A Wordpress Booking Plugin

Hallo everyone,
I build wordpress plugins both for pleasure and profit and have been thinking about building a booking plugin for a while.
Whenever I've built websites for people I've found the available booking plugins are either awkward to use, expensive and not really suited for small businesses (like a B&B).
So I've joined inspiring to ask the question: what would you want in a booking plugin for a yourwebsite?
My list of features would be:

• Arrival and departure dates
• Number of rooms/beds required
• Special requirements (access, diet etc)
• Name and contact details
• Payment option (deposit/full amount)
• Autoresponder (thank you message)

All of the above are easily incorporated into a plugin but would you find it useful or are you happy with the one you already use?
If you are interested in something built specifically for the B&B market would you like to get involved in the testing and development of such a thing?
And before anyone asks, it would be a free plugin. The only charge would be an upgrade to a pro version with extra payment features.

We have a little thing called PCI Compliance, which is why many of us do not take payments or cc details on our websites, we use a third party who is trusted and compliant.
There are dozens trying to get our business in this department already. Many who have worked with us for years.

So does that mean you don't take online payments using paypal?
It seems to work for many of the places we go visit as it does for zillions of other websites. Or have I missed something?

Sorry, should clarify my last post. All the plugin does is process the booking. Payments are made using PayPal. The plugin calculates the amount to pay (depending on rooms/duration etc) and display the total. When you click to pay you are taken to paypal - the third party provider

*WordPress

fisicx said:

So does that mean you don't take online payments using paypal?
It seems to work for many of the places we go visit as it does for zillions of other websites. Or have I missed something?.

Click to expand...

fisicx said:

So does that mean you don't take online payments using paypal?
It seems to work for many of the places we go visit as it does for zillions of other websites. Or have I missed something?

Click to expand...

Yes you have missed something. No we don't process via paypal.

fisicx said:

So does that mean you don't take online payments using paypal?
It seems to work for many of the places we go visit as it does for zillions of other websites. Or have I missed something?.

Click to expand...

fisicx said:

So does that mean you don't take online payments using paypal?
It seems to work for many of the places we go visit as it does for zillions of other websites. Or have I missed something?

Click to expand...

PayPal is used by some properties but not all. Many use a gateway that takes the payment immediately and the innkeeper doesn't need to do anything else.
We don't use PayPal as when we first started PayPal was sketchy. We have a regular credit card processor like most stores , etc use.
Just having the option of PayPal is not enough. My guests probably wouldn't know what PayPal is. They definitely wouldn't put their credit card info on a site that popped up after making their reservation, at least not without an explanation. And most guests don't read everything all the way thru so they'd back out at that point.
It needs to be integrated seamlessly.

When I started innkeeping, Paypal was the workaround for those who didn't want to set up business merchant accounts. Some innkeepers use it. As Morticia mentioned, Paypal had a lot of issues for a while. My gripe with Paypal is that they hold the money for a while instead of it going directly into my account. Has this changed? Paypal now has an app ... but I have had bad experiences with Paypal and just don't want it. Issues like automatically refunding someone's payment who claimed a fraudulent charge because they didn't recognize the business name on their bill. No contact with me as the business for an explanation. That was a nightmare to straighten out compounded by complaints from the buyer who wanted to know why I had cancelled their reservation. A few years ago, Square started showing up 'everywhere' and some dropped their merchant bank accounts and pay lower fees so I tried it. Square works nicely with the little gizmo attached to my tablet. Maybe you should consider integrating Square.

OK. If we ignore the payment option for now (it's an optional feature), is there any benefit in me developing a WordPress booking plugin for B&B, guesthouses and similar establishments? Or are the existing plugins sufficient?
This could be something quite bespoke for this type of business and can be branded (styled) to match your existing site. It would be free and you can configure it pretty much any way you like. Is this something people would be interested in?

fisicx said:

OK. If we ignore the payment option for now (it's an optional feature), is there any benefit in me developing a WordPress booking plugin for B&B, guesthouses and similar establishments? Or are the existing plugins sufficient?
This could be something quite bespoke for this type of business and can be branded (styled) to match your existing site. It would be free and you can configure it pretty much any way you like. Is this something people would be interested in?.

