17. Booking¶
The Booking module lets users reserve time on shared resources such as MRI scanners, lab equipment, or any other facility that needs to be scheduled. It is accessible from the main navigation bar via the Booking link.
17.1. Booking Resources¶
A resource is anything that can be booked — a scanner, a room, a piece of equipment. The sidebar on the left lists all active resources. Click a resource name to load its weekly calendar and see existing bookings for that resource.
17.2. The Week View¶
The main area shows a week-view calendar grid with one column per day (Monday through Sunday) and time as rows. Each row represents a time interval defined by the resource’s time step setting (15, 30, or 60 minutes).
Navigating weeks
Use the Previous and Next buttons to move one week back or forward.
Click Today to jump back to the current week.
Time band presets
A dropdown in the toolbar controls how many hours are visible at once:
Work day — 08:00 to 18:00 (default)
Compact — 07:00 to 22:00
All hours — 00:00 to 24:00
Existing bookings appear as colored chips inside the grid. Each chip is color-coded to match its resource.
17.3. Creating a Booking¶
Click any empty cell in the grid to open the booking form. The Start time and End time fields are pre-filled based on the cell you clicked. Fill in the remaining details and click Save to create the booking.
Form fields
Resource — the resource being reserved. Pre-selected when you click the grid.
Group — an optional tag for the booking (e.g. “External”, “Maintenance”). Groups are defined by an administrator.
Start time / End time — the time window for the reservation.
Title — a short label shown on the booking chip in the calendar.
Notes — optional free-text notes visible when the booking is opened.
Overlap detection
If your booking overlaps with an existing reservation, a warning is shown below the form listing the conflicting bookings and the users who made them. You can still save the booking if the overlap is intentional.
17.4. Editing and Deleting a Booking¶
Click an existing booking chip in the calendar to open the booking detail view. If the booking belongs to you and is in the future, you can edit any field or delete it using the Delete button.
Note
Past bookings and bookings made by other users are displayed in read-only mode. The Delete button is only visible for your own future bookings.
17.5. Recurring Bookings¶
The booking form includes a Repeat option to create a series of bookings in one step.
Repeat options
Once — a single booking (default).
Daily — repeated every calendar day.
Mon–Fri — repeated on weekdays only.
Weekly — repeated once per week on the same day.
The For N field sets how many repetitions to create (1–52). For example, selecting Weekly with For 4 creates bookings on the same weekday for four consecutive weeks.
17.6. Booking on Behalf of Another User¶
Superusers can create a booking on behalf of any other registered user.
Note
This section is only visible to superusers.
At the bottom of the booking form, expand the Book on behalf of section, type the target username, and submit the form. The booking will be recorded under the selected user’s account.
17.7. My Bookings¶
The Mine tab in the left sidebar shows all of your upcoming bookings, grouped by relative day (Today, Tomorrow, or the date).
Click any entry in the list to navigate directly to the resource’s calendar for the week containing that booking.
17.8. Administration¶
The booking administration pages are accessible via Settings → Booking in the main navigation.
Note
The administration section is only accessible to superusers.
17.8.1. Managing Resources¶
Resources represent the physical or logical items that users can book (e.g. scanners, rooms, instruments).
Click New to create a resource or click an existing row to edit it. The following fields are available:
Name — display name shown in the sidebar and on booking chips.
Color — the color used for booking chips belonging to this resource.
Description — optional longer description of the resource.
Time step (minutes) — the grid resolution: 15, 30, or 60 minutes.
Available from / Available to — the earliest and latest times that can be booked for this resource.
Active — inactive resources are hidden from the booking calendar.
Resources can be reordered by dragging rows up or down in the list. The order determines the display sequence in the sidebar.
17.8.2. Managing Groups¶
Groups are optional labels that can be attached to bookings to categorise them (e.g. “External collaborator”, “Maintenance”, “Teaching”).
Click New to create a group or click an existing row to edit it. Each group has a Name and a Color. Groups can be reordered via drag-and-drop in the same way as resources.
17.8.3. Statistics¶
The Statistics page gives a usage overview for a selected date range.
Use the date-range selector to choose a preset period:
This Week
This Month
This Year
Custom — enter an explicit start and end date.
Three summary tables are displayed:
By Resource — total bookings and cumulative hours per resource.
By Group — total bookings and cumulative hours per group.
By User — total bookings and cumulative hours per user.