Planning view

The Planning view shows your day as a horizontal timeline — each row is a table, each block is a reservation. It’s the right view for running service in real time: see who’s coming, who’s seated, where you have headroom, and move things around quickly.

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When to use this view

EatNow gives you three ways to look at your reservations. Each has its job: Switch between them via the three icons in the top-right of the Reservations page.

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Anatomy

From top to bottom:

1. Header — date picker, filters (services, statuses, rooms), search, “Block” and “Refresh” buttons.
2. Hours bar — stays sticky at the top while you scroll. On hover, a blue tooltip shows the exact time plus the number of reservations and covers at that moment (e.g. 20:30 — 30 resv · 151 pers).
3. Orange shift bar — shows each service’s window (e.g. Dinner 7pm-11pm).
4. “Unassigned” lane — yellow background with an orange badge counting reservations without a table. See below.
5. Rooms (Main Room, Mezzanine, Terrasse…) — collapsible. Each room contains its tables.
6. Table rows — one row per table. Number and capacity (1 - 4) on the left.
7. Reservation blocks — colored by status. Width = expected duration.
8. Vertical red line — current time (now).

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Reading a block

Each block shows the key info at a glance:

• Color = status (gray = confirmed, blue = seated, green = arrived, etc.).
• Customer name.
• Fork icon + number = covers (party size).
• 🔒 Lock (if visible) = the table is pinned for this reservation, auto-assign won’t touch it. See Pinned table.
• ⚠ Late (red, blinking) = the reservation should already have arrived but the status is still “Confirmed”.

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Tap to act fast

Click (or tap on mobile) any block to open a quick-action menu. This menu shows you:

• The current status (badge top-right — here Confirmed).
• Status transitions that make sense from the current state — not all statuses appear, only the relevant ones. For example:
  • From “Confirmed”: Showed up, Seated, For drinks, No-show.
  • From “Showed up”: Seated, Done.
  • From “Seated”: Done.
  • Once “Done” / “Cancelled”: no buttons (final state).
• “Pinned table” toggle — only if auto-assign is enabled for your restaurant.
• See details — opens the full reservation drawer.
• Unassign — removes the reservation from the table (it goes back into the “Unassigned” lane).

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Right-click (desktop) → context menu

On desktop, you can also right-click a block to open a fuller context menu. It offers the same status changes, plus:

• See detail / See customer profile.
• Cancel reservation (with optional refund if there’s a payment).
• Refund all (if existing payments).
• Capture / Skip of a pre-authorization when marking as No-show.

On mobile, right-click doesn’t exist. All critical actions are reachable via the quick-action sheet + the “See details” button.

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Pinned table

When auto-assign is on for your restaurant, EatNow shuffles reservations across tables to optimize service. The 🔒 lock icon means a reservation is pinned to its table: auto-assign won’t move it.

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How to pin

• Manually from the quick-action sheet → “Pinned table” toggle.
• Automatically when you drag-and-drop a reservation. The explicit move is treated as a decision: the reservation gets pinned immediately, and the 🔒 appears.

To unpin (let it float again), turn off the toggle in the action sheet.

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Move a reservation

Drag & drop is the Planning view’s headline feature. In a single gesture you can change the table (vertical movement) and the time (horizontal movement).

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The gesture

1. Long-press a block (~350ms — you’ll see it shrink slightly, that’s the cue).
2. On mobile, you’ll feel a small vibration — drag is armed.
3. Slide your finger / mouse to the new position. You’ll see:
   • A black floating ghost following your pointer (reminder of which reservation you’re holding).
   • A dashed blue rectangle on the target row showing exactly where the reservation will land (table + time).
   • The original block stays in place but greyed out, like an “anchor” of the move.
4. Release — the reservation lands at the new position. The 🔒 appears automatically.

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Snap to 15 minutes

The target time is automatically snapped to 15-minute slots. No need for pixel-perfect aim.

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Auto-scroll at edges

If the destination is off-screen (e.g. moving a reservation from 4pm to 10pm and 10pm isn’t visible), just keep moving toward the edge. The grid auto-scrolls in that direction. Same vertically for rooms.

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Short tap vs long-press

• Short tap (release < 350ms) → opens the quick-action menu.
• Long-press (≥ 350ms) → enters drag mode.

If you move your finger before the drag arms (during the first 350ms), the gesture is cancelled — try again.

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Conflicts on drop

If you drop a reservation on a slot already occupied by another, EatNow opens a modal asking what to do:

• Mark as done the previous reservation (frees the table).
• Chain them — both reservations follow each other on the same table.
• Replace — unassigns the previous reservation (it goes back to the “Unassigned” lane).
• Cancel — nothing changes.

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Unassigned lane

At the top of the grid, on yellow background, EatNow shows reservations without a table. The orange badge on the left counts them.

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How they get there

• A reservation created without manual assignment.
• A reservation that was unassigned (from the action menu or elsewhere).
• A reservation auto-assign couldn’t place (no compatible table available).

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”Auto-assign all” button

The ✨ icon to the left of the lane runs auto-assign. EatNow tries to place all unassigned reservations while respecting capacity, room constraints, and times. Pinned reservations (🔒) are not touched.

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Drag & drop from the lane

You can also drag a reservation from the lane down to a table: same gesture as a normal block. The reservation leaves the lane and lands on the target table.

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Subtleties

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Multiple reservations on the same slot

When 2+ reservations have exactly the same time and duration on the same table (or stacked in the lane), EatNow merges them into a single dark-grey block 2 resv. Click it to open a window listing each reservation individually.

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Visible conflicts

If two reservations overlap on the same table (without being stacked exactly), the conflict zone shows a red diagonal stripe pattern. It’s a signal that you have a problem to resolve: move one, mark one as done, or ignore if intentional.

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Hover over the hours bar

When hovering the grid (desktop mouse), a blue tooltip follows the cursor and shows:

• The exact time under the cursor.
• The number of reservations and covers expected at that moment (across all rooms, excluding cancelled and no-shows).

Handy to spot pressure peaks instantly.

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Mobile vs Desktop

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FAQ

Why doesn’t the tap menu offer every status? EatNow filters status transitions that make sense from the current state. If you need a specific status (e.g. forcing a return from “Done” to “Seated”), open See details → the full drawer allows anything. How do I cancel a reservation? On desktop: right-click the block → Cancel reservation. On mobile: tap → See details → cancel from the full drawer. How does this view relate to the Floor plan? Both show the same data in real time — when you change a status or move a reservation in Planning, the Floor plan updates instantly (and vice versa). Pick the view that matches your task. What’s the yellow counter (“82”) at the top-left? It’s the number of reservations without a table for the day. Click the ✨ button next to it to run auto-assign, or drag blocks from the lane onto a table. What are the “44 resv / 19 resv / 19 resv” pills under the shift bar? They’re groups of unassigned reservations at the same slot. Click them to see the list.