How FloorBook Works

🗺️ What is FloorBook?

FloorBook turns a picture of your venue into a booking page. You draw or upload your floor plan, drop tables where they'll be, and people book them online — and pay — before the day.

It was built for a church fundraiser: tables in the hall and on the grounds, sold to people who want a spot to sell their goods. But it works for any event where you sell a place — markets, fêtes, expos, weddings, craft fairs.

🛠️ For organisers — building your event

Four easy steps in the FloorBook admin app. Everything saves automatically as you go, so you can't lose your work — close the tab any time and pick up where you left off.

1. Name your eventGive it a name (e.g. "St Andrews Church Fundraiser"), who's hosting it, a short description, and pick a colour for your page. Hover any field in the app for a quick explanation of what it's for.
2. Choose your dates & timesTap the day or days on the calendar — one day or several — and set the start and end time. Running a multi-day event? Each day can have its own times.
3. Lay out your tablesAdd a photo of your venue if you have one, then tap Table Round Seat Stall to drop items on it. Drag them where they go, give each a name (T1, T2…), how many seats, and a price. Rectangles can be rotated; everything can be resized. See advertising your stall for what happens once one is booked.
4. PublishCheck the summary, choose your payment options and add your banking details for the bank-transfer option, then press Publish. You get a link to share straight away.

🔗 Sharing your booking page

After publishing you get a web link (shown on the Publish step). Share it anywhere:

WhatsApp Facebook Email Your church bulletin A printed QR code

Anyone who opens the link sees your floor plan in their browser — nothing to download or install. It works on phones, tablets and computers. The Publish page also generates a scannable QR code you can print on posters or flyers, so people can point their phone camera at it and land straight on the booking page.

👋 For visitors — booking a table

Simple enough for anyone, at any age — nothing to install (see sharing your booking page).

1. Open the linkThey see your event and the floor plan. They can view it as a map or a plain list — whichever they find easier.
2. Tap a free tableAvailable tables are in your colour; booked ones are grey. They tap the one they want.
3. Fill in their details & payName and contact, then pay by card, instant EFT, or bank transfer — whichever you've enabled. Their table is held for them while they pay, so no one else can grab it (see Hold in the glossary).
4. DoneThey get a booking reference and can add the event to their calendar. Their table turns grey for everyone else. If they're selling something themselves, this is also where they can set up their stall listing.

📣 Advertising your stall

This is what makes FloorBook special for fundraisers and markets.

When someone books a table (see booking a table), they can add their business name, what they're selling, a short description and a photo. Then anyone else browsing the plan can tap that table and see who's there and what they offer — so visitors can plan who to visit before they even arrive.

💳 Getting paid

Two easy ways, and you choose which to offer on the Publish step.

📊 Keeping track of bookings

On your Publish page you'll see a live list of everyone who has booked — which table, their contact, and whether they've paid or you're still waiting for an EFT. Press Refresh any time to see the latest — the list doesn't update on its own while the page is open.

For an EFT booking, once you can see the money has landed in your account, click Mark as paid next to their name — this releases the hold and confirms the table for good.

📚 Glossary — jargon explained

Plain-English explanations of the few technical terms used around FloorBook.

EFT

"Electronic Funds Transfer" — an ordinary bank-to-bank payment, the kind you'd do from internet banking or an ATM. On FloorBook it means a visitor pays by transferring money to your bank account directly, rather than by card.

PayFast

A South African online payment gateway. It lets visitors pay by card or instant EFT and puts the money straight into your PayFast account — similar to how PayPal or a card machine works, but built for South African banks.

Hold

When someone starts booking a table by EFT, FloorBook reserves it just for them for a set number of hours (you choose how many) so nobody else can book it while they're arranging payment. If they don't pay in time, it's automatically released back to being available.

QR code

The small black-and-white square pattern you scan with a phone camera. Scanning your event's QR code takes a visitor straight to your booking page — handy on printed posters or flyers.

Zone / Note

Two special items you can drop on your plan that aren't bookable — a Zone labels an area (e.g. "Kitchen"), and a Note is a small text label (e.g. "Entrance", "Toilets") to help visitors find their way around the map.

POPIA

South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act — the law governing how businesses must handle people's personal details. FloorBook only collects what's needed to make and honour a booking (see common questions).

❓ Common questions