Color-coding Reservation Types (revisited)

A previous newsletter explained how to add a Color Scheme to color-code new Reservation Types.  However there's a much easier way to do it using the new "Quick-Add" feature added in version 8.  Here's the revised information using the new feature.

If you add special Reservation Types for weekly, seasonal or other special reservations (e.g. through the Pick Lists), then you may want to show them in different colors on the Rack. The normal Color Key only understands the standard "Base" reservation types, and can't be added to directly. However with the Color Schemes function, you can create your own color scheme for your new reservation types.

What you need to do is create a color scheme that has rules for each condition that can exist for a reservation (e.g. pending, checked in paid or not paid, etc.), for each new reservation type.  We can use that color scheme to "override" the normal color scheme for reservations -- it will check your rules first, and if none of those conditions are met then it will use the standard color definitions (so you don't have to re-define all of the standard ones yourself).

Here is an example of handling a new reservation type called "Weekly" (which of course would have to be added through Maintenance / Pick Lists / Reservation Types).

1. Go to Maintenance / Advanced Customizations / Color Schemes.

2. Click "Add scheme definition", and give it a name like "Reservations override". Note that only one Color Scheme can be used to override the normal reservations colors, so if you have multiple types, etc. then the rules for all of them need to be defined in this one scheme.

3. Select the Default scheme "Reservations".

4. Click "Quick-add Resv Type", and select the Reservation Type from the list that appears. A list of Rules will be automatically added with the appropriate expressions programmed in them.  The colors assigned at this point will be the same as the Base type (e.g. Normal or Monthly).

5. If you have more than one new Reservation Type you want to color-code, repeat step 4 for each one (they must all be in the same Color Scheme definition).

6. Now you just need to edit the colors -- double-click on each Rule (line in the table) to Edit Rule, and then use the Change Text Color and/or Change Background Color accordingly.

7. Now once the scheme is complete and you Save it, there's one more thing you need to do -- make this scheme the default for reservations. Go to Maintenance / Advanced Customizations / Select Global Color Schemes, and select the scheme you just created in the drop-down list after "Override reservation names with color scheme:".

Now your new colors should be used on the Rack and other tab views, wherever a reservation name is normally colored. The Color Key will also show your new definitions along with the default ones, in case the operators need a reference.  You can also edit the new colors directly from the Color Key.