Course Booking Plus

Course Booking Plus enables you to create Course Categories & Courses which can then be shared via a calendar on your website, allowing visitors to sign-up and pay online, if required.  

• Creating a Course Category
• Creating a Course
• Creating Learning Events
• Creating Booking & Evaluation Forms
• Settings
• Adding a Booking Calendar on your website
• Viewing Bookings & Registers
• Sending Emails
• Viewing Evaluations
• Invoicing

Creating a Course Category

• From the Add-ons menu, select the Courses option from the dashboard.
  
  
• Select Category from the menu on the left, and click Create a New Category
  
  
  
• Enter a Name for your category
  
  
• Select a colour.  This will be used to differentiate the items in the booking calendar.
  
  
• A thumbnail image can be added using the Browse button. 
  (This is only required where bespoke layout options have been included.  If you have purchased the standard version of Course Booking Plus this is not needed).
  
  
• Select the Parent Category. 
  (When creating your first Category, you will only see the Top Level option).  
  
  
• Choose the Booking Form & Evaluation Form you would like to use by default for this category.
  
  
• If you need to exit the category before you have finished, you can click Save Draft.  When you are finished, click Publish Category.
  
  

   TIP:  You can edit the standard booking & evaluation forms to fit your needs, and create additional new forms if you need to ask different questions for different Categories or Courses - see Creating Booking & Evaluation Forms

Creating a Course

• Select Course from the menu on the left, and click Create a New Course
  
  
  
  
• Enter a name for your Course
  
  
• A thumbnail image can be added using the Browse button. 
  (This is only required where bespoke layout options have been included.  If you have purchased the standard version of Course Booking Plus this is not needed).
  
  
• Edit the Course Content description.  You can use the editor tools to format the text, and even add images and video.
  
  
• Enter the default Course Cost. This can be edited for individual Learning Events.
  
  
• Multiple course tags can be added.  
  (these are only used if bespoke filtering options have been added)
  
  
• Select a Category to add the course to. 
  
  
• The default Booking Form & Evaluation Form with be set based on the category you have chosen, but can be changed if you need a different form for this course. 
  
  
• If you need to exit the course before you have finished, you can click Save Draft.  When you are finished, click Publish Course.

Creating Learning Events

Learning events are occurrences of a course.  To create learning events, follow the steps below.

• Select Learning Events from the menu on the left.
  
  
• Right-click on a date in the calendar and click create.
  
  
  
  
• First, select the Course you wish to use for the learning event from the tree-view 
  
  
• If your event is all day, tick the box, otherwise, enter the start & end dates and times. 
  
  
• Now set the booking window in the Booking Available Between field.  This will indicate the dates that the event is available to be booked by prospective attendees.
  
  
• The default cost will be pulled through from the Course that you have chosen, but you can change this if needed for this Learning Event.  Amongst other things, this could be useful if you need to have different costs for different venues, or different types of attendee.
  
  
• Now enter the capacity.  This will be used to limit the number that can book onto this Learning Event.
  
  
• Enter the venue for the event.
  
  
• If you wish to enable discounts for this learning event, select a Price Option from the list.
  
  
• If you want the event to take place on a recurring basis, tick the box to add the recurrence details.
  
  
• Choose the regularity of the recurrence.  For example a bi-weekly event will need to be set to use 'Recurs Weekly' and then 'Recurs Every' 2 weeks.  In this instance, you would also be prompted for which day(s) the event will take place.
  
  
• Select an end date for the recurring event.
  

   TIP:  When adding recurring learning events, the booking window will automatically be set to open and close the same number of days prior to each recurring event as the original event.
  
  

• If there are any exceptions to the recurring dates, these can be added by ticking 'exceptions'
  
  
  
  
• You can then add the date ranges to be excluded, using the date picker. 
  
  
• When you are ready, save the event.

Creating Booking & Evaluation Forms

There are standard booking and evaluation forms within the system.  You can amend these to include additional questions, and also add additional forms.  Once created, they can be selected when creating Categories & Courses and will be provided to your visitors when needed.  

• Select Forms from the menu on the left.
  
  
• Choose the type of form you wish to create from the drop-down - either Booking or Evaluation.
  
  
• You will see a list of forms already available.
  
