Versatile Leisure Management: Built for Soft Play Centres, Indoor Inflatable Theme Parks, Trampoline Parks, Adventure & Mini Golf Courses, Laser Tag Arenas, Children's Role Play Towns & Villages, Pottery Painting & Craft Studios, Clip 'n Climb & Bouldering Centres, Ninja Warrior Obstacle Courses, Farm Parks & Petting Zoos, Santa's Grottos & Seasonal Holiday Events, Pumpkin Patches & Halloween Trails, Go-Karting Tracks, Family Escape Rooms, Water Parks & Splash Zones, Ice Skating & Roller Rinks, Slime Labs & Messy Play Zones, Baby & Toddler Sensory Rooms, Science Discovery Centres, High Ropes & Zip Lines, Forest Schools & Bushcraft, and Exclusive Children's Birthday Party Venues.
1. Sessions, Scheduling & Pricing
Categories & Ticket Options
Learn what session categories are, configure booking rules, and set up ticket options like adults, juniors, families, and table bookings.
Categories
Ticket Options
Soft Play & Golf
Read Guide
Adding Dates & Times
Three ways to populate dates: adding single sessions, generating recurring slots across date ranges, or using weekly timetable templates.
Sessions > Dates
Weekly Templates
Recurring Schedules
Read Guide
Adding & Managing Prices
Configure standard price tiers, set age boundaries, establish order quantity minimums, override peak weekend/holiday rates, and set "Places used" rules.
Pricing Tiers
Peak Overrides
Places Used
Read Guide
Standard vs Dynamic vs Parties
Standard fixed-time sessions (recommended for simplicity in most cases) vs dynamic slots (ideal for Santa's Grottos and flexible stays) vs birthday parties.
Standard (Recommended)
Santa's Grottos
Parties
Read Guide
Bulk Updates for Dates
Make mass adjustments across hundreds of sessions at once: copy daily timetables to new dates, adjust prices, change venue capacities, and shift times.
Copy to Date
Shift Times
Bulk Price & QTY
Read Guide
Editing Descriptions
Use the rich text editor to format customer-facing activity details, rules of play, footwear requirements, arrival instructions, and policies.
Descriptions
Rich Text
Arrival Notes
Read Guide
2. Bookings, Operations & Customer Support
Managing Existing Bookings
How to use Booking Summary: reschedule dates/times with live capacity checks, add extra attendees, resend confirmation emails, record payments, and process cancellations.
Booking Summary
Reschedule
Add People
Read Guide
Making Bookings via Admin
Step-by-step guide for taking phone and walk-in bookings at reception, taking payments (cash/till/card/payment link/invoice), price overrides, and printing tickets.
Reception Desk
Phone Bookings
Till Payments
Read Guide
Managing Customer Records
Instant client search, contact information, viewing booking histories, customer notes, merging duplicate profiles, and GDPR marketing export.
Clients
Customer Search
GDPR Export
Read Guide
Optional Extras
Boost your average order value by offering merchandise, meal deals, character visits, or socks at checkout. Link extras to specific session types or ticket tiers.
Extras
Upselling
Checkout Add-ons
Read Guide
3. Passes, Gift Cards & Marketing
Passes & Punchcards
Create prepaid multi-visit passes (e.g. 10 mini golf rounds or 10 play sessions for £80) or seasonal passes, issue them to customers, and redeem online or at reception.
Passes
Punchcards
Loyalty
Read Guide
E-Gift Cards
Sell branded digital gift cards online, generate bulk codes for promotions or raffles, and track redemptions with the 90-day usage report.
E-Gift Cards
Bulk Codes
Usage Report
Read Guide
Memberships & SubAdmin
Launch automated recurring monthly or annual memberships powered by Stripe Billing. Set up plan tiers, manage active subscribers, track cancellations, and share Join.aspx.
SubAdmin
Stripe Billing
Monthly Subscriptions
Read Guide
GoCardless Direct Debit
Collect recurring membership dues and annual season passes via low-cost Bacs Direct Debit. Capped fees (£3–£4 max) and zero card expiry churn.
GoCardless
Bacs Direct Debit
Capped Fees
Read Guide
Promo Codes & Discounts
Run marketing campaigns with percentage or fixed discount codes, set valid date windows, restrict by category, and cap maximum redemptions.
