Creating seating plans

Create interactive seating plans to suit any venue. They present the customer with a floor plan at the time of booking, allowing them to select their seats within the venue. Theatre style events, such as concerts and musicals, use interactive seating plans as the seats are static in location and are generally already numbered.

This article covers:

1. Creating an interactive seating plan
2. Editing and further customisation
3. Editing the stage
4. Adding Doors
5. Reserving seats

Tabled events are not covered in this topic but please refer to our guide for Setting Up a Tabled Event.

 

Check with our Client Success Team via info@trybooking.com before you create, as we may already have that plan that we'd be happy to share with you (at no cost).

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Creating an interactive seating plan

Whilst you are able to create a seating plan at the time of going through Create New Event, it is recommended that you create your seating plan as a Venue Template prior. This ensures that you only need to create it once, check it and that it is then ready for use each time you create.

To create a seating plan:

1. Either in the Venue Template or Create New Event, when prompted for an Allocation Type, select Seat
2. Enter the Number of Rows, and the Number of Seats Per Row 
   
3. Proceed with completing Create New Event or creating the Venue Template

If your seating plan has aisles, add in an additional seat per row for each aisle. You will then be able to use the Space with no seat number Status to create the aisle.

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Editing and further customisation

Once created, the main block of seats will be populated into your event/template. You will then be able to make further adjustments to match the desired floor plan.

Once bookings have been taken on an event, restrictions will be placed on what can be edited.

To make edits to your seating plan:

1. Under Allocation, click Seat/Space
2. Click Edit Seating Plan

Seat Status options:

Status	Description
	Available for booking by your customer
	Identifies which seats are wheelchair accessible
	Reserves the seat by showing as booked for the customer. Only available within the event. Not available in venue templates.
	Reserves the seat by showing as booked for the customer. Allows you to differentiate between Reserve group one for internal classification. Only available within the event. Not available in venue templates.
	Will appear as a blank space for the customer, but holds a seat number. Use for spaces or aisles that don't have seat numbers that run consecutively after it
	Inserts a blank space. Used for aisles where the seats run consecutively after it
	Removes the seats from the seating plan, taking the seat number allocated out. Will change the row alignment. Used for larger seating plans where the aisles start with the same number.
	Seat is displayed during booking, but the customer is prevented from selecting. Can be manually marked as Blocked or automated for social distancing. Only available within the event. Not available in venue templates. For more information on Blocked seats click here

To change the seat status:

1. Under Allocation, click Seat/Space
2. Click Edit Seating Plan
3. In the Mark Seat As field, select the desired seat status
4. Click on the seat you wish to change the status
5. Click Save

Adding rows in manually

Seating plans that have rows that differ in the number of seats per row, or have rows that start with a number greater than 1, require to have those rows added in individually.

To add in a row manually:

1. Under Allocation, click Seat/Space
2. Click Edit Seating Plan
3. Click add Row
4. Name the row (restricted to 5 characters)
5. If the new row is not going to display directly after the current last row in the plan, choose the new position by selecting Before or After in the Position field, and the row it corresponds to in Row
6. Indicate the number of seats in the new row (remember to add additional seats for any aisles present)
7. State the seat number the row starts with
8. Click Add Row
9. Save

To save you time, on your floor plan locate the largest group of rows that have the same number of seats. Use these rows specifications to create the initial plan. Once created, edit the row names to reflect the rows on the floor plan, then manually add all other rows.

Venues with multiple levels

If your venue has different levels or has a balcony where your seats are at 90' to the stalls or your venue is a theatre in the round, it is recommended that you divide the interactive seating plan into sections and add a header to illustrate the overall venue layout.

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Editing the stage

By default, the stage always appears as a fixed shape and size at the top of your seating plan. The image provides guidance to the seating direction and/or orientation where the seats may be located to the side of the stage.

As it's an HTML editor, you can adjust the stage image size, insert alternative stage images, orientate and add text.

To editing the stage:

1. Under Allocation, click Seat/Space
2. Click Edit Stage
3. Make adjustments
4. Click Update

Add text if you feel that you need to communicate specific important information:

• Reconfirm that wheelchair places are spaces only and have NO seat in that location.
• Disclose any access issues.
• Rows X to XXX are flat floor vs remaining rows being tiered seating
• Location of the orchestra / piano etc. 

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Adding doors

Stipulating doors in your seating plan ensures that the required entry point for the seat selected is stated on the attendee's ticket. This avoids any confusion on entry and ensures your attendees are seated quickly, avoiding any performance delays.

Should you choose not to enter doors on your seating plan, the door field will be removed from the ticket issued.

To add in doors:

Issuing tickets for reserved seats

When logged into your account as the event organiser, you will be able to book seats that are marked as reserved. Your reserved seats will show as 'Unavailable' for your customers. Only those logged into your account will see these seats as reserved and have the ability to book.

To Book Reserved Seats:

1. Log in to your TryBooking Account
2. Click on your event under the Manage Event Overview
3. Click on Preview Event in the top right of your event dashboard
   OR
   Click Make a Booking on the blue side menu
4. After you have selected tickets for the booking, you will be presented with the seating plan and your reserved seats will display. Click on the reserved seats you wish to book
   
5. Click Next, and proceed with completing the rest of your booking

How this same event would look for customers not logged into your account: