Create a Reservation Form In 3 Steps

How to Create a Reservation Form

In this guide, we outline the steps necessary to create and launch a reservation form using Five’s advanced form builder.

The process involves:

1. Creating the database
2. Designing the form
3. Deploying the form

We will also cover securing the form with logins, authentication, and permissions, although this is an optional step.

What is a Reservation Form?

A reservation form is an interface used to gather, store, and manage reservation-related data. These forms capture essential information such as customer details, reservation times, seating preferences, and any special requests, which can be used for tracking, reporting and decision-making.

Reservation forms can range from simple web forms to more complex systems integrated with databases and analytics tools.

Key Components of a Reservation Form

• Web Forms: Online forms that users fill out to submit reservation details.
• Databases: Systems like MySQL, PostgreSQL, or MongoDB that store collected reservation data in an organized manner. (Don’t worry if you’re not familiar—Five makes it easy.)
• Data Security: Measures to protect sensitive reservation data from unauthorized access and breaches.
• Analytics Tools: Software that allows users to query the database, generate reports, and visualize reservation data.
• Dashboards: Interactive interfaces that provide real-time insights and trends on reservations, availability, and customer preferences.

Why a Traditional Form Builder Might Not Cut it

Reservations often require managing relationships between various pieces of information, such as customer details, available times, and seating arrangements. Standard form builders typically struggle to handle these complex data structures, making it difficult to create a comprehensive picture of each submission.

Security and compliance are also major concerns, particularly when handling sensitive customer data. Reservation forms may include personal information, requiring security measures to protect this data and comply with privacy regulations.

Unfortunately, most off-the-shelf form builders lack the necessary security infrastructure to handle such sensitive data safely and in compliance with stringent rules.

Furthermore, reservation forms often require real-time updates and the ability to handle dynamic availability. Many standard form builders have limited capabilities, lacking the functionality to adjust for changing availability or accommodate special requests accurately.

Lastly, the need for advanced reporting and analytics is essential in managing reservations. Businesses require comprehensive tools to analyze reservation trends, manage capacity, and generate detailed reports.

Most traditional form builders offer only basic reporting features that fall short of these needs.

Building a Reservation Form with Five

Creating a reservation form in Five offers significant advantages over traditional form builders, making it ideal for those who need robust, secure, and analyzable reservation data.

Unlike traditional form builders, which only store submitted data, Five allows you to directly connect your reservation form to a database. This connection enables you to query your database and generate visual representations of your data, making it easier to identify trends, seating preferences, and booking patterns. Most traditional form builders require exporting data to third-party tools for analysis, adding extra steps and potential for errors.

While traditional form builders may suffice for very basic reservation tasks, they often struggle with large datasets or high submission volumes. Five’s database-connected solution, on the other hand, is designed to handle substantial amounts of reservation data efficiently, maintaining performance as your needs grow.

One of the standout features of Five is the ability to create login-protected forms. This ensures that only authorized users can access and submit reservation data, enhancing the security of your reservation process. Traditional form builders often lack these advanced security features, leaving your data vulnerable to unauthorized access.

In addition to its advanced data management and security features, Five allows you to build dashboards and generate detailed reports directly from your reservation data.

You can create visual data representations such as charts and graphs, providing a clear overview of booking statuses, reservation trends, and customer preferences.

With Five, you can:

• Quickly deploy your reservation form with a secure database.
• Build a user-friendly interface that protects sensitive data with login authentication.

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Step 1: Database for Your Reservation Form

To get started, sign up for free access to Five and create a new application by navigating to the Applications section and clicking the yellow plus button.

Create a New Application:

• Click the yellow plus button.
• Name your application (e.g., “Reservation Form”).

• Confirm by clicking the check icon in the upper right corner.
• Click on the blue Manage button to enter the development environment.

Create Database Tables:

• Go to Data > Table Wizard, a user-friendly interface for creating database tables.
• Name your table descriptively (e.g., “Reservations”).

