@Jenny-Oest Just wanted to thank you again for sharing your templates!!!

@Jenny-Oest
Ah, yes, I have those setup - I just never noticed what they looked like when input into a template - I thought maybe there was a secret "key" to MyVR that had the "code" for extra data ... Like you, I am very much in need of the ability to create customized data pertaining to specific bookings

Thanks for the feedback @Carole!

@Jenny-Oest said in [RESOLVED] Temporary Infrastructure Issues:

How do we report a system down?

The most effective way to report a potential system outage is to use the Report an Issue link after clicking on the Support button in your account. Although we do actively engage in conversation from forum posts, reports of problems as a rule are surfaced more quickly to our team.

In the event you experience what appears to be a system outage, we are likely to be aware of the problem, so the steps to follow would be:
a) Check our status page: http://status.myvr.com/
b) Submit an issue via the Support button in your account

If you are unable to access the Support button in your MyVR account, then please shoot me an email: markus at myvr dot com (it is highly unlikely we don't already know of the problem at that point via our monitoring systems, but better safe than sorry).

Hi All,

As a MyVR integrated user, what should I do to prepare for HomeAway communications changes?

This depends on how much customization you'd like in your inquiry auto responses:

Level 1: Do nothing. Your current auto responses will be sent as is and HomeAway will remove the restricted content
Level 2: Tweak Customize templates to work well after HomeAway strips content.
Level 3: Add custom templates for HomeAway, VRBO, VacationRentals.com

Just wanted to give you a quick update. It turns out that we had already implemented text only messages for HomeAway about 10 months ago when we made a similar change for FlipKey / TripAdvisor. The messages sent to HomeAway guests do not include rich HTML versions but rather a text only version. These currently still include restricted content such as links and email addresses in the message and HomeAway has not yet started stripping away that content.

We've learned a number of things while verifying this will continue to work as expected.

@John-Hughes asked if messages with links will be sent. And I'll echo @Jenny-Oest response here. If the message contains any of the restricted content, HomeAway will simply strip that content out before presenting to the renter, but will not prevent the delivery of the message. Any email addresses, phone numbers, links or attachments will be removed by HomeAway.

@Jenny-Oest mentioned creating message templates with auto responders specific to inquiries from the HomeAway brand of sites. Internally we briefly discussed and think that might be a little more than necessary.

One thing that I would consider doing is modifying the content of the message to read well, whether or not the message includes restricted content.

For example:

BAD

Hi guest, Thanks for booking our property. Feel free to email us at myprop@myprop.com or call us at 775-225-1111 with any questions about your inquiry. Or checkout our website: myprop.com. Thanks, PM

GOOD

Hi guest, Thanks for booking our property. We look forward to connecting. Many thanks, PM myprop@myprop.com 775-225-1111 myprop.com

That way when the message is stripped of any restricted content, it does not change the message.

GOOD STRIPPED

Hi guest, Thanks for booking our property. We look forward to connecting. Many thanks, PM

If small tweaks like this do not work for your situation, the next best option sounds like creating templates for HomeAway specific inquiries.

Hope that helps. We'll be monitoring this closely and making a few small adjustments this week in preparation for the change.

@Jim-Knape - I've been using this format for quite some time - as I make my own review requests to VRBO/HomeAway because so many bookings are not through their source. Yes - reviews on one listing WILL appear on all of their family of listings. I can't vouch for FlipKey - I'm using VacationHomeRentals.com which just converted to a FlipKey, Trip Advisor listing, so I'm still navigating that journey.

Glad I could help!

Jenny

Also, my client is wanting the GET A QUOTE page like this page: >http://www.sonomasquarecottage.com/rates-and-calendar/ who is using your service.

Is that a form you offer your customers too if someone has their own website? like maybe a link similar to the BOOK NOW link?

Unfortunatly we do not offer a pre-built widget to get a quote. If you are comfortable writing custom HTML and JS, you can create your own form and use the MyVR.js Quote function to get a quote based on user input. However, as I mentioned earlier, using both MyVR.js and widgets on the same page can cause issues.

@Tracy-Lucente

Hi! That's how it currently works.

I can't speak for HomeAway or what changes they'll make down the road, but currently the traveler pays the Service Fee when the booking is initiated on the HomeAway family website.

An inquiry that is converted to a booking later, but was submitted on the HomeAway family website and booked later in the software (and not on the HA website) currently does not have this fee applied.

Of course, the protections and benefits that come with the Service Fee (namely, the "Book with Confidence Guarantee") also would not be applicable. More on that: https://help.homeaway.com/articles/What-is-the-service-fee-and-how-does-it-work

@Carole The current ticket is sufficient. Thank you.

@Carole - you could create two responders - one for calendar available, and one for calendar not available. In that case, one of the two would always send.

@Carole - oh dear - double bookings - yikes!

You should be able to apply this same logic to your calendars too.

Property 3 = Alpha
Property 4 = Beta
Property 3/4 = SkyVilla

But I'm afraid I can't do it for you. I'm just a mere user - not an all-powerful MyVR staffer...

