FAQs – Online Booking

• A new client record is created whenever a new account is created online. Clients created through online booking will include the default Status and Lead Source selected on the Clients tab in your Online Booking Preferences. Note: If the client was already in your database, you’ll end up with a duplicate client. You can merge these clients together. See also: Merging Two Clients

• A session record is created for the client in Stratus. The session will include an Online Booking Number and be marked to indicate it was booked online. Sessions booked online will also include the default Description and Status selected on the Sessions tab in your Online Booking Preferences.

• The session replaces the open time slot on the calendar for the user and resource (if applicable) that were chosen when the time slot was created.

• An invoice is created if that option is selected in your Session Types. Invoices that are automatically created through online booking include any default settings chosen on the Invoices tab in your Online Booking Preferences, including the Description, Status, Classification, and Sales Rep. 

• A payment is created if you chose to require a payment in your Online Booking Preferences AND you’re using the TSYS/eWAY/Global Payments integration.

• A customer deposit is created if that option is selected in your Online Booking Preferences AND you’re using the TSYS/eWAY/Global Payments integration.

A: Use the iframe option in your Online Booking Preferences and copy the code to your clipboard. It looks something like this:

<iframe
src=”http://thestudioinc.Stratus.com/onlinebooking.aspx”
scrolling=”no” frameBorder=”0″ width=”100%” style=”min-width:300px;
min-height:3000px”>>Browser not compatible.</iframe>

To embed the booking page into your website, this iframe code needs to be inserted into the HTML code of your site. This isn’t difficult, but if you don’t know what HTML code is, you should probably have a web designer help you! If you know how to find/change the code, the first step is to decide where the booking iframe should go. We recommend creating a new page just for online booking. Then, make sure you’re editing the code and press Ctrl+V to paste it in.
Here’s what it looks like on my online booking test page using Dreamweaver.

Some more examples…

We’ve taken a quick peek at a couple common website providers to see how you would go about inserting the iframe code.

Please note: We can’t guarantee the information in this section, but thought it might be helpful to get you started! Also, our tech support staff won’t be able to assist you with this part. Sorry! Use the links for more information or talk with your website provider’s support team if you need help.

• SquareSpace – You’ll use a Code Block to contain the iframe. First, choose the page where you’d like online booking to appear or create a new page. Then open the page editor. Click an insert point and choose Code from the Block menu. Paste the iframe code into the code box and click Apply. https://support.squarespace.com/hc/en-us/articles/206543167-Using-the-Code-Block

  

• Zenfolio – You’ll use the Embed tool to insert the iframe code. Click Embed on the editing toolbar and then use Ctrl+V to paste the code. We’re not Zenfolio experts, but it looks like you should be able to embed the iframe code on a custom page, in a blog post, as part of a custom header or footer, or in your blog welcome or sidebar.  http://www.zenfolio.com/z/help/support-center#/customer/portal/articles/1460120

  

• WordPress – You cannot embed an iframe on a WordPress.com hosted website. The code will be stripped out for security reasons. Use the Link option for your online booking page instead. Any WordPress.org site should be compatible with the iframe option.

A: If your online booking portal is getting cut off or showing too much extra space, you can adjust its height within the iFrame code. Note: This ability is only available if using the iFrame booking style.

Here is an example of the beginning portion of an online booking iframe. Adjust the Height portion to be larger or smaller depending on your needs, but be careful – this is the overall height of the iFrame, if one page of the iFrame is longer than others, base the height off that page:

<!– Please paste this code between the <body> tags in your html.–>
<iframe id=”onlineBookingFrame” scrolling=”no” frameBorder=”0″ width=”100%” onload=”try { GoToTop() } catch (e) {}”>Browser not compatible.</iframe>

A: Past versions have already supported English, French, German, and Spanish. In version 2020, we’ve added support for Dutch, Danish, Italian, Swedish, and Norwegian.

By default, the language used in the online booking portal is based on the Locale setting at Maintenance > Preferences > Company Preferences > General tab.

