Online reservations and table management

Working with Formitable - beginners guide for staff

How to seat guests, accept & change reservations, and all other things to know when working with Formitable on a day to day basis.

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Overview: built for fast hosting work

Smarter online table management with all reservations on a single screen. Perfect to keep track of everything and seating guests.

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Adding a new reservation in the table view

Three ways to quickly add a reservation in the table view: automatically, at a specific time or on a specific table.

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Placing walk-ins in your restaurant

How to quickly add walk-ins in your overview to keep your availability up to date

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Use Guest Profiles during service

Turn your entire team into a super host by instantly viewing all most important must-knows of every guest

Written by Jelita Altman
Updated over a week ago

Adding an option (with optionally a payment link)

Options automatically become reservations once guests have confirmed them or paid a deposit. Here's how to create and keep track of options

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Sending messages and replies to guests

Answer messages, inform your guests, and fight no-shows with the messaging feature in Formitable

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Turning the Seated bar and Pacing limit bar on and off

How to turn on/off extra information about pacing limits and seated guests in the overview

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

How to duplicate reservations

Create an exact copy of a reservation for your loyal guests or in case you cancelled a reservation by accident

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Automatically select the best ticket

Let Formitable automatically select the best ticket for a reservation for you instead of just giving suggestions

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Switch tables for reservations and solving conflicts

Easily seat guests on another table and solve issues with overlapping reservations

Written by Kelly
Updated over a week ago

Specific colors for tickets and events

Quickly see in the overview which guests have booked which arrangement by assigning colors to different tickets

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Keyboard shortcuts in Overview

An overview of the most useful keyboard shortcuts in Formitable.

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

View and adjust Guest Profiles

Add a Guest Note, create Tags and add Tags to a Guest Profile, add a birthday, and view reservation history

Written by Jelita Altman
Updated over a week ago

Adding Areas and Tables

Create your own table plan

Written by Raymond Wilders
Updated over a week ago

Priorities for tables

Prioritize the order in which the system fills your tables

Written by Raymond Wilders
Updated over a week ago

Create Table Groups

Combine Tables and set how many extra seats the combination can accommodate

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Create online availability and set up Shifts step-by-step

Link Shifts to Tickets in 6 steps to make sure guests can make online reservations

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Add a Waitlist for a specific shift

Give your guests the chance to place themselves on the waitlist. They can be notified automatically about empty tables in your restaurant.

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Send a separate confirmation mail for each ticket

Easily send your guests extra information about the ticket they are booking.

Written by Lucas Schakel
Updated over a week ago

Ask for a prepayment for reservations

Avoid no-shows and late cancellations, generate a cash flow, create event tickets with down payments, or deposits

Written by Jelita Altman
Updated over a week ago

Ask for a reconfirmation of a reservation

Prevent no-shows and late cancellations with a reconfirmation option in your Reminder Email

Written by Jelita Altman
Updated over a week ago

Ask for a credit card guarantee for reservations

Charge the credit card used for payment to avoid no-shows

Written by Jelita Altman
Updated over a week ago

Hide a Shift in the Widget

By deactivating a Shift, this Shift won't be visible in the Widget and guests won't be able to make a booking for that specific Shift

Written by Jelita Altman
Updated over a week ago

Set lunch and dinner with different arrival times

This is how you set up a lunch and dinner shift where guests come in spread out

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Set two shifts with different arrival times

This way you set two shifts and ensure that guests do not all enter at the same time

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Set two shifts with fixed arrival times

Welcome guests in an early and late shift with fixed arrival times

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Add Tickets

Offer unique experiences and promotions: create different types of reservations, for example, a High Tea, set group packages, or an event

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Booking without having to select a ticket

Within your tickets, you can always find a 'default' ticket. We explain how it works and when you can use it best

Written by Raymond Wilders
Updated over a week ago

How to create a special event

Create a special one-time event and disable all other reservations. Perfect for holidays and special days like Christmas, New Year’s, etc.

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Squeeze: Turn tables faster using the power of online

Double your tables and fill gaps in your table planning by offering shorter reservations

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Re-open a closed day

How to "open" a day that is currently set to "closed" in the overview

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Create online availability for your outdoor dining

Tips to get the most out of your outdoor dining area

Written by Jelita Altman
Updated over a week ago

Close restaurant for a day (or more)

Change your regular opening times for national holidays, vacation or special occasions. Close your restaurant to make it not bookable.

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Using Pacing Limits to even out peaks in service

Pacing Limits determine the maximum number of guests you want to welcome per timeslot. Smear out the peaks and close individual timeslots.

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Change the availability of shifts for each booking channel

The Channel Manager gives you full control over your availability for all booking partners. Decide where each shift is available.

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Different ways to regulate or limit the number of guests

Set a maximum number of guests that can be present at the same time, smear out the peaks or close time slots, set a maximum per shift

Written by Jelita Altman
Updated over a week ago

Set the maximum amount of guests per area

The easiest solution to the Covid-19 restrictions of 30 guests.

Written by Raymond Wilders
Updated over a week ago

Disable online reservations for a day

Stop accepting online reservations and inform your guests with a message in the widget

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Cancel multiple reservations and send messages

Cancel your reservations in one go and send a custom message to guests

Written by Raymond Wilders
Updated over a week ago

Close a Shift (disable certain reservations)

Not able to run the lunch shift next week? Want to disable dinner reservations? Close a shift on a specific day so guests can not book it.

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Disable bookings in certain areas or on specific tables

Change which tables and areas can be booked online. Block areas or take tables offline to have flexibility for walk-ins and loyal customers

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Create exceptions to your daily shifts

Change the booking window or the number of guests for one day for a particular shift.

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago

Booking window: Allow reservations up until a certain time

Only want to accept online dinner reservations up until 5pm? Don't get surprised by last minute reservations and change your booking window

Written by Operations
Updated over a week ago