Edit Site Details

The Site Details dialog is used to view or edit all of the individual fields for a single site.  It has browsing functions to step through sites one by one, as well as adding or deleting sites.

This dialog is accessed through the main Sites Setup function (Maintenance / Park Setup / Sites), and it can also be accessed by right-clicking a site in almost any of the tab views (Rack, Arrivals, On Sites, etc.).

You can print an entire Site record or a form with the Print button.  This opens the Form Selection dialog, which gives you the option to print a grid or a form.  The grid format prints a simple table with each field name and value, generally meant for reference purposes.  You can also choose to print any Form defined for this type of record, which allows you to easily access any custom form you've created for Sites.

Site Fields

The individual site fields are described below.  Note that some fields may not appear for you, for instance if the field has been disabled in your database (see Define Data Fields).

Abbreviation, Full Name, and Description

These fields should all describe the site, in increasing length and/or detail.  Each one is used in different places to represent the site.  

The Full Name must be filled in, and is used in most places where sites appear as a cell in a grid, such as Tab view reports, and in places where a full name is used like when viewing a reservation.  You may want to include a word like "Site" in this name for clarity, like "Site 35" or "Lot 35", or you can be more specific like "RV 35" or "Tent 35".  It should be limited to about 10 characters for the best results.

The Abbreviation is used where a shorter name would work best to save room or where "Site" would be redundant, such as in the rack "Site" header cells, the drop-down Quick-Pick list on the New Reservation dialog, and on the printed reservation receipts.  Typically this is just an identification number like "35" or "C-35", but it should be unique -- don't use "35" for both RV lot 35 and boat dock number 35.

The Description is optional. If it's available, it's used in the pop-up tips whenever you move the mouse over a site name cell on the grids (either the row/column headers in the Rack or their fields in the other Tab views.  If no description is available, then the Full Name is used.  While this can be as long as you like, it works best when 20 or fewer characters are used.  This is just so it doesn't obscure too much of the screen when it pops up.  Examples: "Site 35 - 30A/W/S",  "Site 35 - Maple St.".  The use of this field depends on what helpful information you would like to see when you move the mouse over a site's cell.

Park Selection

This is a drop-down list with a list of the defined Park records (usually only one selection).  You should select one of the parks for the site even if there is only one park defined, since it's used to determine which park's information is printed on the reservation receipts. See the Parks Setup Dialog section for more information.

Note: If you don't see anything in the park selection list (e.g. when you click the down-arrow to show the list), that means the "Short Name" field of the Park record(s) has not been filled in.  Go back to Park Setup to fill this in, then you can select it from the list.

The park selection is important, especially if you have more than one Park set up, as it's used to get various information from the proper park record for reservation and transaction handling.  This includes the check in/out times, meter wrap-around numbers, and the address for receipts and envelopes.  It can also be used for report filtering.

Confirmation Text

This option is disabled by default since most parks won't need it.  When this is enabled (through Maintenance / Data Field Definitions / Site Fields), you can set the bottom text of confirmation letters to be different for each site.  If the text is blank, then the default text will be used (set through Maintenance / Park Setup / Confirmation letter text & options).  If there is any text in this field, then the default bottom text will be ignored and this text will be used, for this site only.

Host Confirmation Text and Host Address

These are special fields that are only used for certain circumstances -- in particular, if you're renting guest houses where the guest's host needs a separate confirmation letter.  These options are disabled by default since most parks won't need it.  When this is enabled (through Maintenance / Data Field Definitions / Site Fields), you can set the bottom text of the special host confirmation letter and the host's mailing address for the letter.

Address lines

You can fill in these if you want the receipts to show the message "Have visitor mail sent to:", and the 2 lines of address information.  Only 2 lines are available, so it's suggested to use one line for the street and lot number, and the other for the city/state/zip.  Since these fields are only used for printing purposes, they are optional.

