Plan the night in the Reservation Book

Get to the timeline.

1. 1Open the Reservation Book: on a computer, main menu (three-line button at the far left of the header) › Reservation Book; on a phone or tablet tap Book in the bottom bar.

The book opens on the date and service in the header.

What the blocks, icons and colours mean.

1. 1Each block shows the guest (Last, First), the time and the party size, and stretches for the dining time.
2. 2A padlock means the guest is locked to the table. A link icon and dashed lines join a party spread over several tables. A warning triangle means the block was moved off its table by the active floorplan.
3. 3Click a colour in the legend at the bottom (or the eye icon Legend on a phone) to see what it means.

See the start or end of the service.

1. 1On a computer, scroll sideways with the mouse wheel or trackpad.
2. 2On a phone or tablet, swipe, or tap Earlier / Later above the grid.

See and change its details.

1. 1Click or tap the booking block.

The reservation details open on the right.

When several bookings share a table row, spread them out.

1. 1On the table's name at the left, click the small arrow with a number.
2. 2Click it again to put them back on one line.

Start a booking already set to the table and time you click.

1. 1Open the Reservation Book: on a computer, main menu (three-line button at the far left of the header) › Reservation Book; on a phone or tablet tap Book in the bottom bar.
2. 2Click an empty spot on the table's row at the time you want.
3. 3In the small menu (table · time), choose Add reservation.
4. 4Fill in the guest and party size, and click Create.

• Add reservation is greyed out if the table isn't free then. Past times can't be booked here.

Put a big party on two or more tables from the timeline.

1. 1Click an empty spot on one of the tables at the time you want.
2. 2In the small menu, tap the link icon beside Add reservation (Link tables for reservation).
3. 3Tap the other tables' rows. Free tables show a dashed outline; tap a selected one again to remove it.
4. 4In the bar at the bottom (N tables selected / N seats), tap Done.
5. 5Pick the Party size. The form opens with all the tables; finish it and click Create.

• You can do the same from a table's menu on the floorplan, or in the booking form.

Seat someone who just walked in at a table on the timeline.

1. 1Click an empty spot on the table's row.
2. 2Choose Seat walk-in and pick the party size.
3. 3For several tables, tap the link icon beside it (Link tables for walk-in), tap the tables, tap Done, then pick the size.

Make a held or blocked table bookable again.

1. 1Click inside the held (yellow) or blocked (red dashed) period on the row.
2. 2Choose Release hold or Release block. Enter a PIN if asked.

On a computer with a mouse, move a booking in one go.

1. 1Press on the booking block and drag it left or right to change the time (it snaps to 15 minutes), and/or up or down onto another table.
2. 2Let go. Enter a PIN if asked.
3. 3If the table is taken, choose what to do: Link tables, Swap tables, Stack anyway or Cancel.

• You can't drag completed or table-locked bookings, bookings on past dates, or anything while offline.
• A party on several tables can't be dragged to another table; open it and use Change or link tables.

In the Reservation Book, dragging is off on touch screens. (On the floorplan you can long-press a card to drag it.)

1. 1Tap the booking.
2. 2In its details, change the time, table or dining time.

Change how long the table is held for.

1. 1On a computer, hover the block and drag the thin handle on its right edge left or right (15-minute steps). Enter a PIN if asked.
2. 2On a phone or tablet, open the booking and tap the pencil beside Dining time, then use the stepper.

Hostbook may offer Save to make this the guest's usual time for that party size.

Focus the book on one dining room.

1. 1Click All or a room name in the book's header (phone or tablet: the Book room dropdown).

• Only shows when the venue has two or more rooms.

Find overlaps, tight turns and wrong-size tables.

1. 1Switch Guests to Conflicts in the book's header (phone or tablet: Floor overlay dropdown).

Only tables with a problem stay. Red means overlap, orange a tight turn, cyan the wrong party size, violet late.

For example only seated parties, or grey out a colour.

1. 1Click an item in the legend at the bottom, such as Seated (4) (phone or tablet: eye icon Legend).
2. 2Choose Seated reservations only, or Neutral color on book to grey that colour out.