Marketing
Promo Codes
Discounts
Read Guide
How Did You Find Us
Configure marketing attribution options at checkout (Google, TikTok, Word of Mouth, School Flyers) to evaluate which channels deliver paying visitors.
Attribution
Surveys
ROI Analysis
Read Guide
Announcements & Banners
Display colored alert banners across the top of your booking pages for snow closures, bank holidays, maintenance, or special offers with automatic expiration.
Announcements
Notice Banners
Auto-Expiry
Read Guide
4. Branding, Legal, Payments & System Configuration
Terms & Conditions (50+ Templates)
Edit venue terms, cancellation policies, footwear rules, and checkout agreements in Web Content. Includes 50+ copy-and-paste industry templates and {Terms} placeholders.
Web Content
50+ Templates
Cancellation Policy
Read Guide
Setting Your Logo
Upload and crop your venue logo with the built-in canvas cropper. Displays across online booking headers, printed till receipts, and confirmation emails.
Settings > My Logo
Branding
Cropper
Read Guide
Reporting & Analytics
Detailed guide to all 10 reporting tools in SmartBookings: bookings reports, ticket breakdowns, party run-sheets, sales dashboards, and check-in logs.
Reporting
Analytics
Party Lists
Read Guide
Payment Providers (17 Gateways)
Connect any of our 17 supported payment processors: Stripe, GoCardless Direct Debit, Worldpay, Opayo/SagePay, Square, SumUp, PayPal, Global Payments, CyberSource, and more.
GoCardless
Stripe
Worldpay
Square
SumUp
Read Guide
Admin Users & Roles
Create staff portal accounts, understand the differences between Administrator and Operator permissions, and manage employee access securely.
Admin Users
Staff Roles
Operators
Read Guide
Setting Up MFA (Two-Factor)
Protect your admin portal with Google or Microsoft Authenticator. Scan the QR code, link your phone, and secure your account against unauthorized access.
Security
Two-Factor Auth
TOTP
Read Guide
Email Templates & Comms
Customise automated confirmation emails and reminder notifications. Learn how to use dynamic replacement tags for customer names, dates, balances, and payment links.
Email Templates
Replacement Tags
SMTP
Read Guide
5. Connecting to Your Website (Top 15 CMS Platforms)
CMS & Website Integrations Hub (Top 15 Platforms)
Step-by-step instructions for adding 'Book Now' buttons linking to https://yourvenue.smartbookings.net or embedding the live booking widget (iFrame) from Settings_Embed.aspx. Includes dedicated guides for WordPress, Wix, Squarespace, Shopify, GoDaddy, Umbraco, Webflow, Weebly, Joomla, Drupal, HubSpot CMS, Elementor, Jimdo, Ghost, and Custom HTML / Bootstrap.
WordPress
Wix
Squarespace
Shopify
GoDaddy
Umbraco
Webflow
iFrame Embed
Direct Links
Explore platform-specific code snippets, button generators, and setup instructions.
View 15 CMS Guides
Ready to Automate Your Bookings?
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Frequently Asked Questions
Common operational questions and expert guidance:
How does SmartBookings prevent overbooking in soft play centres and trampoline parks?
SmartBookings tracks live session capacity. Every confirmed ticket (adult, junior, or family bundle) deducts its assigned 'Places Used' from the total session limit. Once capacity is reached, online booking automatically closes with a 'Sold Out' badge.
Can I sell birthday party packages with private party room allocations online?
Yes. Birthday party packages link activity play time with scheduled party room dining. SmartBookings ensures that two parties cannot be booked into the same party room at the same time, preventing scheduling conflicts.
How do parents redeem multi-visit punchcard passes and E-gift cards?
Pass and gift card holders enter their unique digital code at checkout. The system automatically reduces the balance to 0.00 and decrements one punchcard credit or deducts the gift card amount in real time.
Can admission tickets be scanned at the reception desk using mobile barcodes?
Yes. Every customer confirmation email includes a digital QR / barcode. Reception staff scan the code using a handheld USB scanner or tablet camera to verify the booking and log check-in attendance instantly.
Does SmartBookings take any percentage cut of our attraction ticket sales?
No. SmartBookings adds 0% platform transaction fees. You connect directly with your chosen payment gateway (Stripe, Worldpay, Opayo, Dojo, etc.), and 100% of ticket sales settle directly into your venue bank account.
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