Categories

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Categories are used in Checkfront as a way to organize your inventory items in a manner that makes the most sense to you and your customers. For example, you may wish to group your rooms in an accommodation category and your boat/bike rentals in an activities category.

 

   

 

From the main categories screen, you will see your current categories organized into 5 default columns. They are as follows:  

 

 

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ID:

A system generated numerical ID used to identify your categories in various places throughout Checkfront. A good example of this is the use of category IDs when creating a booking page, isolating only a certain category or categories.  

 

Name:

The name of your category. This is visible to the customer, so choose a name that will make sense to them.  

 

Items:

The number of items currently grouped inside the category.  

 

Weight:

Determines the order in which your categories will be displayed in the booking portal. The higher the weight, the closer to the top of the list the category will appear. If multiple categories share the same weight, those categories will be sorted alphabetically, while maintaining their collective position among the other weights.  

 

Status:

A quick view of whether the category is currently active, hidden, or archived. If you'd like to view a list of all categories that fall under one of these particular statuses, you can do so by selecting that status from the drop-down filter menu at the top.  

 

 

 

 

Selecting Show All will obviously present a list of all the categories you have created (past & present) and their current status.  

 

   

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Clicking on a category column header will organize the rows for that column into alphabetical or numerical order. After clicking, a small arrow will appear in the header cell, as seen above. If the arrow is pointing up, this means the data in the row is in ascending order. If the arrow points down, the data is in descending order. Refresh the page to reset the column back to its original state.

 

   

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To create a new category, click on the + New Category button top left.  

 

 

 

 

A pop-up window will now open, ready for you to enter the category details.  

 

 

 

 

1. Category Name:

Enter a unique name for your category.

 

2. Category Image:

If you are using the Grid category layout for your booking page, you can choose an image from your computer that will be displayed when a customer views your booking portal. To do this, click on the + Add Photo button and select the image from your computer. Once loaded, the image will now be displayed in the pop-up window you are working in. See below for an example of how your category images might look when displayed in the customer-facing booking portal:

 

 

 

 

3. Crop Photo:

If you're happy with the way your photo looks in the preview, then move on to the next step. If however, you would like to crop your image, click on the Crop Photo button.

 

 

 

 

Using your mouse cursor, click and drag out an area on your photo which you would like to use for the final image. Once you have dragged out a box, you can then click and hold it with your mouse cursor to further reposition the area, if required. Any changes you make will be reflected in the thumbnail preview, directly below the main image you are working on.

 

4. Description:

Enter a description for the category that will be displayed to the customer in the booking portal. If using the Grid layout, for example, the category would be shown when a customer hovers their mouse over the category image.

 

 

 

5. Weight:

Category weight determines the order in which the categories are displayed in your booking portal. A higher number places the category closer to the front of the list. Each category must have its own unique weight. In a scenario where multiple categories share the same weight, they will then be sorted into alphabetical order, while maintaining the position among the weights of the other categories.

Enabled: Check this box to enable the category and display it in your booking portal. Unchecking this box will prevent the category from being displayed to customers, but will not delete it from the system. You can always re-check it at a later date if you wish to use it again.

 

6. Create:

Once you are happy with your category details, click the Create button to complete the process. The ID for the new category is system generated and not one of the user-configurable fields. The ID of your first category will be 1. Your second will be 2 and so on.  

 

 

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To edit an existing category, click on its name in the category list and update the details as necessary. When ready, click the Update button to confirm your changes.  

 

Archiving a Category

If the category is no longer or not currently required, you may click the Status button to update its visibility.  

 

 

 

Active: The category is visible to your customers for booking.

Hidden: The category is visible to your staff in the backend for booking but is not available to your customers on the system front end.

Archived: The category is not available to either staff or customers for booking. If you wish to use the category again, you will need to change the status to active or hidden. Conversely, if at a later date you decide to un-archive the category, you can do so in the same way. Just change the status to Active after selecting the category from the main category screen.  

 

Please Note: Archiving a category does not permanently delete it from the system. Permanent deletion of individual categories is not currently supported in this area. If you no longer wish to use a category, you should simply archive it and leave it at that. If you are coming to the end of your free trial and would like to reset your system before going live, you can do a system purge which will permanently delete all categories and whatever else you deem necessary.

 

You will also notice a Translate button.  

 

 

 

 

Click on this to select any language you have configured for use in your system.  

 

 

 

 

When the pop-up window appears, enter your translations then click Save Translation.

 

   

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The columns menu allows you to choose exactly which information is and isn't included in the report you are generating.

 

 

 

 

You can choose to display the standard system fields that come with Checkfront or remove them if they are not necessary to your view. Simply check a column to include it in the report or uncheck it to leave it out.

 

 

 

 

To reorder the columns in your report, click and hold your mouse over the "dots" by each column title and drag it to where you'd like it to be. Click save when ready and your report should be updated with the changes you've made.  

 

 

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You can export a report from your customer directory using the link in the top right corner, next to the columns button.  

 

 

 

 

Clicking on the link will open a pop-up window from which you can choose your export options.

 

 

 

 

You are able to enter a name for the report and choose the output format. Current formats include:

• MS Excel

• CSV

• PDF

• XML

The report can be saved to your computer, an email or Google Drive.