The bookings for both my cabins were hit hard in the Fall 2015. HA/VRBO had generated most of my bookings. In December 2015, I integrated MyVR's Flipkey channel. I was able to salvage some of the losses from the major decline in bookings.

I really liked MyVR's format to manage my properties with Flipkey. I took the plunge in January 2016 and integrated MyVR's HA/VRBO channel. Being able to bypass the traveler's fees has really boosted my bookings. I am on track to match or exceed my highest annual revenues.

I have noticed a trend that bookings are no longer made far in advance. My high season generally books 6 - 9 months in advance. Other times are booking 2 -6 weeks in advance.

I feel it is to my advantage to be seen by as many travelers as possible. So, I just integrated MyVR's AirBnB channel. I'm excited to see results!

I used to use Evernote (not just for my VR, but for other life notes/documents). But I had some sync issues that I just could never resolve. I've been using OneNote now and I find it much more user-friendly.

Hi @Jenny-Oest,

Here is a modified version of the Dark Sky forcast widget that links to the detailed weather page Tristan added to your website.

<a href="http://premiumbeachcondos.com/local-weather/" style="position: relative; display: block;"> <div style="position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 100%"></div> <iframe frameborder="0" height="245" id="forecast_embed" src="//forecast.io/embed/#lat=30.2309931&amp;lon=-85.9071084&amp;name=Panama City Beach FL" type="text/html" width="100%"> </iframe> </a>

And here is a live example of the modified widget. Note that the "RIP Current Statement" and "More at Dark Sky" links in the widget still just take you to the detailed weather page on your website in this modified version.

Cheers,
Danny

@Chad-Service - one word of caution - always remember to log out. Otherwise someone may try to chat with you when you're not actually at your computer! I've had that happen so I speak from experience. It's easy to forget if you have it running in the background and then just step away.

@Ghassan-Aboukhater
MyVR's credit card processing fees start at ~2.99% on the new plans. These are only for transactions that go through your Stripe merchant account connected to MyVR.

For Airbnb, there is no credit card processing fee charged by MyVR because we do not process the credit card transaction. So the cost at MyVR for Airbnb transactions is the 1.49% channel management fee.

Airbnb charges a host fee which, I think is accurate to say, essentially covers their credit card processing fee. There is no incremental credit card processing fee at MyVR.

Sorry, I know it's tricky because the channel integrations all work a little differently (based on what the channel supports), and WHO processes the money is not the same for each. Does that make sense though?

Thank you @Danny-Eiden .
I will play around with it. At first glance it looks good.
Basil

Hi @Jenny-Oest. Yes, you can use Apple Calendar and Google Calendar to accomplish this. The trick is syncing your Google Calendar with Apple Calendar. Then, all of the events you add in Apple's Calendar app will sync to your Google Calendar and be displayed on your website. To accomplish this

Sync your Google Calendar and Apple Calendar app following these instructions Follow @Ann-D-Liptak's instructions for putting a Google Calendar on your website

If you are referring to having an events calendar from an iCal feed appear on your website, you similarly can

Set up the iCal feed to sync to a Google Calendar following these Import iCal Calendar From The Internet instructions Follow @Ann-D-Liptak's instructions for putting a Google Calendar on your website

@CJ-Avilla
Hi Chad. Just wondering if you ever got through the approval process? I'm at 2.5 like you were when you posted, and looking for some encouragement.

Mary Beth

@Ann-D-Liptak Hi Ann!

SEO is a big beast that requires either a lot of time or effort (or both) to see any meaningful results. For one who is not focused on driving a lot of traffic via SEO, and therefore doesn't understand the various components of SEO, this message is letting them know we are covering many of the basics for them in the website setup. Allow me to expand on that a bit more...

First, our website templates are designed with SEO in mind, and are built to perform well in the eyes of the search engines, and improve your rankings with them. We improve our templates over time as search engine requirements change.

We also provide an interface where you can insert keywords (that come out of whatever keyword strategy you pursue) into MyVR's dashboard, and we'll automatically configure all your pages with this information. If you don't insert any, we will automatically generate them for you and configure your pages (we do our best, but this is not recommended if you care about SEO!). We also allow more granular site configuration in that you can configure each page differently, and you can tag individual photos, as well. We also auto-submit your site to the major search engines for indexing.

So, we do quite a bit to quickly configure your site for SEO, including a number of things we do automatically for you without your doing a thing. However, most of the work required for meaningful SEO results come from continued work beyond that - both in creating backlinks to your site and regularly creating fresh relevant content on your site. For those who are focused on doing this, blogging is typically one of the key parts of that strategy.

All that said, I have told hundreds of owners that I don't think they should worry about SEO (at least, not at the top of their list) because of the commitment involved. I've blogged about this a bit int he past. Here are a couple helpful posts to help you decide if it's right for you:

Stressed About SEO? Why It May Not Make Sense For Your Vacation Rental | Vacation Rental Owners Blog 5 Reasons to Build A Great Vacation Rental Website (and SEO Isn’t One of Them) | Vacation Rental Owners Blog

Hope that's clear! We can tweak that language in the product that you're referencing to be a bit more descriptive and informative.