What’s a Resource? #
Resources are the “reservable items” in booked. Resources could be conference rooms, equipment, boats, people, or anything else you can imagine.
You can view and manage resources from the Resources menu option. Here you can change the attributes and usage configuration of a resource.
Every resource must be assigned to a schedule in order for it to be bookable. The resource will inherit the layout of its schedule.
Application Administrators and applicable Schedule and Resource Administrators are exempt from usage constraints.
Permissions #
The ability to reserve a resource is controlled by permissions. Permissions can be assigned to individual users or to groups of users.
User Permissions #
User level permissions assign a resource permission to an individual users. User level permissions should only be used when the number of total users or total resources in Booked is very few.
By default, users are automatically granted full access to new resources. This can be changed by turning off automatic permissions for each resource.
Group Permissions #
Permissions cascade from Groups to Users, with user-level permissions overriding group permissions.
If a user has “inherit” permissions for a resource and no group-level permissions are set, the user will not have any access to a resource.
If a user has “inherit” permissions for a resource and is a member of a group with “view” permissions, the user will have “view” permissions to that resource.
If a user has “inherit” permissions for a resource and is a member of a group with “full” permissions, the user will have “full” permissions to that resource.
If a user has “none” permissions for a resource, they will not be able to reserve the resource even if they are a member of a group with “full” permissions.
If a user is set to “inherit” and is a member of a group with “view” permissions and also a member of a group with “full” permissions, they will have full access.
Resource Information #
Each resource has metadata fields available for common resource information. This information is available throughout Booked, allowing quick reference to users. You can set the color used for resource reservations, the order it appears on the schedule, and other common fields.
Both resource Description and Notes fields support Markdown, allowing you to provide rich formatting for these fields.
Custom Attributes #
Application Administrators can add custom attributes to resources, which allows additional information to be stored about each resource. Some examples of information you may want to collect about resources are model numbers of equipment, whether or not a conference room has a projector, or the dimensions of a kayak.
Custom attribute values are available for users to view along with other standard user information.
Resource Usage Configuration #
Minimum Reservation Duration #
Setting a minimum reservation duration will prevent booking from lasting shorter than the set amount. The default is no minimum.
Maximum Reservation Duration #
Setting a maximum reservation duration will prevent booking from lasting longer than the set amount. The default is no maximum.
Reservation Buffers #
Setting a buffer time will force reservations to be at least a certain amount of time apart. The default is no buffer time between reservations.
Reservation Approval #
Setting a resource to require approval will place all bookings for that resource into a pending state until approved. The default is no approval required.
Optionally, specific groups of users can be configured to bypass the approval step for specific resources. This can be set when configuring the resource.
Automatically Grant Permissions #
Setting a resource to automatically grant permission to it will grant all new users permission to access the resource at registration time. The default is to automatically grant permissions.
Minimum Lead/Notification Time #
You can require a booking lead time by setting a resource to require a certain number of days/hours/minutes notification. For example, if it is currently 10:30 AM on a Monday and the resource requires 1 days notification, the resource will not be able to be booked until 10:30 AM on Sunday.
Minimum times can be set separately for new reservation creation, reservation updates, and reservation deletions. The default is that reservations can be made and changed up until the current time.
Optionally, lead times can be configured per group of users. If a user belongs to multiple groups with lead time rules, the minimum lead time amount will be used. Lead time overrides can be set from the Notice Overrides section when configuring a resource.
Maximum Lead/Notification Time #
You can prevent resources from being booked too far into the future by requiring a maximum notification of days/hours/minutes. For example, if it is currently 10:30 AM on a Monday and the resource cannot end more than 1 day in the future, the resource will not be able to be booked past 10:30 AM on Tuesday. The default is no maximum.
Optionally, maximum notification times can be configured per group of users. If a user belongs to multiple groups with lead time rules, the maximum lead time amount will be used. Lead time overrides can be set from the Notice Overrides section when configuring a resource.
Capacity #
Certain resources can have a usage capacity. For example, some conference rooms may only hold up to 8 people. Setting the resource capacity will prevent any more than the configured number of participants on a single reservation at one time, excluding the organizer. The default is that resources have unlimited capacity.
Minimum Participants #
This is the opposite rule of capacity, requiring a minimum number of participants on a single reservation at one time. The default is that resources have no minimum number of participants.
Multiple Bookings at the Same Time #
By default, resources cannot be double booked.
