Templates for the dining area plan specify when the dining area is open, which sections are open, and what dining area layout is in use at any given time.
The program automatically creates a dining area plan for each day by using the dining area plan templates. The program picks the first template with the highest priority that is valid for the day. If there is no template valid for the day, the dining area is closed on that particular day.
For each template you set a date schedule that specifies when the template is valid. You can ,for example, set up one template for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, the second template for Friday, and the third for the weekend. You can have the weekend template also valid on holidays (regardless of the day of the week). You can have templates for specific functions valid on specific dates by giving them higher priority.
For each template you specify a time schedule that divides the day into periods. The periods can go past midnight, for example, the night period can last from 18 to 1 after midnight.
For each period you specify which layout is in use. You also specify whether the dining area is open or not and whether waiting lists are allowed. You specify for each dining area section whether it is open or not. All these aspects can be changed for the dining area plan itself.
Note: The Advance Seating of Reserved Guests (Min.) field defined for the dining area, is an important tool to let the dining area be open for seating just before the restaurant opens or after a closed gap between open periods. By default, this is 30 minutes.
To set up a dining area plan template
- Go to the Dining Areas page, and click the Plan - Plan Templates action.
- Click New and insert a new dining area with a code and description.
- In the Dining Area Layout Code field, select the layout that is generally in use for this template.
- In the Default Reserv. Capacity % field you can enter a percentage that the program uses to calculate the allowed Reservation Capacity for each period. This is a default percentage that can be changed for each period.
- In the Default Online Reserv. Cap. % field you can enter a percentage that the program uses to calculate the allowed Online Reserv. Capacity for each period. This is a default percentage that can be changed for each period.
- In the Time Schedule ID field, select the time schedule you want for this template. The program automatically creates template lines for the time schedule periods on validation.
- In the Date Schedule ID field, select the date schedule you want for this template.
- In the Priority field, enter a number that reflects whether this template is a general template (low number or zero) or whether it is an exception (a high number to let this template be selected over the more general one).
- For each period you can select whether it is open or not and change which dining area layout is in use.
- Refer to the field help for Dining Area Plan Template for more information.
Note: The capacity is affected if you change the status (open or close) of a period. You need to click Actions - Refresh Capacity to let the program calculate correct capacity.
Note: The Dining Area Plan Template shows Dining tables and capacity for each time period and section. If Dining tables is blank then section have to be added to the Layouts (Setting up Dining Area Sections) .
See also
Updating Dining Area Plans with Information from Template