How to Assign Tour Guides and Automate Notifications in TicketingHub

Overview

TicketingHub’s Guide Shifts feature enables operators to assign guides to tour options and automate related communications. The system handles assignment notifications, 24-hour reminders and guest list distribution without manual intervention.

Step 1 — Activate Guides

Guides are disabled by default. To activate them:

1. Open your TicketingHub dashboard
2. Click Settings in the left-hand sidebar
3. Click the Features tab
4. Find Guides and click Activate Guides

Once enabled, a Guides section appears in the left-hand navigation menu.

Step 2 — Create Your Guides

1. Go to Guides in the left-hand menu
2. Click New Guide
3. Fill in all required fields:

Field	Notes
Name	Display name shown in the dashboard
First Name	Used in automated emails
Last Name	Used in automated emails
Email Address	Where all shift notifications are sent
Phone Number	Optional but recommended for guest-facing tours

4. Click Save

Important: Verify email addresses carefully. Invalid characters or typos cause silent delivery failures with no dashboard error message.

Current Limitation: TicketingHub supports one guide per option. Contact support for multi-guide requirements.

Step 3 — Set Up Guide Notifications

Configure automated emails by opening Notification Settings under the Guides section:

Shift Assignment Notification Sent immediately when a guide is assigned, updated or removed from an option.

24-Hour Reminder Sent the day before the tour, but only if the assignment occurred more than 24 hours beforehand. Same-day assignments do not trigger this reminder.

Guest List (Manifest) Sent at a configurable time before the tour starts, containing the complete guest list for that option.

Pro Tip: Enable all three notifications for comprehensive guide communication without manual follow-up.

Step 4 — Assign a Guide to an Option

1. Go to Availability in the left-hand menu
2. Click on the tour option you want to assign a guide to
3. Open the Advanced tab
4. Select your guide from the Assign Guide dropdown
5. Save your changes

The guide receives an assignment notification email immediately. If you later change or delete this availability option, the guide shift updates automatically and the guide is notified.

Step 5 — Add Guide Details to Customer Emails

Surface guide information in customer-facing emails using TicketingHub’s Liquid template tags:

Liquid Tag	What It Inserts
{{ guide.name }}	The guide’s display name
{{ guide.phone }}	The guide’s phone number

How to add them to your emails

1. Go to your Product in the TicketingHub dashboard
2. Navigate to the Emails tab
3. Open the email template you want to update (typically the Booking Confirmation Email or Booking Reminder Email)
4. Click View → Edit
5. Insert the Liquid tag(s) where you want the guide’s details to appear

Example:

Your guide for this tour is {{ guide.name }}.
If you have any questions before the day, you can reach them on {{ guide.phone }}.

6. Click Save Changes, then Send Test Email to preview

Note: These tags only populate if a guide has been assigned to that option. Unassigned options render as blank.

Pro Tip: The 24-hour reminder email is ideal for displaying guide contact details.

Troubleshooting

Guides isn’t showing in the left-hand menu

• Go to Settings → Features, find Guides and click Activate Guides
• Return to the dashboard and open Guides from the left-hand menu

Guide isn’t receiving the assignment email

• Confirm Shift Assignment Notification is enabled in Notification Settings
• Verify the email address contains no spaces or special characters
• Check the guide’s spam folder

Guide isn’t receiving the 24-hour reminder

• Ensure the notification is toggled on
• Verify the assignment occurred more than 24 hours before the tour starts

Guide isn’t receiving the guest list

• Enable Guest List (Manifest) notification
• Verify notification timing is configured correctly
• Contact support if problems persist

FAQ

Can I assign more than one guide to an option? Not currently. TicketingHub supports one guide per option.

Do guides have access to the TicketingHub dashboard? No. Guides receive only email notifications. They can be added as Entry Management users for check-in purposes, although they will have visibility across all tours.

What happens if I change the availability option after assigning a guide? The guide shift updates automatically and the guide is notified. Deleting the option removes the shift and notifies the guide.

Can I use TicketingHub’s guide feature with Google Calendar? A basic Google Calendar integration exists. It keeps one event per timeslot up to date with the number of people booked, and keeps anything you add to the event yourself, such as guests or notes. If you move an event to another calendar, TicketingHub stops updating it.