If you want the portal to display a different language than your software, you can override the language settings in the URL by adding ?locale= PLUS the language/country’s 2-digit country code:
https://yoursubdomain.Stratus.com/onlinebooking.aspx?locale=nb

You can find the correct code here. See the column 639-1.

If you encounter any text that is not translated or any translations that are wrong, please email [email protected] with a screenshot of the page and what the translated text should be.

A: 

Method 1: A slideshow of your images can mean a lot to clients. Why not include a slideshow along with your Online Booking portal? To accomplish this on your website, split your web page into two “columns”. In the first column, create and insert the slideshow how you want it displayed. In the second column, insert the Online Booking iFrame as found in the Online Booking Preferences. Note: Because this method deals with website designers, item spacing, and feature widths, we highly recommend you work with your own website designer to accomplish this web page structure.

Method 2: Sometimes you may wish to have a more detailed web page with a stronger depiction of the work you offer and how each session type works. One way to accomplish this is to create a web page for each Session Type you want to highlight. On this page, you can have as many images and additional details as you wish. Then on each page, include a “BOOK NOW” button that leads to the Online Booking portal page where the client can swiftly finish the booking process. If you go this route, you may wish to simplify the structure of your booking portal as the client is already coming from an information-dense page.

A: The order of your online Session Types follows the order of your session types within Stratus. To change this order, go to Maintenance > Sessions > Session Types. Highlight a specific session type and use the Move Up or Move Down buttons in the ribbon to change its placement.

A: You can set up your Time Slots to automatically remove any additional, conflicting time slots. You can set this up at:

Maintenance > Session > Session Types > General tab.

Auto-Remove conflicting time slots upon booking – Check this box if you want Stratus to automatically remove any conflicting time slots if one time slot is booked. For example, let’s say the you have one 60 minute time slot with two 30 minute time slots in the same time period. If a client books the 60 minute time slot, then the two 30 minute time slots should now get deleted. If later the session is cancelled, all three time slots should reappear.

A: The most common answer is that your time slots are either not set up at all or they’re not set up for the correct session. 

If you haven’t set up any time slots yet, please refer to OB Set up – Time Slots.

If your time slots are set up for the correct dates, make sure they are checked to Show Online and are enabled for the correct session types.

A: The reason for this can be found in your Session Type maintenance. Go to Maintenance > Sessions > Session Types. Open the corresponding session type and go to the Online Booking tab.

If you want the payment to show as an invoice with line items, make sure you set your Payment Options to Require Invoice Payment.

If you want the invoice to include a specific line item, go to the Price List Items tab next. Use this tab to choose which item(s) should automatically be added to the invoice. Note: If you do not select anything on this tab, the invoice will get created, but with an Invoice Total of $0. Line items will need to be manually entered at a later time.

A: In short, Yes!

1. Go to Maintenance > Session > Session Types.
2. Open the session type you want to modify.
3. Select the Online Booking tab.
4. On the field you want to change the color, use HTML code like the following:

There are multiple ways you can use HTML code in this field. For instance, use the <strong></strong> tag to make the text show Bold.

If you’re looking for a specific font color, simply Google “HTML Color Codes” to get a list. Make sure you use the color’s Hexadecimal code (HEX for short) in your coding.

A: The answer is Yes! On the Customization tab of the Online Booking Preferences (Maintenance > Preferences > Online Booking Preferences), you can manually type in your own colors or web-safe fonts using their RGB color code. For instance, a dark grey color code might be 124, 124, 124.  This would show in the Customization tab as:

A: Yes! That’s exactly what triggers are for!

Here are a few triggers we recommend setting up to streamline your online booking process:

• Email clients to confirm booked sessions. Use a Session Type Trigger based on the “Session Create Date” or a Session Status Trigger based on “Change to this Status.” Automatically attach a session confirmation PDF to these emails. 