Add fields to your table using the plus button, specifying appropriate data types:

• Name (Text): Stores the name of the person making the reservation.
• ReservationDate (Date): Captures the date of the reservation.
• ReservationTime (Time): Holds the time of the reservation.
• PartySize (Integer): Stores the number of people for the reservation.
• SpecialRequests (Text): Notes any special requests or accommodations.
• ContactInfo (Text): Stores the customer’s contact details.

Remember to choose appropriate data and display types to ensure your data is stored and displayed correctly. If you are unsure, just ask ChatGPT.

Save Your Database Table:

After adding all relevant fields, save your table by clicking the check icon in the upper right corner. Your MySQL database table is now ready to store reservation data.

Side Note: This might seem more advanced than what you were expecting but nothing worth having comes super easy. Five excels at building complete applications as well, which means you can actually expand your form into a fully fudged application capable of a lot more than a standard form builder.

Step 2: Designing the Reservation Form

Next, navigate to Visual > Form Wizard in Five to design your reservation form.

Select Data Source:

In the Form Wizard’s General section, select the “Reservations” table you created as the main data source. This links your backend (database) with your frontend (form).

Finalize the Form:

Click the check icon in the upper right corner to complete the form creation. Your form is now ready and connected to your database.

Add Form Submit/Cancel Buttons:

Next, navigate to Visual, then select Forms and scroll down. Under Complete Caption, you can add your submit button (feel free to customize the text). You can also change the Cancel Caption. Remember to click the tick to save afterward.

Add Your URL:

Next, you need to add your URL. Navigate to Setup, then select URL and add an item. Ensure it is lowercase. Also, select your form in the action field.

Step 3: Deploying the Reservation Form

To deploy your reservation form:

Deploy to Development:

• Click the Deploy to Development button in the top right corner. This action opens your reservation form in a new browser tab, allowing you to preview it.
• Once you run your application, your default URL will look something like this: https://control-default-reservationform-ryan.5au.dev/?reloadSchema=74f6bbc3-2b6f-43db-97a1-d74a1e384bd4&inspect=false
• Delete the URL section ?reloadSchema=74f6bbc3-2b6f-43db-97a1-d74a1e384bd4&inspect=false and replace it with what you named your URL above. For example, the new URL might be https://control-default-reservationform-ryan.5au.dev/url/form, which will lead you to your form.

Enhance Your Form:

Consider adding themes or additional features, such as conditional logic to guide users through the process or automated emails confirming the reservation.

Securing Your Reservation Form: Logins, Authentication, Permissions

Remember, the benefits of Five are quite significant compared to simple form builders. Five goes beyond data collection and allows you to build web applications with custom logic and dashboards. So although the process may not be as “conventionally easy” as Google Forms, Five’s overall capabilities are more advanced.

One of these added benefits is security—namely, the ability to add a login-protected backend for submitted form data.

Here are the steps to add user roles and logins:

• Turn your application into a multi-user app by automatically adding a login screen.
• Create user roles with specific permissions. For example:
• Customer Role: Can submit reservations.
• Admin Role: Can review reservations, approve or reject bookings, and access the dashboard summarizing all submissions.

Explore More Security Features:

Utilize Five’s documentation for detailed instructions on securing your reservation form with authentication and permissions to ensure only authorized users can access or modify data.

To add a completely custom URL such as reservationform.com, you’ll need to sign up for a paid plan of Five.

To learn more about Five and expand your form, check out some of our code-along articles.

Conclusion: Building a Reservation Form

Building a reservation form with Five’s application development environment offers numerous advantages over traditional form builders.

The process involves three key steps: creating the database, designing the form, and deploying the web form. Five provides security features, including login protection, authentication, and user permissions, ensuring that your reservation form is secure and only accessible to authorized users.

By using Five, you can directly connect your reservation form to a database, enabling efficient data management and real-time analysis through custom charts and reports.

This capability allows you to easily track reservations, monitor booking statuses, and manage customer data effectively—tasks that are often cumbersome with traditional form builders that require exporting data to third-party tools.

With Five, you can improve your reservation process, enhance data security, and leverage analytical tools to gain insights, making it the superior choice for creating a comprehensive and efficient reservation form.

What Else You Can Do With Five

Here’s a more advanced form for property booking, this shows Five’s calculation capabilities.