  
• You can create a new form from scratch by clicking New Form or, you can choose to duplicate an existing form and edit.
  
  
  
  
  
• Click on the Form Settings cog at the bottom right, to give your new form a name.
  
  
• You will see that a number of fields are added by default, some of these can be removed by clicking the cross, others are required and cannot be deleted. 
  
  
• Additional fields can be added to the form, to suit your needs, using the options on the banner to the right.  
  
  
• Page breaks can be added using the orange button at the bottom of the form. 
  
  
• You can drag items up and down the form to re-order. 
  
  
• Once you are happy with your form, click done.
  
  
• The form can now be selected within either Categories or Courses.

Settings

There are a number of settings that you can change to customise how the system works for you, including amending email templates, allowing a waitlist, or choosing payment options.  You will find below a description of each of the settings available. 

• Waitlist
  Once your event is fully booked, if enabled, this will allow people to sign up to the waiting list.  The attendee will appear in the list of attendees for the Learning Event, with a status of Waitlist.  An administrator will then be able to change the status to book them onto the course if desired.  
  
  
• Payment Options
  This setting allows you to choose how you would like people to pay for their course. The options are Online (by Credit/Debit Card), By Invoice, or Either.  If you have opted for the Online payment options, you will need to ensure you have provided the details of your payment provider to e4education.
  
  
• Admin Email
  Multiple Admin email addresses can be added to the system.  Anyone included will receive updates about bookings and cancellations which are triggered by attendees.  Administrators who are registered on the system can be selected, and additional emails can be added in manually.
  
  
• Send Email On Booking
  Allows you to choose whether administrators will receive an email each time someone books onto an event, or only when cancellations are received. 

• Course Registration Email Template
  This email is sent to the attendee when registering for an event.  You can edit the wording of this message.

• Course Registration (Waitlist) Email Template
  This email is sent to the attendee on waitlist when registering for an event.  You can edit the wording of this message.

• Event Reminder (7 Days) Email Template
  This email is sent to the attendee 7 days before the course start date.   You can edit the wording of this message.
  
  
• Event Reminder (2 Days) Email Template
  This email is sent to the attendee 2 days before the course start date.  You can edit the wording of this message.
  
  
• Registration Cancellation (By attendee, to Org) Email Template
  This email is sent to your organisation when an attendee cancels their registration.  You can edit the wording of this message.  The attendee will be marked as cancelled in the Learning Event.
  
  
• Registration Cancellation (By attendee, to attendee) Email Template
  This email is sent to the attendee as confirmation of their cancellation.  You can edit the wording of this message.
  
  
• Registration Cancellation (By Org, to attendee) Email Template
  This email is sent to attendees when an administrator cancels a booking.  You can edit the wording of this message.
  
  
• Evaluation Form Request Email Template
  This email is sent to attendees of a course after attendance, to request an evaluation of the course they attended.  The message will be triggered at the end time set for the Learning Event.  You can edit the wording of this message.
  
  
• Course Booking List View
  Allows you to choose whether a list of months displays above the booking calendar as shortcuts.  You can choose between
  
  
• Payment Reminder Email Template
  This email is sent to attendees after they have booked but not paid immediately.  You can edit the wording of this message.
  
  
• Payment options
  Allows you to choose how you would like delegates to pay for their course. The options are online, invoice or either.
  
  
• Invoice contact email
  The course providers email address which appears in the top section of the invoice
  
  
• Invoice contact phone number
  The course providers telephone number which appears in the top section of the invoice.
  
  
• Invoice address
  The course providers postal address which appears in the top section of the invoice.
  
  
• Vat number
  The course providers registered VAT number which appears in the footer of the invoice.
  
  
• Invoice number prefix
  A combination of letters and/or numbers which appear before the software generated incremental invoice number. The invoice number is displayed in the middle section of the invoice.
  
  
• Invoice number suffix
  A combination of letters and/or numbers which appear after the software generated incremental invoice number. The invoice number is displayed in the middle section of the invoice
  
  
• Invoice payment days
  The payment terms. If set to “0”, “Payment by return” will display in the middle section of the invoice. If set to a number greater than “0”, a due date will display in the middle section of the invoice.  
  
  
• Next invoice number
  The next incremental invoice number to be generated by the software. This can be updated to start the increment from any number.
  