Phone numbers

As with the address lines, these are optional and only used to print "Your phone number(s):" on the receipts.  You can enter 1 or 2 phone numbers, and these would typically only be used if the site has a fixed phone number, such as for instant-phone sites.

Site Front/Rear/Left/Right

These fields allow you to indicate which site is physically in front of, in back of, and to the right or left of this site.  They are not used in any particular way other than for reference, since they only appear on this dialog, so they are not required.  (In future versions they will allow support for functions like automatic selection a number of adjacent sites or to assist in making "buddy" or group reservations.)

Since each one of these is a drop-down list of all sites defined, one obvious problem is that you can't fill in this field until all of the sites are defined.  So you would need to go back through the sites after setting them up to set these fields.

Site Class and Site Type

These are pick-list selections, which you can define.  They are attributes used in the Site Preferences selection when making a reservation, so you can set them according to what would help select appropriate sites.  They are covered in more detail in the Pick Lists section.  In addition, Site Type is used in nearly every filtering or selection process, so it is the most important field for site categorization.

More Site Attributes

This button opens the Site Attributes dialog, which is a list of attribute fields (including some of those above).  In general, these attributes are used to filter out acceptable sites for a reservation, using the Site Preferences function on the New Reservation dialog. The site attributes here will correspond to the site preferences for a reservation.  

Any attributes that are set will also show up in the Quick-Info window (double-click on a site name in tab views), so they can provide useful information to a customer when making a reservation.

The initial database will have many typical attributes by default.  You will want to disable any that don't apply to your campground, and may want to rename a few to something more applicable.  (This is done through Define Data Fields.)  The number and the detail of these selections will depend on your campground -- a large diversified RV resort may have sites with many different attributes to choose from, while a small campground with mostly similar sites may only have a few.  If you are extremely familiar with your park and each site's peculiarities, you may actually never use site attributes/preferences when choosing a site for a customer.

There are several different types of site attributes, and setting them in the Site Attributes is a little different for each one.  In general, if you plan to use the Site Preferences dialog to select sites, you should set these fields appropriately for every site.  If you leave an attribute blank, then the site may be assumed to be a match anyway (because the software doesn't know if it's a match or not).  To enter any attribute, click on the right-hand cell next to the name and type the value, or double-click on the cell to drop down a pick list.  If you're editing several in a row, you can use Tab after each one to step to the next one.

Pick-Lists -- These are simple drop-down lists, including the Site Type, Site Class, etc.  Just select the appropriate selection for each site.  If you leave it blank, the site will match to any request for that attribute.  Note that some of these are duplications of the fields on the Site Setup dialog, and setting them here will also be reflected in the Site Setup dialog.

Sizes, Min #'s & Max #'s -- Some attributes are sizes, such as rig length.  Sizes are assumed to be measured in feet.  You should put an appropriate size for the Maximum, so that any request for that size or smaller will be a match.  Just type in a number, no punctuation or other characters (for instance, type 45, not 45 feet).  If you leave it blank, any size request will be considered a match.  Attributes of Max # of Adults, etc., should also be entered as simple numbers.  For some fields like # Adults and Rig Length, you can also set a Minimum size or number, to keep smaller rigs off of larger sites, for instance.  As always, leaving it blank means that there is no minimum (same as 0).

Yes/No attributes -- These are fields that are either true or false, like Has Water, Has Sewer, etc. Their value can be either Yes or No, which can be chosen from the drop-down list.  Alternatively, you can just click the field and press the Y or N key.  A blank attribute will be treated the same as No.

Distances and Ratings -- These attributes are "ratings", and have a value of 1 to 5.  Either way, a 1 means "low" (or "far") and a 5 means "high" (or "close").  For instance, Distance to Pool would be 5 for the closest sites and 1 for the farthest sites. View Rating would be 5 for a great view, 1 for a poor view.  If the customer requests "Must Have" for one of these attributes, they will currently be a match as long as the value is 3 or above, or if it is blank (meaning not applicable or unknown).  If they request "Must Not Have" then it will be a match if the score is 3 or lower.  (Thus a rating of 3 will always be a match.)  Future versions of the software will generate scores based on the how well the values match, and allow selection by how well a site score compares with the requests.

