Setting up a reservation platform can be daunting! However, with Oddle Reserve, restaurants can easily onboard, set up their platform and take reservations with just a few clicks.
In this article, we’re going to explore how restaurants can set up their Oddle Reserve seamlessly.
Add a table and an area
Edit a table or an area
Delete a table or an area
Create a ticket
Edit a ticket
Activate/Inactivate a ticket
Delete a ticket
Create a weekly schedule
Create a special schedule
Create a blockout schedule
View a schedules
Edit a schedule
Delete or duplicate a schedule
How to set up your Tables and Areas?
Setting up your restaurant’s areas and tables on Oddle Reserve is crucial as it allows reservations to be tied to a specific area and table. This allows you to manage your reservation bookings and seating requirements easily.
Add a table and an area
In the Oddle Reserve Host V3 app, navigate to Settings > Tables and Floor Plan
Under the Area and Table Inventory, click on Add Areas and Tables
Enter the table display name, here you can also enter the area’s internal name by clicking “Use a different name for internal purposes”
Click on Save and Add Tables. Next, select the number of tables you want to add to this area and the minimum and maximum covers per table. Do allow those tables to be booked online by clicking on the checkbox
Click on Add Tables and a confirmation message will pop up. A successful message will be displayed if tables for that area have been added
Edit a table or an area
In the Oddle Reserve Host V3 app, navigate to Settings > Tables and Floor Plan
Under the Area and Table Inventory, click on Manage
Click on rename to rename an area or an area’s internal name. Hit Save to return to the Area and Table Inventory Management section
❗ Do note that this does not save the name changes, changes will be made successfully once you have completed Step 9 down below
Here, you can change the table name, minimum cover and maximum cover
Drag the table up and down if you want to change a table’s priority number
Drag the areas up and down if you want to change an area’s priority
Toggle the Enable button to indicate if an in-house table is operational
Click the Online button if you want a table to be bookable online
Once you have finalised all changes, click on Save Changes. A successful message will be displayed when changes are saved successfully
Delete a table or an area
In the Oddle Reserve Host V3 app, navigate to Settings > Tables and Floor Plan
Under the Area and Table Inventory, click on Manage
Click on the Trash icon in the delete column, to delete a table
Click on Delete, to delete an area. Ensure that all tables in an area are deleted first before you can delete an area. Click on Save Changes
⭐ Prioritise which areas and tables should be booked first by rearranging them. Tables in a higher priority areas will be automatically assigned before tables in a lower priority areas.
💡 When editing or deleting a table, existing reservations may be affected. Affected reservations will appear when you make these changes and you can either edit these reservations or keep them as it is.
Video tutorial on setting up tables and areas
How to set up your Tickets?
Tickets allow you to create unique experiences for your reservation booking slots. For each ticket, you can decide how to set it up. Restaurants can now monetise high demand days, or reduce the number of no shows by offering events or payment related tickets. In addition, any online reservations or online schedules will be linked to a ticket.
Add a ticket
In the Oddle Reserve Host V3 app, navigate to Settings > Tickets and click on + Add Ticket button
Select the ticket colour and upload a cover image for your ticket by clicking on browse
Fill up the ticket name (required) and ticket description
Toggle the Feature Ticket, if you want this ticket to be highlighted on the landing page of the booking page
Toggle the Payment Required, if you want to set up a Deposit or Prepayment ticket. If you want to find out more about these payment ticket types, click 📘 here.
Toggle the Bookable Channels, if you want reservations made via Google to be reflected on Oddle Reserve as well. Do note only one ticket type at a time can be selected to be used for Reserve with Google and that it cannot be a ticket that requires payment.
