Learn How to Best Use the "Alias" Feature!
If you haven't worked with Aliases before, you can read more about how the feature here.
Alias is a useful feature for managing two or more products that share capacity. However, alias is an advanced feature, and it's crucial to set up alias products and their links to other products correctly.
Here are some important things to consider when setting a product as an alias.
Avoid Multiple Layers of Linked Products
When setting up products and alias products, it's important to understand how they are linked to ensure everything functions as intended. The key point is that a product already linked to an alias product should not itself be an alias product.
If an alias product A shares capacity with product B, which in turn shares capacity with product C, a chain of linked products is created. This means that when product A is booked, only the availability of product A and B is checked, not C.
Why? The alias feature only checks the availability for another product in 'one step.' Think of each link between an alias product and a linked product as 'one step,' and all links after the first step will not be checked.
However, multiple products can be aliases with the same linked product. Thus, both product A and product B could use product C as a linked product.
Is Your Alias Product Unavailable?
If your alias product is not available even though it should be? When you link a product to another, the availability for that product gets limited by the linked product. The unavailability might be due to:
The Capacity of the Linked Product
Example 1
A facility rents out 10 kayaks and also offers basic kayaking courses with space for 10 people at a time. The basic course uses kayaks and is therefore set up as an alias with the kayak as the linked product.
One day at 12:00, 4 kayaks are rented out for 2 hours, which means that between 12:00 and 14:00, the capacity for both kayaks and the basic course is 6, as the course is directly affected by the kayaks' capacity.
Example 2
The same facility also rents out cabins in the summer. There are two types of cabins, Cabin A and Cabin B, set up as separate products. The price includes a kayak that can be borrowed during the stay, so the kayak is linked to both Cabin A and Cabin B.
On a sunny day, all kayaks are rented out except one, and later a booking is made for Cabin A. Now, Cabin B will be unavailable for booking even though it is empty because there aren't enough kayaks available.
The Opening Hours of the Linked Product
Example
The facility has set kayak rental hours from 09:00 to 16:00, but the kayaking course is scheduled from 16:00 to 18:00.
This can result in the course being unavailable for booking as it falls outside the kayak rental hours and cannot use the kayaks. In this case, the 'Ignore Opening Hours for Linked Products' feature can be used.
Ignore Opening Hours for Linked Products
To make the alias product available even if the linked product is not, you can use the 'Ignore Opening Hours for Linked Products' feature.
This allows the alias product to use the linked product's capacity even if it is outside the linked product’s opening hours. You can find this feature under the 'Availability' tab in the product settings.
The alias function is advanced, so be careful when setting up your products to ensure they are bookable at the right times! 🙌