Min Stay and Max Stay

These represent the lower and upper limits on the number of nights allowed for a site.  For instance, if you have sites where you only allow short-term stays, you can enter a 30-day maximum.  Likewise, you can enter minimum stays for sites that are limited to extended stays.  Only enter the number of days here without text, e.g. just enter "30" for 30 days or a month, not "30 days" or "1 month".

These limits are used on the New Reservation dialog when Show Available is selected.  Any sites that are not allowed for the number of nights of the reservation will not be shown in the mini-rack when Show Available is checked.

Schedule

This field is only used for selecting an intra-day schedule, e.g. for hourly rental "sites" like canoes and tours.  It should be left blank for normal daily-rental sites.  See Schedules Setup for details.

Don't show check in/out times on receipts

If you prefer not to show check in and check out times on the receipt for this site, for instance if it's a shelter or pavilion where this doesn't apply, then you can set this option to skip printing that information.

Electric Meter, Gas Meter and Water Meter fields

If these are enabled, you will see fields for the Reading and the Date, and a button to View the reservation that the meter was last read by.  The reservation button will be disabled if the last reading was entered manually (on this dialog) rather than entered as a reservation transaction.  The date will be disabled if no reading has been entered (which typically means that this site does not have a meter).

Assuming this site supports meter(s), you will first set up the site by entering the current reading (or the last reading that has been charged for).  The date will automatically change to today's date when a value is entered, but you can override that if needed.  If a meter is brand new and has a "0" reading, you should still enter a 0 in the Reading field so that the site is flagged as having a meter.

There is no way to select a reservation for the reading other than going to that reservation and entering a transaction for the meter reading.  This is the way it should be done whenever a reservation is paying for the metered electricity, gas or water.  Otherwise the reservation link will be cleared.  Also note that if it's important that you have the reservation information when first entering the meter readings, this could be done by entering it as a transaction for the reservation (you can delete the charge afterwards but the site will remain updated).

Season Dates Available

This field is used to specify the dates that a site is normally available.  This information is used for showing what sites are available for a given date and also can be used to generate more accurate reporting.  While it's possible to create a reservation that covers dates that are "out of season", you would be warned before doing so.  These dates will also show up on the Quick-Info window for sites (seen when double-clicking on a site name in the tab views), and any sites not available due to the season dates (or the special dates below) will be shown in a different color on the Rack (typically gray)

Dates in this field and the other two Special Dates fields can be entered as single dates or as date ranges.  You can also enter dates without the year if you want to specify dates that apply the same to every year, but this only applies to the Season Dates, not the Special Dates.  If you leave this field blank, it means that the site is available all year long (so there's no need to enter 1/1 to 12/31, and in fact that could slow the software down slightly).

Note that the dates in these fields will be entered in the "regional" format according to your computer's settings -- for instance, month/day for U.S., and day/month for Canadian, etc.  U.S. format is used in the examples.

There is no limit to the number of dates or date ranges you can enter, and the field will scroll as needed. Separate each date range with a comma.  A space after the comma is optional (it will be inserted automatically when displayed).  The format of a date is fairly flexible as long as if follows the month/day/year convention. Each range should include two dates separated by the word "to".  Here are some examples of valid range entries:

1/1 to 9/30, 11/1 to 12/31        (note there are no years, so it applies to every year)

1/2/2002 to 4/3/02                (years can be 2 or 4 digits)

10-5-01, 10-7-01 to 12-31-01        (single dates can be entered, and you can use the dash in a date)

Regardless of the date format you use, it will be changed to a common format (mm/dd/yyyy) after you save the information.  If you make a mistake in an entry, it will warn you when you click Save and ask you to fix it.

