Configuring advanced booking form fields

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Learn how to configure form fields via the Advanced tab in the Booking Form & Field editor, including filtering and selecting items/products.

New to the Booking Form? Read the first article in this series for an introduction to the Booking Form.

 

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Manage > Layout > Booking Form

What more do I need to use this feature?

• Admin permissions to manage your account.
  
  

Which Checkfront version supports this feature - classic, new or both?

• The Booking Form 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.
  

 

New to Checkfront - Products ✨ Products (Inventory > Products) is the successor feature to items (Inventory > Items) and is available in our newest version of Checkfront. Not yet on our newest version and interested in upgrading? Please get in touch with our Technical Support team for more information. Discover more product-related help articles here: Products (New).

 

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The filtering option allows you to show or hide fields based on the values provided by Guests via other fields - simple branch logic.

Let's begin by looking at a specific example. Imagine we've created a Multiple Choice Radio button form field with the options Yes and No. The question asks the Customer if they have a pet.

The response chosen by the Customer determines whether the system triggers an additional question. If the Customer selects No, a response is not activated, and no further action is required.

If the Customer selects Yes, we can display an additional question triggered by the form. That question might ask for the pet's name.

Using the above example, here are the steps to configure filtering.

 

Adding the trigger questions

1. Start by creating the question as a new form field, for example, 'Do you have a pet?' using a Multiple Choice Radio field type. This form field is the trigger question.
2. Next, turn on the Filtering switch under the Advanced tab.
3. Check the box labelled Add to 'Filter List.' This element is a list of the questions stored within the system that triggers additional questions under certain circumstances. This list is not visible to you as a system user. 
4. After clicking Add, this question is added to the abovementioned filter list.

 

Adding the secondary questions

The next step is to create the question asked if the Customer answers Yes, they do have a pet.

1. Since, in our example, we decided to ask what the pet's name is, we need to create a Single Line Text field that asks this question.
2. In the Advanced tab, turn on the Filtering switch. This time, however, do not check the Add to 'Filter List' option.
3. Instead, choose Start Hidden so the Customer doesn't see this question unless they choose the trigger option.
4. You can then determine what happens when the Customer answers the trigger question. Look for the field labelled Show when and choose your trigger question from the dropdown menu. We named ours 'pet' in the previous step. 
5. Next, choose to show the question we are working on when the answer selected is Yes. 
6. Once you click Add, the filter is complete.

 

The Final Result

So how does this work? If the Customer selects No when asked if they have a pet, nothing changes, and they continue to fill out the rest of the form. If they choose Yes, however, the second question magically appears below it. Please take a look at the above screenshot for an example.

It's worth playing around with the different options, as you could make the second question visible at first and then disappear if the Customer chooses a particular option. It depends on what you're looking to do!

 

You can only use the Add to 'Filter List' trigger option with multiple-choice form field types, such as Multiple Choice Radio, Multiple Checkboxes, and Dropdown Select.

 

Occasionally, you may find that some items/products in your inventory require special Customer details/instructions that other items/products don't. We have created an option for item/product-specific fields to address this use case.

Let's assume for a moment you're renting out kayaks. You can ask your Customers, during the booking process, what their level of experience is and if they require any on-site instruction. You could add these fields to your standard booking form, but they may look a bit out of place if a Guest is booking accommodation for the night.

Item/product-specific fields enable you to create specialized booking form questions for a particular item(s)/product(s).

 

To turn a booking field into an item/product-specific field, switch the Item/Product Specific option to ON. Next, choose the item(s)/product(s) from the list provided in field edit mode.

That field only appears during checkout when the item(s)/product(s) a Customer adds the inventory to a booking. If no items/products are selected, the field appears for all bookings as usual.

 

The abovementioned label lets you recognize an item/product-specific field in your Booking Manager.

 

 

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< Configuring optional booking form fields     |     Working with system booking form fields >

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