This is what I am saying, there are numerous calendar services including Google Calendar, but they don’t scale to lots of users using them.
In the interim why not keep it simple as suggested using the 50p on the pool table system, and later we can implement a technical solution.
Doodle seems like a pretty easy quick way to do this.
just needs someone to set up the account and add all the slots. Nice bit of admin for someone.
I had a little play with it. Seems straight forward enough.
If I was doing it, glad I’m not, i’ld do hourly slots between midday and 9pm, and leave the rest of the day first come first served.
Absolutely agree with @unknowndomain keep it simple.
Why does every thread escalate into evermore complicated solutions that take a lot more effort to set up ?
Ha, well I dunno that a bit of code is necessarily a bad idea, but it’s not a right now option.
First, yes, we should try the simple approach first !
But - maybe there are three problems:
Whatever solution we go with in the final iteration, it shouldn’t prevent spontaneous making - but at the same time it should allow people to plan their time a bit better to get better use out of the space.
All this seems common to any resource booking system - meeting rooms, hire kit, etc. And you inherit all the other issues like bookings not showing up and blocking access to the resource, or the resource being used for longer than it was booked for. When someone does turn up spontaneously, you should know how long there is left until a pre-arranged booking takes place so you don’t encroach on other peoples time - and also bookings should be confirmed so they don’t prevent other people from using the tool spontaneously.
I have the white board. I think it would be fair to say most people are in agreement to an in-house booking system effective when you are on the premises.
More division on the use of a more effective but some may say complicated booking system that operates online to allow pre-planning ahead of attending the space.
Would it be possible for a moderator to close the thread? trail the white board and see how it goes maybe discuss review in next members meeting?
Cheers
The @lasertechs need to be in agreement: suggestions and robust discussions for all areas are welcome, imposing solutions onto the members who have taken on the responsibilities of an area by taking on a @tech role should be avoided. This thread only started in the early hours of this morning.
Whatever solution is arrived at needs to directly address the issue at hand. Two distinct solutions to two different issues seem to have been proposed. Is there a reason we can’t have both systems? Booking and queueing? And loads more granular stuff: no same day booking perhaps, time limits at busy periods? Plenty to experiment with.
I’m a bit baffled as to how an online calendar or poll is seen as overcomplicated/technical…remember where we are…
Most calendar systems will share a read only calendar without login, but to actually edit you need to explicitly grant write access to every single one of the 91 members with laser cutter inductions.
In the case of Google Calendar we’d need to get their Google Account email, not necessarily the same as their Membership System email.
Also this means member who want to book have to use a Google Account, and members have to be careful not to make mistakes with the calendar as it will now be in with all their other calendars that they might use.
A calendar system isn’t appropriate for sharing with such a large group unless someone manages booking requests and adds them manually.
Doodle works, but it becomes a mess with so many options even limiting it to 1 hour slots at peak times.
There are systems out there for this purpose but that requires hosting yet another web server, login system for members to use.
Practically speaking it’s not hugely difficult to add this to the membership system in the future, in the interim a whiteboard/chalkboard could be used for queuing.
As I said on Saturday in the space the inductions should (or rather used to when I wrote them) include advice to members that they should share. If you come to the space and someone is using it for a long job, and you have a quick job then they should aim to take a break to let you use it.
Hi is there a way to estimate how long the job will be to cut\engrave?
I know that when we are up loading stuff for 3d printer it gives you a job time depending on resolution setting.
I think it will help to put down the job time as well as your name on the board/ online booking.
Maybe something everyone can access to find out before they make any plans to use the machine
I don’t think an online calendar is complicated. And yes the white board system only solves an element of the issue. A bookibg system is also a great way to moniter usage.
I suggested closure following a general feeling of reluctancy towards a trial of a booking system, which was also the message I got from one of the techs.
I dont think sharing is an issue, i think everyone is willing to take a break from a big job or job that may have taken longer then expected. But if you have 2 or 3 peooke asking to do a quick job on a sat or sun that means your slightly longer job will take much longer then needed if yiu ckuld have just booked out an hour to do it. Rather then 2-3 hours becauae what the person perceived to be a quick job took longer.
I totally appreciate this is not a commercial service i just think a trial of a booking would be worth trying if it can be done relatively hassle free. We have a calender in discourse can that not be used? Nothing should have to be managed. It should be a self managing. Does discourse not have any plugins to make it pain free?
I don’t think a bookjng system is complicated at all but i dibt work in IT.
I suggested closing ghe thread because most seemed happy with the whiteboard option but very resistant to a booking system online including one of the techs so it appeared the conversation came to a hault.
Might i add a online booking system would be a way of tracking laser usage.