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Locate: Reports > Booking Index > Import
Prerequisites:
- Admin permissions or restricted permissions to View all reports or the Booking Index.
- The Import Bookings feature is available to both those using items (Inventory > Items), a key feature of our classic version of Checkfront, and those using products (Inventory > Products), a key feature of our newest version of Checkfront.
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New to Checkfront - Products ✨ Products (Inventory > Products) is the successor feature to (Inventory > Items) and is available in our newest version of Checkfront. Not yet on our newest version and interested in upgrading? Please contact our Technical Support team for more information. Discover more product-related help articles here: Products (New). |
In this article, we look at the Booking Import template and how to optimize your file for import.
New to importing bookings and what is required? Be sure to read the first article in this series for an introduction!
Please read the full series of articles, accessed at the side and bottom of this page, to learn more about the full capabilities of the Booking Import feature.
Downloading the import template
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Once you arrive at the Booking Import page, you see a button labelled Download Template. Clicking on this downloads a CSV file containing a sample booking which you can use as a template for your own external bookings.
Once you download the template, open it up and begin to add your own booking details. You can delete the sample row before saving the document, or simply override its contents with your own information.
Most of the fields are self-explanatory and correspond to the fields you have chosen to show on your Booking Form (Manage > Layout > Booking Form). There are a few things to note, however, and we look at those below.
- Inputting the item/product id
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If you take a look at the inventory image above, then you see the indicated example IDs.
This field is critical and corresponds to the item(s)/product(s) included in the booking.
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A booking cannot be imported without a matching item or product ID. |
Returning to the CSV file we are editing, you see the second column is labelled Item ID. This is where you input the ID we just looked at in the inventory.
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Multiple item/product IDs must be separated by a space in the Item ID field. A comma is not acceptable and prevents the booking from importing correctly. |
- Formatting date fields
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When entering your information, it is important to use the correct formatting on columns such as Start Date and End Date. Date formats can be in MM/DD/YYYY or YYYY/MM/DD.
The date columns should also have a time associated with them. If you're not sure of what time the original booking was created, then don't worry, just enter the approximate time.
In this case, the example booking contains two products: London Walking Tour and Guided Walking Tour.
- Working with checkbox fields
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In the screenshot above, the custom field labelled Stay up to date on our newsletter is actually a checkbox field.
On the booking form, a Customer must check the box to receive future newsletters from the company they are booking with.
When adding bookings via the spreadsheet, this option should be input as either a '0' or a '1'. A '0' means that the option has been left unchecked, while '1' means that the option has been selected.
In the next article, we look at the booking import process itself.
< Introduction to importing bookings | Importing your bookings file >