protel Air allows you to design your own text templates for invoices, reservation confirmations and registration forms. You can create these templates in OpenOffice and save them in odt format. OpenOffice is a free office software package that you can download from the Internet.

You can download the latest version of OpenOffice from here: http://de.openoffice.org.

Launching

Open the System data menu in protel Air, and then click Documents > Templates.

protel Air distinguishes between two types of text templates that reside in different folders:

Default templates

[System data > documents > Templates > Default templates]

This folder contains the system provided templates that you can use as required for your own designs.

Reservation	These are the default templates for reservation confirmations. The system provides two different types of confirmation templates: A standard reservation confirmation (“Reservation”) and a confirmation for bookings with additional items (“Extended reservation”).
Invoice	These are the default templates for invoices.
Guest letters	This is where you will find templates for your guest letters, such as invitations to events, brochures, etc. Contrary to reservation texts, invoices, and registration forms, guest letters do not have direct reference to a reservation. Guest letters are created in the guest profile (“Text history” tab > [New document] button). The templates for the guest letters support the standard replacement codes for reservation texts and emails.
Registration form	These are the default templates for registration forms.

In addition, you can find further templates for protel Air HTML5 and protel Air MICE.

IMPORTANT

Standard templates can neither be edited nor removed!
Individual templates with your own texts can be created under Text templates > My templates. The standard templates serve as a kind of stencil which can be arbitrarily adjusted to suit your needs.

My templates

[System data > documents > Templates > My templates]

Use this panel to manage your own customized templates for reservations, invoices and registration forms. The corresponding folder is initially empty when you acquire the system.

Creating your own templates

The easiest way to create a new text template is by editing an existing default template. For instructions on how to do this, please refer to the following sections.

Download and edit a template

First of all, think about the type of template you want to create. If you want to create your own reservation template, for example, you should download a “Reservation” type default template to work from.

Our recommendation: You should create separate folders and subfolders for each template type and language on the computer you plan to store the templates on (e.g. a “Reservation templates” folder with subfolders for English, German, French etc.).

To download, left-click the file name of the template file in the table and save the template to a folder of your choice (e.g. to the language subfolder in the template type folder you created previously).

Open the downloaded file (file name is “default.odt”) in Open Office and change the text, the text replacement keys or the layout according to your requirements or preferences.
Include a custom logo.
The default templates contain a small protel logo in the upper right corner. You can, of course, replace this logo with your own logo. Highlight the protel logo and replace it by uploading or pasting your own log to that position.

Add your customized templates

Once you are happy with your changes, save the new text template under a new name on your hard drive. Please note that the file name should not contain blanks or other extended characters (e.g. write “Bestaetigung” instead of “Bestätigung” [German for confirmation]).

You now need to upload the customized template to the system:

In the tree view on the left, select the “Text templates” tab and click “My templates.”
Click the “Add” button. This opens the “Edit templates” window.
Enter a name for the template, and select the type and the language of the template.
Click the browse button [...].
Navigate to the folder where the template is stored and click the “Save” button to upload the file.
Finally, click “OK” to add the new text template to the table.

Note: Please note that only *.odt files (Open Office documents) can be used!

Hiding templates that are not currently required

When printing reservation confirmations, invoices or registration forms you can choose from a variety of text templates. In order to have only relevant templates displayed for selection, you can disable the ones that are not currently required in the system data:

Open the system data dialog box for text templates configuration.
Double-click the template that you want to disable.
Clear the “Active” check box in the dialog box that appears:
Click [OK] to confirm.

The disabled template will no longer be offered for selection when printing.

PLEASE NOTE: A template type can be completely hidden by disabling all text templates of the template type.

Integrating QR Codes

[System data > Text templates > My templates]

Integrate your text templates or QR codes! QR codes are two-dimensional barcodes which can be scanned and read by smartphones and tablets. Information about internet addresses, directions about how to get somewhere, or reservation information can all be included in the QR codes. Practical: When utilizing the Ariane Self-Check-in kiosks, the QR code can be used for checking in.

How to proceed:

Open the template in Open Office, and insert an arbitrary picture to the spot where the QR code is to appear (Menu “Insert > Picture > From file...”)
If necessary, adjust the image size. When the template has been created, the picture will then be replaced by the QR code.
Right-click on the image and select the Picture command from the context menu.
Open the Options located in the “Picture” window.
In the Name entry field, please enter: qrcode
In the Alternative (Text only) entry field, enter either a replacement code which portrays the information about the reservation (e.g. reservation number) or enter the internet address (directions for getting somewhere, etc.) which are to be then linked to the QR code.

Fig.: The following has been entered into the Alternative (Text only) field:
Your Reservation from ${arrival} to ${departure} ResNr ${resID}

Save the template.
Open Office now creates a QR code with the desired information

Scanning QR-Codes

The guest can now comfortably scan the QR code with his portable terminal (e.g., smartphone). Otherwise, only the information on the booking confirmation or the invoice are then also digitally available in the smartphone.

The QR code which has been scanned by the smartphone can look something like this:

Fig.: Scanned QR-Code

Tip: Scanning the QR code via the iPad app

If you enter the replacement code ${qrcodeinfo} in the alternative text field when creating the QR code (see 'Integrating QR Codes, step 6), the QR code can be scanned in via the iPad app.

Scanning the QR code automatically opens the corresponding reservation in the iPad app.

Settings

[System data > Documents > Templates > Settings tab]

Use the “Settings” tab to assign default text templates for invoices, reservation confirmations and registration forms and configure how your reservation confirmations are sent electronically.