While you could clear out old date ranges once that year has passed, you may want to leave them so that reporting is still accurate for past years.

Wrap-around seasons -- If the range you want to enter "wraps around" the end of the year, such as December to February, it must be entered in two segments if you don't include the year in the dates.  So instead for a season of 12/1 to 2/28, enter it as 12/1 to 12/31, 1/1 to 2/28.

Special Dates Available

Special Dates Available take precedence over season dates in determining if a site is available.  Even if you have specific seasons, there may be times when you want to make some sites available out of season.  You could just adjust the Season Dates if you enter the dates for each year separately, but if you use the same Season Dates every year (entered without years, like 3/1 to 9/30) then you need to enter any exceptions in this field.  

The Special Dates Available field follows the same formatting as Season Dates, with the exception that they should always have a year in them.  (Otherwise you would be better off adjusting the Season Dates.)  They will also show up in the Quick-Info window for sites.  It's OK to have dates here that are considered available by the seasons anyway, but it would add work for the software so it's best to avoid overlapping dates.  Note that dates can also be made available from the Make Site Available function on the Rack view right-click menu.  This field will change accordingly with the added date(s).

Special Dates Unavailable

This is the highest priority of the date fields.  If a date is included here, the site will be considered unavailable this date even if the same date is in both of the Dates Available lists above.  Use this to make a site unavailable at any time, such as for maintenance.  Dates in this list should always have years in them. They will show up in the Quick-Info window for sites, and will show up as a different color on the Rack.  Note that dates can also be made unavailable from the Make Site Available function on the Rack view right-click menu.  This field will change accordingly with the added date(s).

Days of the Week Available

If these fields are enabled, it allows you to indicate which days of the week the site is available on.  (For speed reasons, don't enable these fields unless it's necessary.)  The days of the week can be overridden by Special Dates Available or Special Dates Unavailable.

Site is Inactive (disabled)

This flag can be set when you want to completely eliminate a site from being used.  This will eliminate it from the Rack, the Quick-Pick drop-down list for New Reservations, and the Occupancy Report.  However, any existing past or future reservations with this site will still show up in other historical reports.

This is useful if you have eliminated sites from the campground for an undetermined time, or forever.  It's better to set this than to actually delete the site from the database, because it will still be used in reports and reservation histories.

Notes

Notes will show up in the Quick-Info window for sites (double-click on a site name in the tab views), so for instance you could check the notes easily before making a reservation.  This is a good place to put warnings or special features of a site, like "gets flooded easily" or "great site for bird-watchers".  The notes will also show up as a pop-up tip if the mouse is over the site on a date that the site is unavailable, so you can put information there like "No water service" for sites down for maintenance.  While the Notes can't be used for automated site selection, it might be a nice touch to put things here that you want to mention to customers on the phone when they're making a reservation.

Notes will be shown as a single line here, but you can enter multiple line notes as long as you like by clicking the "..." button at the end of the notes entry field.  This will open a separate Notes dialog for entering the notes (covered in the Working with Reservations section).  Any current notes will of course be shown, and the cursor placed at the end so you can begin entering notes immediately.  When multi-line notes are displayed as a single line, for instance on the Site Details dialog or in lists, each line break will be shown as a double-backslash (" \\ ").

Work Orders...

This will take you to the Work Order list for the Site, where you can view, add, and manage Work Orders for this particular site.

Journal...

In addition to the single-entry Notes field, you can add any number of Journal entries to a site, which are date/time/operator tagged.  This can be used any way you like, for instance to make notes as to why certain changes were made to it.  This button opens a list of existing entries and also the adding/editing functions.

Audit Trail...

This button opens the Audit Trail for this particular site, showing a list of all changes made to it (at least as far back as when version 6.0 was installed, since the Audit Trail function did not exist before then).