Hosted Forms can be used to collect custom information from your guests at the invoice level. We call this invoice specific information custom invoice variables and they can be setup within the Hosted Forms area of Lodgix. Custom invoice variable could include things like airline flight numbers, pickup instructions, drivers license number, etc.
These variables can be completed by the guest at the time of booking, within Lodgix by administrators, or by sending a link to a guest to complete the information post booking.
Locating the Invoice Variables
The Invoice Variables can be found under Settings > Hosted Forms. Click the Edit icon for the Invoice Variables Form.
Invoice Variables Form Interface
Name the Form
Form Settings: Control the form settings. Details below.
Add components (Custom Variables)
Optionally create a Survey Title or Description
Select the Custom Variable you want to work with.
Custom Variable Settings: Control various settings of the selected custom variable. More details below.
Form Settings
Customize the name of the merge tag associated with the form. This merge tag is used to add a link to the form to your guest communication.
This is the description of the merge tag, for internal use.
Choose if the form should be displayed to the guest at the time of booking.
Custom Variable Settings
Check to make the Custom Variable a required field
Check to display the form to the guest at the time of booking.
Specify a name for the merge tag associated with this variable.
This is the description of the merge tag, for internal use.
Custom Variable Form Logic
The custom variable form allows you to set rules to show or hide fields based on the input from another question.
In the example below, if the guest answers "Yes" to "Have you stayed with us before?", the form will display the "What was the purpose of your stay?" question. If the guest answers "No" the additional question will remain hidden.
Click the Logic tab.
Select the field for which to apply the Condition
Select the form input that will trigger the Action
Set the Action (show/hide field)
Setting the Custom Variables for Each Invoice
Custom variable field data can be entered by administrators, from the Custom Tab of the Guest Control Panel.
Click the Custom tab
Complete the form information.
Submit the form
History: View a history of the form submissions for this invoice.
Reference the Form and Variables within Triggers and Templates
Merge tags for each individual Custom Variable can be found in the Insert Tag dropdown within the trigger or email editors. There is also a variable to include a link to the form so the guest can complete it post booking.
Testing the Hosted Form
The hosted form merge tag can be used in triggers and manual communications to guests. Please note that the hosted form merge tag will NOT display a link to the form when testing the trigger from within the Triggers interface. This is because when testing a trigger, we use real reservation data. It would not be good to generate a form in a test environment, and then have the individual testing the form, enter data into the form which would overwrite any live guest data.
To test the form from the perspective of the guest, create a fake reservation in your name, then send a manual communication to yourself containing the form merge tag. This will create a link within an email which the guest can click to enter the additional data requested.