On the right hand side, you can see the preview of how the ticket would look like. This is what the customer sees when they are making a reservation
Click on Add Ticket and a confirmation message will pop up at the bottom. A successful message will be displayed if the ticket has been created
Edit a ticket
In the Oddle Reserve Host V3 app, navigate to Settings > Tickets
Here you can see the Online services linked to this ticket. If this is your first time looking at online schedules, take a look at this article to 📘learn how to create schedules
Click on the ticket that you want to change and click on Edit Ticket, to change the ticket colour, cover image, ticket name, ticket description, feature ticket, payment details and bookable channel
Click on Save Changes and a confirmation message will pop up at the bottom. A successful message will be displayed if the ticket has been saved
Active/ Inactive a ticket
In the Oddle Reserve Host V3 app, navigate to Settings > Tickets
To activate or inactivate a ticket, toggle the button in the Active Column
💡 If a ticket is inactive, customers will no longer be able to book that ticket online or make an online reservation with that ticket type. If you inactivate a ticket, any existing reservation with that ticket type will not be affected.
Delete a ticket
In the Oddle Reserve Host V3 app, navigate to Settings > Tickets
Click on the ticket that you want to delete
Click on Edit Ticket. At the bottom left hand corner, click on the Delete button found at the bottom hand corner
A confirmation prompt will pop up, to make sure that you want to delete this ticket.
Click on Delete and a successful message will be displayed if the ticket has been deleted
⭐ Tickets associated with any ongoing schedule cannot be deleted. Head over to the online schedule settings to delete any ongoing services linked to the ticket that you wish to delete before proceeding on with the steps mentioned above. 📘 Click here to learn more about editing schedules.
How to set up your Online Schedule?
Online Schedules allow restaurants to mimic their day-to-day operations and special operations during festive periods and special events. Once an online schedule is created, customers can go to the restaurant’s reservations page to make their reservations!
Create a weekly schedule
In the Oddle Reserve Host V3 app, navigate to Settings > Online Schedule > Weekly Schedule
Click on + Add Weekly Schedule. Here you will need to configure Service Details, Seating, Booking Window, Restaurant Policy and Timeslot Preview
For Section 1: Service Details, configure the following and click on Next: Seating
Ticket type
Days on which the service occurs every week
Service timings, first and last bookable timings
For Section 2: Seating, configure the following and click on Next: Booking Window
Areas available for that service
Minimum and maximum covers for each reservation
Dining duration
Maximum cover for each service
Maximum reservation for each service
For Section 3: Booking Window, configure the following and click on Next: Restaurant Policy
Minimum and maximum time or days in advance that customers can make an online booking
Timeslot intervals shown to customers when booking online
Grace period before a reservation is marked as “Late”
For Section 4: Restaurant Policy, configure the following and click on Next: Timeslot Preview
Restaurant policy that you want to show to your customers before they book
Any additional cancellation policy on top of the default cancelation policy of the ticket highlighted in grey
For Section 5: Timeslot Preview, you will see all the slots shown to your customers when they are making an online booking on your page. These available timeslots are generated based on your service settings, table capacity and online availability. To change any of these, head to the respective sections 1- 4 to make those edits
After finalising, click on Add Schedule. A successful message will be displayed if the schedule has been created
Create a special schedule
In the Oddle Reserve Host V3 app, navigate to Settings > Online Schedule > Special Schedule
Click on + Add Special Schedule. Here you will need to configure Service Details, Seating, Booking Window, Restaurant Policy and Timeslot Preview
For Section 1: Service Details, configure the following and click on Next: Seating
Ticket type
Dates of the special service
Service timing, first and last bookable timings
For Section 2: Seating, configure the following and click on Next: Booking Window
Areas available for that service
Minimum and maximum covers for each reservation
Dining duration
Maximum cover for each service
Maximum reservation for each service
For Section 3: Booking Window, configure the following and click on Next: Restaurant Policy
Minimum and maximum time or days in advance that customers can make an online booking
Timeslot intervals shown to customers when booking online
Grace period before a reservation is marked as “Late”
For Section 4: Restaurant Policy, configure the following and click on Next: Timeslot Preview
Restaurant policy that you want to show to your customers
Any additional cancellation policy on top of the default cancelation policy of the ticket highlighted in grey
For Section 5: Timeslot Preview, you will see all the slots shown to your customers when they are making an online booking on your page. These available timeslots are generated based on your service settings, table capacity and online availability. To change any of these, head to the respective sections 1- 4 to make those edits
After finalising, click on Add Schedule. A successful message will be displayed if the schedule has been created
Create a blockout schedule
In the Oddle Reserve Host V3 app, navigate to Settings > Online Schedule > Special Schedule
Click on Block Schedule. Select all the dates that you want to block out
Decide if you want to block out all the services that day or any specific services by selecting that particular service
Add blockout schedule note for your staff (internal use) and the blockout schedule message for your customers who will be trying to book online
After finalising, click on Block Schedule. A successful message will be displayed if the schedule has been blocked
View your schedules
Calendar View for weekly schedules
By default, if you navigate to Settings > Online Schedule > Weekly Schedule, you will see the calendar view. Here, you can see all the active services for each day of the week. By clicking on a service, you can see the schedule details such as the days, start time, end time, cover limit, dining duration, areas, maximum capacity, maximum reservation, booking window and timeslot interval.
