Edit the Default Information

The default information contains a wealth of information about the way you run your inns.  To view/update this screen, click on "File Maintenance" on the Reservation System's master screen.  Then, click on Edit Defaults.  The following window appears:

If you scroll down, you will see the additional following parameters:

Fill in the values for each of the parameters.  If you are not sure what information should go into the fields, just leave them as they are.  They will become clearer when you encounter them.  This is especially true starting with the "Outgoing Email SMTP Server Name".  These will be covered by more advanced topics.  For now, this parameter should be set to the same name as in your email system.  If you use Outlook Express, then it is the same name as the following in the "Account" window:

Editing User Information

In the "File Maintenance" window, click on the "Edit User IDs" button, and the following window appears:

The entries are automatically assigned by the Reservation System as more users enter into the Reservation System over your network.  If you don't have a network, then there will only be one entry unless you change some internal Operating System parameters, which is outside the scope of this documentation. 

In the above example the "System ID", "RLS # rls" has used the Reservation System and has been the only user of the system.

The "Email Address" field needs to be changed to the more formal email address form, which is your name, then a "<", the informal email address name, ending in a ">".  THIS WILL ALWAYS BE THE EMAIL ADDRESS USED BY THE RESERVATION SYSTEM WHEN THIS USER SENDS EMAIL CORRESPONDENCE!  So make sure it is the one you want people to see when you send emails.  This field overrides the default in the "Edit Defaults" selection.

The "Abort" field is used in a networked system.  If, for example, you want to perform a special function which requires all users to exit the system, then you could mark the "Abort" flag of all the other users. This flag is picked up by other Reservation Programs on other machines on the network and they will "Close".

The next three fields, "Do Internet Reservations?", "Do Internet Availability?", and "Do Gift Certificates?", indicate which user(s) will be performing those tasks.  It is not necessary to set these fields until you have set up your Web Interfaces.  When you do have your web interface, it is probably a good idea to assign all tasks to the same, master user of the system.  These will be covered in detail in another section, so it is best to leave them as "Unclicked" for now.

The last 3 fields, "Max Rooms", "Max Days to Display", and "Font Size", override the defaults in the "Edit Defaults" selection.  Each user can select their own Reservation System style by adjusting these fields. Because of the entire Reservation System, the "Font Size" should usually be set as 9 or less, usually 8.

Editing Memos

In the "File Maintenance" window, click on the "Edit Memos" button, and the following window appears:

There are many uses for the Memos.  When the you first setup the Reservation System, you will need to change all the "System Memos" entries to fit your needs.  All of the initial entries are used in various way to produce documents that you will be sending to your Guests, people who purchase gift certificates (Donors), people who organize groups of people to stay with you (Group Leaders), Travel Agents, etc. 

Rule #1:  Never change the "Memo Title" for these entries.  The Reservation System relies on these titles to produce proper reports.

Rule #2:  Sometimes you will see "tags" in the "Memo Contents" fields.  These tags have the form: (?xxxxx) or (?xxxx.yyyy), and there are 4 in the above example.  The Reservation System replaces these tags with actual data from the information currently used to produce a report.  Be careful not to change or remove these unless you are sure you no longer need them.  There is a complete list of available tags in the more advanced are of this documentation

Many of the entries have similar names.  Besides Agent, Donor, Group, and Guest, there are basically three subcategories, "Cancellation", "Reschedule", and "Confirmation" memos.  Within these there are:

"Cover": The cover letter that go as the main text body of the emails.

"Intro" and "Letter" portions comprises part of the generated "Cancellation", "Reschedule", and "Confirmation" letters that you will Print, Fax, or Email to your guests.  (In emails, it becomes an attachment to the "Cover" letter.)

When a "Cancellation", "Reschedule", and "Confirmation" letter is produced, the The "Intro" memo is placed just before the room reservation details.  You can say what ever you want, usually it is a good place for thanking them for their deposit, and for Check-In instructions.

The "Letter"  memo is placed just after the room reservation details.  You can say what ever you want, usually it is a good place for stating your cancellation policy.

The areas to change are in the "Memo Subject" and "Memo Contents" for each of the entries.  Again, if you not sure what to change it to, leave them as is and you will discover where they are used and what you want to say latter.

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