Working from the Timeline
What this covers
Doing the work from the Timeline rather than just looking at it. What you can do depends on your role: everyone can open a booking, Hosts and above can create one.
Click a block to open the booking
Clicking any block opens a window with the full booking: the guest, the time, the pax, the table, the special requests, and any notes held on the guest. From there you can Confirm, Mark Arrived, Mark Seated, Complete, No Show or Cancel Reservation without leaving the grid, and jump straight to editing if something needs changing.
So during a service you can run the whole floor from this one screen.
Click an empty square to create a booking
This is the fastest way to take a booking while you are looking at the day. Click the gap and the booking form opens with that date, that time and that table already filled in — you only add the guest and the pax.
It also means you are choosing a slot you can see is genuinely free, rather than picking a time and hoping.
Placing bookings that have no table
The Unassigned button in the toolbar opens the tray of bookings waiting for a table. Auto-assign places all of them sensibly in one go, or you can choose each table yourself. See Unassigned bookings and the assignment tray.
Putting tables together
For a party bigger than any single table, merge two tables from the booking. The Timeline then draws one block across both rows. See Merging tables for a large party.
Why this screen and not Live View?
They answer different questions, and experienced managers use both:
| Use the Timeline to ask | Use Live View to ask |
|---|---|
| How is tonight shaped? | What is happening right now? |
| Where are the gaps I could still sell? | Which tables are free this minute? |
| Which tables are turning twice? | Who has been sitting too long? |
| Is one section carrying the whole night? | Who is late? |
The rule of thumb: Timeline before service, Live View during it.
What to look for when you plan a service
- Yellow blocks. Pending bookings nobody has confirmed. Deal with them first — bulk confirm from the list if there are many. See Bulk actions and exporting.
- Awkward gaps. A 45-minute hole between two bookings will not sell. Nudging one booking by 15 minutes can turn two gaps into one usable slot.
- Back-to-back bookings on one table. Fine if your durations are honest, painful if they are optimistic. If you are regularly overrunning, your default duration is too short — see Booking rules reference.
- One crowded section. Everyone booked into the same corner means one server drowning while another is idle. Move a couple of bookings.
- Event and seating bands. Check what is already blocked before you promise anything.
- The Unassigned count. Get it to zero.
Good to know
- Everything updates for everyone. A colleague seating a table is reflected on your screen too — you are both looking at the same live day.
- Blocks are not dragged. To move a booking, open it and change the time or table. That is deliberate: an accidental drag on a busy tablet should not silently move somebody's dinner.
- Ideal on the host-stand tablet. Big targets, easy scrolling. See Installing Tabledoo as an app.