If you want a resource to be able to be booked by multiple people at the same time, you can configure the Resource Access to allow concurrent reservations. This setting will allow you to enforce a maximum number of concurrent reservations.
Resource Administrators #
A group of users may be set up with permission to manage specific resources. Resource Administrators have the same capabilities as Application Administrators for any resource which the group is assigned to. They can change resource details, black out times, manage and approve reservations.
Setting Up Resource Administrators #
- As an Application Administrator, open Application Management -> Groups
- Add a new group for each set of resources you want to manage
- Change the Role to include Resource Admin
- Add users to the group – these will be people who have administrative rights for specific resources
- Set the specific resources that the group should have administrative rights to. These can be set by clicking the arrow next to the group Roles option, then choosing the resources. Alternatively, open Application Management -> Resources, and update each resource to set the Resource Administrator.
Resource Images #
You can upload an unlimited number of resource images. These will be displayed when viewing resource details from the reservation page.
This functionality requires php_gd2 to be installed and enabled in your php.ini file. File upload size and other constraints are dependent on your php and web server settings – these values are not controlled through Booked.
Resource Statuses #
Setting a resource to the Available status will allow users with permission to book the reservation. The Unavailable status will show the resource on the schedule but will not allow it to be booked by anyone other than administrators. The Hidden status will remove the resource from the schedule and prevent bookings from all users.
Resource statuses can be added, updated, and removed by clicking the Resource Status option from the top right menu within Manage Resources.
Resource Groups #
Resource Groups are a simple way to organize and filter resources. When a booking is being created, the user will have an option to book all resources in a group. If resources in a group are assigned to different schedules then only the resources which share a schedule will be booked together.
Resource groups can be added, updated, and removed by clicking the Resource Groups option from the top right menu within Manage Resources.
Resource Types #
Resource types allow resources that share a common set of attributes to be managed together. Custom attributes for a resource type will apply to all resources of that type. Resource Types are available as filters across Booked.
Resource types can be added, updated, and removed by clicking the Resource Types option from the top right menu within Manage Resources.
Resource Public Access #
By default, resources can not be used in RSS or iCalendar feeds, shown on the resource tablet display, or embedded in external websites.
To allow reservations for a resource to be displayed outside of Booked, enable Public Access for each resource. Once enabled, URLs for the resource tablet display, RSS feeds, iCalendar feeds, as well as the JavaScript snippet for embedding the resource calendar in external websites will be available to copy.
Starting with Booked 3.5, resources must be made public in order to appear on the public schedule and calendar view.
Resource Relationships #
Forcing Resources to be Booked Together #
Resource Relationships can be used to define resources that must be booked together. To configure this, add a resource within the Must Be Booked With (Two Way) or Must Be Booked With (One Way) sections.
Once set, all non-administrative users will be required to book all related resources as part of a single reservation.
Two Way relationships will force both resources to be booked together if either one is booked.
One Way relationships will only force the related resource to be booked if the primary resource is booked. The related resource will still be allowed to be booked independently.
Preventing Resources From Being Booked Together #
Resource Relationships can be used to define resources that cannot be booked as part of a single reservation. To configure this, add a resource within the Cannot Be Booked With section. Once set, all non-administrative users will be prevented from booking all related resources as part of a single reservation.
Preventing Resources From Being Booked at the Same Time #
Resource Relationships can be used to define resources that cannot be booked at the same time. To configure this, add a resource within the Cannot Be Booked at the Same Time section. Once set, all non-administrative users will be prevented from booking a resource if any other related resource is booked at the same time.
Checking In and Out of Reservations #
Resources can be configured to require reservation owners to check in and out of each reservation.
Requiring check in/check out will give the reservation owner the
opportunity to record when they actually begin and end a reservation. You can optionally notify users who miss their check in time.
You can configure each resource to automatically release a reserved time if a user does not check in within a given amount of time (for example, 5 minutes after the scheduled start time). You have the option to Delete the reservation or End it when releasing. To automatically release reservations you must be running Booked scheduled jobs.
If an owner does not check out, you can configure the reservation to be automatically extended. The reservation will continually be extended until it conflicts with another reservation. Automatic extension of reservations requires the Booked scheduled jobs to be running.
If users must physically check in and out with a person, the resource can be configured to only allow administrators to check in and out.
Importing and Exporting Resources #
Resources can be exported in bulk to CSV and can also be imported from CSV. This is useful for one time imports or bulk changes.
When importing resources you must use the provided template or use a previously exported CSV file.
Check the option to update resources if performing a bulk import of changes.
