Resources: How to set up rooms and make them bookable

If you are setting your system up for the first time, or you'd like to add additional rooms onto the system, please follow the steps below.

Using Manage Resources 

Your rooms are set up as a resource via  Resources > Manage Resources. Resources need to be assigned to a Resource Category before they can be viewed on the calendar and booked.

What is a resource?

A resource is a bookable item. This could be a room, e.g. 'IT Room' or 'Meeting Room 2', or it could be a resource item, like a Laptop, or a Minibus. Individual non-room resources can be set up to be booked in parts (eg 2 laptops from a trolley of 20).

What is a category?

Resource Categories are groups of resources. These categories allow users to view all related resources easily. For example, if you have a number of IT rooms you could assign them to a Resource Category of 'IT Rooms' - allowing the user to select that category in the Calendar and view all the rooms available under it.

Creating a Resource Category

The first thing that needs to be set up is the resource category to which resource(s) will be assigned. 

1. Go to Resources > Resource Categories and then click Add Category.
2. Under Category Name enter the name of the category.
   
   From the drop down under Category Type select either Room or Resource.
   
   Under Booking Slots choose whether the rooms/resources under this category will be Timeslot (Period) Based or Time Based. Note that you will only see the Time based option if you have opted to include the Lettings and Time Based module with your licence. Please contact us if you would like to know more about this.
   
   Timeslot Based means the category will show rooms as Period 1, Period 2, etc. according to your timetable.
   
   Time Based means rooms will be bookable for specific times, for example: 11:00 - 11:30.
   
3. Click on Add Category.

Assigning resources to a Category:
Syncing from your MIS

If you are syncing your data from your MIS then any timetabled rooms will automatically be added to your system via the sync. However, when these rooms are initially added they are automatically assigned to the category of ' Unassigned'. Rooms under this category are hidden from the calendar and are not available for booking. they also do not count against the limits in your licence. 

To make the rooms available on the calendar and bookable, assign them to a category as follows:

1. From the Administrator Homepage select Manage Resources.
   
   Hover over the room you would like to assign and click on the pencil icon to edit.
2. Under Category make a selection from the drop-down. If the category you want is not showing make sure that it has been created as described in the 'Set up Resource Category' section above.
3. Once you have selected the category click on Edit Resource at the bottom of the screen to save the change.You can now select the Calendar tab at the top of the page and check that the category is available to select and the room is showing.
4. The Room name and information that are displayed in Room Booking can be edited at any time via Resources > Manage Resources. Such changes do not affect the link between that room and your school's Management Information System (MIS) - whatever you call the room, it will still display the timetabled classes that come from your MIS.
   
   Because of this (and to prevent any manual changes being overwritten) once a room has been created in your system via a sync from your MIS, future syncs do not bring across any change that room's name or information/description in your MIS. However, you can request that we adjust your sync to update all rooms on Room Booking, so that they reflect what is currently set in your MIS.

Assigning resources to a Category:
Manually adding a new resource

1. Go to Resources > Add Resource.
2. Give the new resource a name, such as "Astroturf". Make sure that you select the desired time-based category.
3. In the Resource Information box you can enter information about it, users can see this when they hover over the resource's heading on the Calendar page.

4. Add Bookings as Pending? means that all bookings are, by default, unconfirmed and need authorisation. You can find more on this here: Pending Bookings.
5. Split into parts allows you to specify if the resource is bookable in parts. From the drop down select the maximum quantity available to book and the plural name of each part. For example, if the new resource is a laptop trolley, with 20 laptops available you would select 20 parts and call them 'Laptops'..
6. Minimum Time Between Bookings allows you to enforce a gap before and after each booking in the resource, to allow time for meetings to be set up, charging time for laptops, etc.
   
   From the drop-down select the gap you would like to leave - either in timeslots or times, depending on the type of category you selected in step 2 - and in the next field enter the reason. 
   The reason will be shown on either side of the booking in the calendar:
   
   Note: you will only see the options referred to in sections 7 and 8 below if you have opted to include the Lettings and Time Based module with your licence. Please contact us if you would like to know more about this.
7. If your category is set up as time based you will also see a section where you can set an Open & Close Time for each day.
   
   The default open and close times for all time based resources are set in  Timetable Options on the Administrator homepage - this section allows you to set specific times for this resource by using the drop downs. To reset back to the default hours click Set to Default Open and Closed Times.
   
   If you want a resource to show as closed on a particular day, set the both the open and close times on that day to 12:00.
8. The Lettings section allows you to set up price plans and assign them to your resource. These can then be applied when a booking is made for an external hirer.
   
   To add a plan click on Add A New Plan. Enter the name you would like to give the plan and then select Add Plan.
   
   Click Active on any plans that are active for the resource and enter the price for the resource. If the resource is time based this will be per hour. If the room is timeslot based it will be per timeslot.
   
   Multiple plans can be selected for each resource. You can find out more about price plans here: How to set up a price plan/booking fee
   
9. You can upload a picture of the resource using the picture section. The image uploaded will show when a user hovers over the heading for the resource on the Calendar page:

Note: Image filenames must not contain the special characters &, £ or +.

10. Once all details have been entered click on Add Resource.
    
    The room should now be available for booking. To check this, select the Calendar tab at the top of the screen and select the relevant category.

What's Next

Now that you have set up your room you may want to restrict the users that have access to view and book the room. This is done via setting up  User Permissions.