How To

The Reservation.Tools form is the booking widget your guests use to reserve a table. Embed it on your website, link it from Instagram, or use it as a standalone booking page. This tutorial walks through activation, every setting you can tune, promotions and deposits, and how to grab your public form link.

I. Activate the Reservation Form integration

1. Open the admin panel and go to Venues → pick your venue → click Integrations.

2. Find Reservation Form and click Add. The integration is now live.

3. You are redirected to the settings page. Keep it open — the next section covers every field.

II. Configure the form settings

Each option below controls what your guests see on the form. Change what you need, leave the rest on defaults.

• Public name of the venue — the name shown at the top of the form. Use the name your guests know.
• Language — the default language the form opens in. Guests can switch if you enable other locales.
• Show comment field — lets guests leave a note (allergies, birthdays, wheelchair access). Keep it on unless you want to cut the form short.
• Invisible captcha — blocks bot spam without annoying real guests. Leave it on.
• Marketing messages — adds an opt-in checkbox so you can email or SMS guests later. Only turn on if you actually plan to follow up.
• Show confirmation page — displays a thank-you screen after booking. Turn on if you want to show directions, house rules, or a promo message.
• Custom confirmation message — the text on that thank-you screen. Accepts HTML, so you can add a map link, a voucher code, or a tracking pixel.

Reservation rules (how the form treats bookings):

• Check availability — blocks overbooking by checking your floor plan in real time. Leave on.
• Auto-confirm — accepts bookings instantly when a slot is free. Turn off if you want every reservation to land as a request first.
• Party size filter — lets guests pick how many people. Off means every booking is for 2.
• Max party size — the largest group the form accepts (default 40). Set it to your biggest table — larger groups should call.
• Min advance time — how many minutes before a slot can be booked (default 90). Stops guests from booking a table for 5 minutes from now.
• Max advance days — how far ahead guests can book (max 60). Shorter window = fewer no-shows, longer window = more covers for special dates.

Advanced:

• Custom CSS / JavaScript — for matching the form to your website brand. Most venues never touch this.
• Reservation terms — your terms and conditions per language. Guests tick a box before submitting.
• Preferences — extra yes/no questions shown to the guest (dietary, occasion, seating). Add only what you actually track in service.

Hit Save when done.

III. Set up promotions, discounts and deposits

Promotions, discounts, deposits and no-show fees are not configured on the form itself — they live in the operator app as Slot Rules and attach to specific working hours. The form picks them up automatically.

1. Open the operator app and go to Settings → Online Reservations → Rules.

2. Click Add rule and pick a type:

• Discount — a percentage off (1–99%). Use it for happy hour, early bird, or slow weekdays. Guests see the discount on the time slot.
• Promotion — a marketing message without a price change. Use it to highlight live music nights, new menu launches, or seasonal menus. Shows as a note on the slot.
• Deposit — a pre-payment required to hold the table. Pick fixed or per-person amount, set a deadline in minutes, and override the amount by area if needed (terrace vs. main room). Needs Stripe connected.
• No-show fee — a cancellation charge collected if the guest doesn’t show up. Same setup as a deposit. Priority over deposit within 7 days before the reservation.
• Product — bundle a tasting menu or set course with specific slots.

3. For each rule, set optional start / end dates for seasonal runs, pick areas it applies to, and save.

4. Go to Settings → Online Reservations → Working Time. For each time slot, pick which rules apply from the dropdown. A Friday dinner slot can carry both a deposit rule and a promotion.

5. Save. The form updates on the next booking attempt — guests see the discount, promo note, or deposit requirement when they pick that time.

IV. Get your form link for Instagram and social media

Your form has two public URLs, each with its own purpose. Both are a click away from the admin.

1. In the admin panel, open Venues → your venue → Integrations → Reservation Form.

2. At the top of the settings page you will see a Form widget box with two buttons:

• Form widget setup page — opens the demo / builder page where you can try the form, tweak colors, time interval, max party size, and generate custom embed code. URL looks like: https://apps.reservation.tools/form/?businessId=XXXXXX&locale=en. Share this with your web developer when they need to embed the form on your site. You can also send it to guests as a working demo — it is a real booking page.
• Live preview — opens the standalone form itself, stripped down, ready to book. URL looks like: https://apps.reservation.tools/form/iframe/index.html?businessId=XXXXXX&locale=en. This is the one to share on Instagram, Google Business Profile, QR codes, email signatures — anywhere guests just need to book, not browse.

3. Click either button, copy the URL from the address bar.

4. Paste where guests will click: Instagram bio (via Linktree or the single link slot), Google Business Profile “Reservations” field, your website menu, email signatures. For a branded short link, use any URL shortener (Bitly, your own domain) and point it at the URL.

Rule of thumb: setup page URL = demo & customization, good for showing off the form to a colleague or developer. Live preview URL = production link, good for Instagram and direct guest booking.

Tips

• If you run lunch and dinner shifts, make separate time slots in Working Time so you can attach different rules to each.
• Start with Auto-confirm off for the first week — it lets you catch odd bookings before they lock the table.
• Short Min advance time (15–30 min) captures walk-ins searching on their phone. Longer (2–4 hours) gives the kitchen breathing room.
• Turn on Marketing messages only if you have a CRM workflow ready. An unused opt-in list is wasted trust.