  
• Invoice number length
  Prefixes the invoice number with the required number of zeros. E.g., If this value is set to “3” and the next incremental invoice number is “7”, the invoice number displayed would be “007”
  
  
• Require invoice field
  A setting for the booking process when selecting “invoice” as the payment method, it enables/disables the request for PO number and finance email address.

Adding a Booking Calendar on your website

You will need to add a booking calendar to your website, so that your visitors can find and select a course and book their place.  If you wish to, you can have multiple booking calendars, containing different courses or categories of Course.

• First navigate to the page that you wish to add the booking calendar beneath.
  
  
• On the Create menu, select Course Booking Calendar
  
  
• Type in a Calendar Name
  
  
• Select the Courses or Categories to be included on the Booking Calendar from the tree-view
  
  
• Enter a friendly URL for the page
  
  
• The click Create
  
  
• The calendar is now available for users to book on to the Learning Events you have created.

Viewing Bookings & Registers

Once people begin to book onto your courses, you can view the bookings either through Courses or Learning Events.

• You will see the course details at the top of the page, and a list of delegates at the bottom.  The list can be filtered to show people who are booked, cancelled or on the waitlist.
  
  
• You can export the list of booking as a CSV
  
  
  
  
• Click see register to view a list of attendees, and mark their attendance at the event
  
  
  
  
• You can also create QR Codes which can be used to allow delegates to book, confirm attendance or complete a feedback form for the learning event
  
  
  
  
• Clicking View next to a booking will open the details
  
  
  
  
• You can view and update the booking status. The options are:
  • Booked
  • Cancelled
  • Waitlist

• You can also update the payment type.  This will be set automatically if payment is made online when booking.  The options are:
  • PayPal
  • Stripe
  • AuthiPay
  • WorldPay
  • Bank Transfer
  • Cheque
  • Purchase Order
  • Refund

• The Payment Status can be set to
  • Paid
  • Not Paid

• The lower section of the page shows the booking information, including the responses to any questions on the booking form submitted by the attendee.

Sending Emails

If enabled, you can choose to send additional emails to attendees, outside the automated responses and reminders administered through the Settings area.  This can be useful to allow you to contact attendees of a particular course to provide additional information.   If you do not see the email option, and would like to have this switched on, please get in touch.  

• Select Email from the menu on the left.
  
  
• Click Create a New Email
  
  
  
  
• Enter an appropriate Email Subject
  
  
• Click the Add button to select Recipients
  
  
  
  
• Use the options on the left to select a Course Category and a course, then select the Learning Event that you wish to choose attendees from on the right.  
  • Clicking Select All will select all attendees off all the Learning Events listed.
  • Selecting the tick on the right, will select all attendees of that Learning Event.
  • Clicking the envelope will open a list of attendees for that Learning Event and allow you to choose the individual attendees that you would like to email.
    
    
• Once you have finished making your selections, click Done
  
  
• Enter your message in the box provided. 
  • You can use the editor toolbar to format the content.
  • The placeholder option will allow you to personalise your message with details about the attendee or learning event.  For example the attendee or course names.  
    
    
• If you would like to attach a file, you can do so using the Choose Files button.
  
  
• You can  preview your message, or save your email as a draft if you would like to come back to it later.  When you are ready, click Send Now.

Viewing Evaluations

If you have set an evaluation form for a course, once a learning event is over, it will be sent to all the attendees, and you will be able to view the responses.

• Select Evaluations from the menu on the left
  
  
  
  
• You can filter the list by Course, Category and Submission Date
  
  
• Click View to see the responses submitted
  
  

Invoices

If a delegate chooses the invoice option when booking, an invoice will automatically be generated and sent to the email address they specify for their finance team, using the purchase order number they provide.   If you need to send an invoice later, you can generate an invoice by finding the delegate within the Learning Event.

• Access the Learning Event and click View next to the delegate you need to invoice for. 
  
  
• Change the payment type to Invoice and the click Generate Invoice.
  
  
  
• Enter the invoice details.  You can add and remove items from the invoice if required.
  
  
• Once you have saved the invoice, you will be able to print using the button at the top right of the page
  
  
  
  
• All invoices created, either at the point of booking, or later, can be managed under the invoices section.