Availability Calendars and Booking Forms

[jacmgr]

Update: 26FEB2006:
The jAC Vacation Rental Availability Calendar and Enquiry forms have a new home:

http://www.therentalcalendar.net/jac

Basically the same idea but significant improvements on data storage and access. In particular if you have multiple properties, there are lots of new features. Finally the cost is no longer free, but a token $10USD for a lifetime per calendar. No annual fees/memberships.

Additional features you can run the calendar server on your own hosts instead of mine. (requires an additional fee and php skills!)

Update: 10JUN2005:
Many small tweaks for formatting of calendar. The rentors.org re-theme was adjusted to work with the new rentors.org. Many new scripts for data access using XML. Finally the biggest change is that the pricing policy has changed. Your calendar is free for 30 days so that you can assure yourself jAC works for your needs. After 30 days, a one-time fee of $5 USD will keep your account active forever. For an additional one-time fee of $5.00 USD we will remove all copyright and references to 'jAC'.

All existing members as of 10 JUN have been classified as "founding members" and a founding member's account remains free forever.

john

Update: 01MAY
Lots of things have occurred under the hood in the past couple months. Features are basically the saem, but more streamlined. Basic Calendar, Online Booking Forms, and Multiple calendars have been optimized and several options added. For advanced users, Data access to use the raw data has been improved. Scripts are available for you to use on your site to acess the data, display it, and search it. The search ability also works for rentors.org, vacationrentals.com, and some other services. Everything is still free. We are also giving away FREE websites for property owner groups. See www.vacationrentalworkshop.com

Update: 28MAR
jAC now has the ability to re-theme your rentors.org calendar. No registration or additional data entry required. WHY? Obviously you would still need your rentors.org calendar just the way it is for the places that require you to use it. But what if you want to embed that same calendar in your personal website. Wouldn't you want to have a calendar theme that befits your site theme? This is just a beta. Just go to the jAC site under SUPPORT menu and submenu "XML". (All it does is pull the dates from the red colored boxes (booked nights) on the rentor.org calendar and pushes them into the jAC builder.

You can test it on the fly, enter your rentors.org calendar id and pick a theme and see how it could look. No passwords or
registration, just try it.

You can leave feedback on the jAC site. Heres the direct link to try the rentors.org re-theme.

http://jhplace.net/jrac/home/aboutxml.php

I am also working on other "pull" feeds. If you have a calendar you want to pull from let me know.

If you like it and want to customize the theme, register.

John Del Ferro
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Original Post: 26 FEB
Hi,

About a month ago I posted some info about a free hosted availability calendar that I developed for use on my own site. Well, since that time, some of you have given me some feedback, and I have been hard at work!! A ton of new features have been added, and some bugs were fixed. If you looked before, maybe you would want to look again! Even if you don't want to use the calendar for your site visitors, you may still like it for keeping track of your own private comments for each booking. I have also added an embeddable Request for Info/Booking Form that can be used. They are independant (you can use one or the other or both!) but they both carry the same color themes that you choose.

* http://www.jhplace.net/jrac

* Availability Calendar
* Message Announcements
* Contact Request For Information Forms
* Embeddable or Linkable
* Customized themes and logo.
* Multiple Views
* Personalized Notes
* Private Comments and Private Booking Reports.
* External CSS for folks who know what that is!
* Foreign Language Support (European)
* Potential Small Group Use

Yes, it is FREE, and there is no advertising. I don't want to have a discussion about the benifits or purposes of calendars (someone else can start that thread!). Also, there is a forum at the calendar site for specific questions on using this calendar. So, if you think about having a calendar sometimes, or a Request Form on your web site, then check it out. You can also see how it works on my personal rental site http://www.delferro.net/midlakecondo