Click to expand...

fisicx said:

OK. If we ignore the payment option for now (it's an optional feature), is there any benefit in me developing a WordPress booking plugin for B&B, guesthouses and similar establishments? Or are the existing plugins sufficient?
This could be something quite bespoke for this type of business and can be branded (styled) to match your existing site. It would be free and you can configure it pretty much any way you like. Is this something people would be interested in?

Click to expand...

It's not much use without the payment piece and it absolutely must look exactly like the original site. If guests find the plug in looks different they abandon ship.
Personally, I don't see the need for another calendar booking option. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to build it.

fisicx said:

OK. If we ignore the payment option for now (it's an optional feature), is there any benefit in me developing a WordPress booking plugin for B&B, guesthouses and similar establishments? Or are the existing plugins sufficient?
This could be something quite bespoke for this type of business and can be branded (styled) to match your existing site. It would be free and you can configure it pretty much any way you like. Is this something people would be interested in?.

Click to expand...

If it is better than some of the current plugins,I am sure it would have appeal for some folks who don't care to use online payment. I am assuming you have looked at the many plugins which already exist out there.
if you can't offer something much better I a not sure you are not reinventing the wheel.

Morticia said:

fisicx said:

OK. If we ignore the payment option for now (it's an optional feature), is there any benefit in me developing a WordPress booking plugin for B&B, guesthouses and similar establishments? Or are the existing plugins sufficient?
This could be something quite bespoke for this type of business and can be branded (styled) to match your existing site. It would be free and you can configure it pretty much any way you like. Is this something people would be interested in?.

Click to expand...

fisicx said:

OK. If we ignore the payment option for now (it's an optional feature), is there any benefit in me developing a WordPress booking plugin for B&B, guesthouses and similar establishments? Or are the existing plugins sufficient?
This could be something quite bespoke for this type of business and can be branded (styled) to match your existing site. It would be free and you can configure it pretty much any way you like. Is this something people would be interested in?

Click to expand...

It's not much use without the payment piece and it absolutely must look exactly like the original site. If guests find the plug in looks different they abandon ship.
Personally, I don't see the need for another calendar booking option. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to build it.
.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that. The plugin would integrate seamlessly with your site - it would look like part of the theme with identical styling (that how I build all my plugins). And because it uses shortcodes and widgets you can have it on every page if you wanted (this is good for conversions).
I chose PayPal as they have a excellent interface - the UX on latest version is superb and the in-context checkout is even better. This is how I made it work on another plugin: https://quick-plugins.com/quick-paypal-payments/paypal-api-and-in-context-payments/
If I tried to incorporate every payment provider I'd never get the plugin finished - I counted over 40 just in the UK, I'm sure there are are many more internationally.
In another post you mentioned that people wouldn't know what PayPal is. Many people wouldn't know what any payment provider is - I've brought stuff from website with all sorts of strange payment portals.
Anyhow, I might give it a bit of a go and provide a link so people can have a play.

fisicx said:

Morticia said:

fisicx said:

OK. If we ignore the payment option for now (it's an optional feature), is there any benefit in me developing a WordPress booking plugin for B&B, guesthouses and similar establishments? Or are the existing plugins sufficient?
This could be something quite bespoke for this type of business and can be branded (styled) to match your existing site. It would be free and you can configure it pretty much any way you like. Is this something people would be interested in?.

Click to expand...

fisicx said:

OK. If we ignore the payment option for now (it's an optional feature), is there any benefit in me developing a WordPress booking plugin for B&B, guesthouses and similar establishments? Or are the existing plugins sufficient?
This could be something quite bespoke for this type of business and can be branded (styled) to match your existing site. It would be free and you can configure it pretty much any way you like. Is this something people would be interested in?

