality I would very much like with a booking system is the functionality of
camping seats using Drupal. So a person can book a seat on a camping per day so the planning/resourcing should hold all seats of the camping per day.
The functionality would consist of:
- workflow
- possibility to make a reservation with a begin date and end date
- every campingseat can be reserved per day per camping
- a person can book more campingseats within one reservation
- a person can book more campingseats on more campings within one reservation.
- possibility to have more than one camping in the system
- integration with drupal commerce to be able to use rules, commerce feeds for importing possible to book seats.
- graph showing the seats on the camping based on the map of the camping
A campingseat could be a general thing which is daily bookable such as it can also be used for hotelroom, summerhouse, wintercabin etc..
Is this the kind of reply what you want please?
Greetings, Martijn
Drupal integration
Hi Martijn,
I believe there are already systems out there that offer camping specific solutions with integrated maps. However I'm not sure if they also offer Drupal integration.
Almost forgot to mention, we don't offer advanced seating options, but we do have a Drupal integration, which enables users to login to our scheduling system using their Drupal login details: http://www.supersaas.com/tutorials/drupal_appointment_scheduling
Best regards,
Jennifer
Hi, I really want a
Hi,
I really want a drupal-native solution and with an advanced seat solution.
I just saw this distribution coming up for the groupmembers: http://drupal.org/project/openhotel !
Greetings, Martijn
tour travel agency booking form
hi,am new to and am looking to make a tour booking form for a travel site such that people can book online,is there a module?