E-mail settings

Enter the e-mail address and the name of your hotel to use in your outgoing e-mail communication. You can also define whether or not you want to be copied on e-mail reservation confirmations that are sent by the system.

Hotel management (Res.)

[System data > Text templates > Settings > Default settings]

Determine which of your templates are to be used for the Reservation confirmation and the Registration form by default.

Settings

In the Confirmation type field, you can select a default confirmation type to be used for your reservation confirmations. When creating the reservation confirmation, the preset confirmation type will be selected as the standard value. Example: The majority of your confirmations are sent via email. When creating the reservation confirmation, the “Send an email” option should therefore always be preselected.

E-mail template

The E-mail template section allows you to enter the subject and the body text of the e-mail message.

The following replacement codes can be used in your e-mail text:

${curUser}, ${hotel.user} Current / executing user

${hotel.contactFN} First name of point of contact in the hotel

${hotel.contactLN} Last name of point of contact in the hotel

${resNR} Reservation number of the reservation (works in the text body as well as in the subject line)

${hotel.name} Name of the hotel

${gst.salutation} ${gst.lastName} Salutation and last name of the guest

${arrival} Arrival date

${departure} Departure date

${gst.shortSalutation} Short salutation (Mr.)

${gst.department} Department

${gst.firstName} First name of the guest

${inv.fiscalCode} Fiscal code from the invoice

${res.udf.", "} Replaces the content of a user defined field of a reservation. Please insert the name of the relevant identifier

Subject line

Tip: Enter the reservation number in the e-mail subject line:
The system provides a text replacement key that allows you to output the correct reservation number to the subject line of your confirmation e-mail. As all reservation numbers are unique, booking confirmations sent by e-mail can be clearly identified and easily associated with a guest.

Add the ${resNR} text replacement key to the subject line of your e-mail template. This key will then be replaced at runtime by the respective reservation number from the system.

Please note that the string inside the curly brackets is case sensitive.

Repeat the above steps for the online booking wizard and the iPad app if required.

A copy of the confirmation e-mail sent by protel Air to the configured e-mail address would look similar to this in your inbox:

Apart from the reservation number, you can insert any of the above mentioned codes into the email's subject line.

Hotel management (Inv.)

[System data > Text templates > Settings > Default settings]

Here you can determine which of your templates are to be used for your invoices by default.

The Type field enables you to determine how the booked articles are to appear in the invoice. Example: When drawing up the invoice, the standard invoice should always be accessed with the “Combine equal articles” option.

In addition to the above mentioned replacement codes for email templates, you can use the following codes specifically for invoice E-mails:

${inv.fiscalCode}

${inv.invoiceDate}

${inv.invoiceCode}

${inv.invoiceName}

${inv.totalAmount}

${inv.totalChargedAmount}

E-mail template: The E-mail template section allows you to enter the subject and the body text of the e-mail message.

HTML source code: Should you select the “HTML source code” check box, you can use the HTML tags in order to format the letter to your liking. Please note that you will need to have a good working knowledge of HTML to do this!

Hotel management (guest letter)

Settings: Here you can determine which of your templates are to be used for your guest letters

Email template: In the email template area, you can enter the subject as well as the standard email text for your guest letters. Please note that the email will be transmitted in an unformatted form (e.g., without special font types, images, or the like).

Online booking wizard

This panel allows you to select a template to be used for online bookings. Enter a subject and the corresponding body text and select a template for each reservation type:

Select a reservation type (with or without credit card) from the top pull-down list.
Enter a subject and body text.
Select a template from the “Reservation” pull-down list. This template is used to create a PDF attachment for the confirmation e-mail.
Click [Apply].

WBE login

Provide your private guests and companies with a personal WBE access together with their own login data needed for making online bookings from your website (WBE). If you allow guests visiting your online booking engine to register and create a WBE login themselves, they will receive an email informing them about the successful registration.

The subject and text for this email can be adjusted and edited any way you like.

WBE login (reset)

If a guest who is logging in with his personal WBE login requests a new password, he will receive an email with a link by which a new password can be created.

The subject and text for this email can be adjusted and edited any way you like.

PMS-WBE login

When creating a new WBE login by means of the [Create WBE login] button located in the guest profile tab, the respective guest will receive an email with all of the necessary information regarding his new WBE login. The subject and text for this email can be adjusted and edited any way you like.

PMS-WBE login (reset)

When resetting the WBE login by means of the [Reset WBE login] button located in the guest profile tab, the respective guest will receive an email containing a link allowing him to create a new password. The subject and text for this email can be adjusted and edited any way you like.

iPhone App / iPad App

If you use our iPhone or iPad app to enter reservations directly on your iPhone / iPad, this panel allows you to select which reservation template you want to use for this purpose. You can also enter the subject and corresponding body text for the e-mail.

Text replacement codes

The protel default text templates contain a number of text replacement codes which are indicated in the text by a preceding $ sign. These codes are essentially placeholders for the actual information that is stored in the system and replaces the text replacement code in the output (e.g. your hotel name, a guest's name, or arrival and departure dates).

Download a list of all the text replacement codes as PDF file:

Please pay particular attention to correct spelling and note that the text replacement codes are case sensitive. We recommend copying and pasting the key straight from the document to your text template.

Printing the date

When exporting the date, the question of which date format is to be used for the respective document often arises. Therefore, protel Air offers you a large selection of replacement codes with which you can export the date in long form, short form, with or without the time, etc.