Many restaurants use WordPress and have a restaurant theme to make their website look the way they prefer. However, most restaurant websites are quite basic with a menu, about us, contact and hours. This isn't enough if you truly want to take advantage of the internet for your restaurant. 

A reservation system can make a huge different and you don't have to use Open Table or some third party. Instead, you can use a plugin within WordPress, which is free, to set up your own reservation system. Here's how it works.

<h2>Using the Restaurant Reservations Plugin for WordPress</h2>

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/RestaurantReservations.png" alt="Restaurant Reservations" width="720" height="226" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8257" />

The <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/restaurant-reservations/">Restaurant Reservations plugin</a> allows you to add a reservation system to your site. Start by installing and activating the plugin on your WordPress website. 

After it's activated, you can access the system by creating a new page for your site. You will leave the content area of this page blank, but you do need to give it a title. Once you've chosen a title, publish the page.

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/BlankPageforRestaurantReservations.png" alt="Blank Page for Restaurant Reservations" width="859" height="352" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8258" />

Then, you will need to go to <strong>Bookings&gt;&gt;Settings</strong> to access the configurations for the restaurant reservation plugin.

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/ReservationConfigurations.png" alt="Reservation Configurations" width="678" height="556" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8259" />

You will see three tabs on this page, which allow you to adjust different settings. The general tab will allow you to select the page you want to use for booking, set the max party size, create a custom message for a successful reservation and adjust a few basic settings. 

The Booking Schedule tab will allow you to add scheduling rules to define the times guests can make reservations. You can also add exceptions for holidays and special events. This section will allow you to set a time interval between reservations and adjust a few other settings, too.

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/BookingSchedule.png" alt="Booking Schedule" width="588" height="510" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8260" />

Notifications is the final tab and will allow you to control the settings for how you receive the reservations. You will be able to choose an email for the notification sent to the guest and an email for reception of the reservation. This section will also allow you to set up a template for the email received by the person making a reservation.

<img src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Notifications.png" alt="Notifications" width="709" height="398" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-8261" />

Make sure you customize the options you need to fit your restaurant and your brand before letting your system go live. The plugin makes it very easy to create a custom notification message for those making a successful reservation.

<h2>How to Display Your Reservation System on your Front Page</h2>

Once you have set everything up the way you prefer, you will be able to add the reservation page to your navigation menus. Go to <strong>Appearance&gt;&gt;Menus</strong> and choose the menu you would like to add the page to. Then, select the reservation page from the left column and add it to the menu. You can drag and drop it to the location you prefer. Save your changes and you're all set.

Now you can easily add your own reservation system to your WordPress restaurant website. This makes it much easier for potential diners to reserve a table and helps you to pack the house every single night of the week.