• Email the photographer to let them know when a session is booked. Again, use a Session Type Trigger based on the “Session Create Date” or a Session Status Trigger based on “Change to this Status.” Automatically attach a photographer confirmation PDF to these emails. 

• Create tasks to take care of any necessary follow-up, such as contacting the client for payment, verifying client information, checking for duplicates, and so on. Assign the tasks to a specific person or a department.

See also: Triggers

A: As an example, let’s say you have two different studio locations that offer the same sessions. However, all online booking goes through the same portal (Note: This FAQ is related to businesses not running the Enterprise version of Stratus. With the Enterprise version, clients are presented with a Select Your Location screen before entering the online booking portal.

To show differences between sessions types (Such as studio location, organization, school, etc.), create identical session types and include the differences in the name. For instance: Location 1 – Portrait Session and Location 2 – Portrait Session.

A: The best way to be notified is by using triggers to email, text, and/or create tasks for you and your staff! Email the photographer, create a task for the scheduling department to verify information and check for new or duplicate clients, create a task for someone to follow up on an invoice requiring payment, and more. The most helpful triggers to consider would be Session Type, Session Status, and Invoice Status Triggers.

Don’t have triggers? There are several other ways to see when someone books a session.

• Calendar – Booked sessions will automatically replace available time slots on the calendar. 

• Sessions Hub – These fields can help you track sessions booked online. Use the Column Chooser to add these fields to your hub.

  • Online Booked – Will have a check mark if the session was booked online. 

  • Online Booking Number – Only online booking sessions will have a booking number. 

  • Booked By – This field is handy if the assigned default booker (chosen in your Online Booking Preferences) is responsible for following up on online bookings. You can also create a user dedicated to online bookings. For instance, name the User: “Online” and assign it as the Booked By in the Online Booking Preferences.

• Invoices Hub – There are several invoice defaults in your Online Booking Preferences. If you create invoices during the online booking process, using some online-specific defaults will help you a lot! Depending on how you set things up, the following fields may be useful: 

  • Invoice Description – Invoices created online are immediately recognizable if the description is something like “Booked Online.” 

  • Invoice Status – Depending on what default status is assigned, this field could help sort and follow up on online invoices. 

  • Invoice Classification – Use a unique classification, such as “OB Invoice,” and then create a filter to easily find these invoices. 

  • Default Sales Rep – This field is handy if the assigned default sales rep is responsible for following up on these invoices. 

• Clients Hub – When someone creates a new online account, a new client is created in your database. Depending on the client defaults set up in your Online Booking Preferences, the following fields may be useful: 

  • Client Status – Use an “Online Prospect” status for these clients. Have a staff member regularly check for these clients. They can verify the client information, look for duplicates, and update the status when done. 

  • Client Lead Source – Use “Online Booking” as the default lead source.

See also: Setting Up Online Booking

NOTE: This feature is available in the Professional and Enterprise versions of Stratus Desktop. Spectra does not include this feature.

A: After an existing client books online, you may wish to get more information from them and/or have them update their current information file. This may also be used for brand new clients coming in if there’s information you wish to collect that is not included on the online form.

You’ll want to create and send a follow up Web Form for your clients to fill out online.

See Introduction to Web Forms if you’re new to the feature.

To watch a video that covers the overall process of using web forms, click here. Instead of using the Communication Wizard to email all clients, you’ll create a Session Status trigger that triggers an email to clients when their session is booked online.

A: The most common cause for this is because the corresponding time slot that this session was booked with does not have an assigned User or Resource.

To find the session, open the client record that booked the session and go to the Sessions tab to view their booked sessions.

To fix time slots that are created with no assigned User or Resource, visit Maintenance > Sessions > Scheduling Time Slots. All existing time slots are listed and editable from this menu.

A: The online booking portal for appointments and sessions are actually different. If using an iFrame, you should have two separate pages for your appointments and sessions. You can get the separate iFrame/links from the Online Booking Preferences; found at Maintenance > Preferences > Online Booking Preferences > General tab.