List View for weekly schedules
If you navigate to Settings > Online Schedule > Weekly Schedule and select the list view. Here, you can see a comprehensive list of all weekly recurring services. Each service line displays basic information such as the service days, service hours, ticket type, covers, duration and areas.
Upcoming and past special schedules
By default, if you navigate to Settings > Online Schedule > Special Schedule. Here you will see a list of upcoming special schedules. They are grouped by special schedules or fully blocked schedules or partially blocked schedules. Here, each service line displays basic information such as service hours, ticket type, covers, duration and areas. If you select the Past, you will see all old special schedules.
Edit a schedule
Weekly Schedule
Navigate to Settings > Online Schedule > Weekly Schedule
In the calendar view, select a service. Hit the edit icon to make changes to the service details, seating, booking window, restaurant policy and timeslot preview
OR In the list view, click the ••• in the More column. Then, click on Edit to make changes to the service details, seating, booking window, restaurant policy and timeslot preview
Once you have finalised all changes, hit the Save and Close button. A successful message will be displayed if the schedule has been updated successfully
Special and Blockout Schedule
Navigate to Settings > Online Schedule > Special Schedule
Click the ••• in the More column. Then, click on Edit to make changes to the service details, seating, booking window, restaurant policy and timeslot preview
Once you have finalised all changes, hit the Save and Close button. A successful message will be displayed if the schedule has been updated successfully
Delete or duplicate a schedule
Weekly Schedule
Navigate to Settings > Online Schedule > Weekly Schedule
In the calendar view, select a service. Hit the ••• in the More column
OR In the list view, click the ••• in the More column for a particular service
Here, you will click on either Duplicate or Delete
If duplicate is selected, you will need to decide if you want to duplicate the schedule to a weekly or special schedule. Configure the service details, seating, booking window, restaurant policy and timeslot preview. Click on Add Schedule and a successful message will be displayed if the schedule has been created
If delete is selected, you will need to confirm once again if you want to delete the schedule by clicking the delete button. Once deleted, a successful message will be displayed if the schedule has been deleted
Special and Blockout Schedule
Navigate to Settings > Online Schedule > Special Schedule
Click the ••• in the More column. Then, click on either Duplicate or Delete
If duplicate is selected, you will need to decide if you want to duplicate it to a weekly or special schedule. Configure the service details, seating, booking window, restaurant policy and timeslot preview. Click on Add Schedule and a successful message will be displayed if the schedule has been created.
⭐ Do note that you are not able to duplicate a blockout schedule
If delete is selected, you will need to confirm once again if you want to delete the schedule by clicking the delete button. Once deleted, a successful message will be displayed if the schedule has been deleted
Video tutorial on setting up your online availability
How to set up notifications for you and your customer?
Enabling email and sms alerts for your customer and you are recommended! It gives your customer and you more visibility when a reservation is made, edited and cancelled.