Click to expand...

It's not much use without the payment piece and it absolutely must look exactly like the original site. If guests find the plug in looks different they abandon ship.
Personally, I don't see the need for another calendar booking option. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to build it.
.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that. The plugin would integrate seamlessly with your site - it would look like part of the theme with identical styling (that how I build all my plugins). And because it uses shortcodes and widgets you can have it on every page if you wanted (this is good for conversions).
I chose PayPal as they have a excellent interface - the UX on latest version is superb and the in-context checkout is even better. This is how I made it work on another plugin: https://quick-plugins.com/quick-paypal-payments/paypal-api-and-in-context-payments/
If I tried to incorporate every payment provider I'd never get the plugin finished - I counted over 40 just in the UK, I'm sure there are are many more internationally.
In another post you mentioned that people wouldn't know what PayPal is. Many people wouldn't know what any payment provider is - I've brought stuff from website with all sorts of strange payment portals.
Anyhow, I might give it a bit of a go and provide a link so people can have a play.
.

Click to expand...

I for one use nothing but Paypal..when I do things on line. The distrust of it has totally gone away in my personal opinion. And, you don't have to have a paypal account to use it...you can use any credit card so I don't understand the issues that others have stated previously. I for one would like to see another option for my clients who would like a good free plugin that does the entire job. Would your free version do that as well?

EmptyNest said:

fisicx said:

Morticia said:

fisicx said:

OK. If we ignore the payment option for now (it's an optional feature), is there any benefit in me developing a WordPress booking plugin for B&B, guesthouses and similar establishments? Or are the existing plugins sufficient?
This could be something quite bespoke for this type of business and can be branded (styled) to match your existing site. It would be free and you can configure it pretty much any way you like. Is this something people would be interested in?.

Click to expand...

fisicx said:

OK. If we ignore the payment option for now (it's an optional feature), is there any benefit in me developing a WordPress booking plugin for B&B, guesthouses and similar establishments? Or are the existing plugins sufficient?
This could be something quite bespoke for this type of business and can be branded (styled) to match your existing site. It would be free and you can configure it pretty much any way you like. Is this something people would be interested in?

Click to expand...

It's not much use without the payment piece and it absolutely must look exactly like the original site. If guests find the plug in looks different they abandon ship.
Personally, I don't see the need for another calendar booking option. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't try to build it.
.

Click to expand...

Thanks for that. The plugin would integrate seamlessly with your site - it would look like part of the theme with identical styling (that how I build all my plugins). And because it uses shortcodes and widgets you can have it on every page if you wanted (this is good for conversions).
I chose PayPal as they have a excellent interface - the UX on latest version is superb and the in-context checkout is even better. This is how I made it work on another plugin: https://quick-plugins.com/quick-paypal-payments/paypal-api-and-in-context-payments/
If I tried to incorporate every payment provider I'd never get the plugin finished - I counted over 40 just in the UK, I'm sure there are are many more internationally.
In another post you mentioned that people wouldn't know what PayPal is. Many people wouldn't know what any payment provider is - I've brought stuff from website with all sorts of strange payment portals.
Anyhow, I might give it a bit of a go and provide a link so people can have a play.
.

Click to expand...

I for one use nothing but Paypal..when I do things on line. The distrust of it has totally gone away in my personal opinion. And, you don't have to have a paypal account to use it...you can use any credit card so I don't understand the issues that others have stated previously. I for one would like to see another option for my clients who would like a good free plugin that does the entire job. Would your free version do that as well?
.

Click to expand...

Yes. You can select the dates/rooms, make the reservation, see the total to pay and make a payment (if that's what you want). It can also include coupons and whole lot more.
The only thing you would have to pay for is in-context-checkout (which is quite stunning) - far better than all those payment providers who take you off site to make the payment.