How do I arrange my website's sections?

Arrange your website's compact section cards, change their order, and choose what shows when a page isn't available.

Part of How do I set up my venue website?. This part covers the sections a page is made of: the compact cards, their order, and what shows when a page isn't available.

Sections — the compact cards

The Sections row adds extra blocks to the home page. On a brand-new website, the cards for what you already sell start switched on — the booking card while online bookings are open, gift cards while they're on sale, loyalty and the waitlist while they're switched on, and the order card while collection or delivery is on — so your first site already shows them; a site you'd already set up keeps every switch as you left it. The booking card is the big card under the hero, with the Now booking card and What we offer under it; the waitlist, gift card, loyalty and order cards sit together as one row of compact cards — each an icon, a title, one line and a link — so switching more on never adds another strip. On phones the cards sit two across, and with three on the third spans the full width. Each one appears to guests only while its feature is genuinely available — a switched-on card whose feature lapses simply disappears rather than showing a dead button. The list only offers the cards your plan and products include (Gift cards only if you sell gift cards, for example); a card you have but have switched off elsewhere — online bookings, or your waitlist — says so under its switch ("Saved, but hidden on the site until …") until you switch it back on:

• Booking card — a day, party size and time card, offering every time the day has — never a time that has already passed today (once today's last time has gone, today reads "No times left" and the card starts on the next day). Continue carries the guest's choices to your site's own Book page, inside your site's header and footer — live availability, deposits and confirmation exactly as on your booking page. The closing invitation's button goes to the same page.
• Now booking card — on by default, and it shows once Show a "Now booking" line on your booking page is switched on (When people can book): while a special date you have opened early (a date's When it opens for booking on Settings → Bookings → Special dates, listed on When people can book as Special dates open early) is open to book, a small "Now booking" card sits under the booking card (or straight after the hero if the booking card is off) with a row for each open date — the name and the day, or the first and last day of a stretch — linking straight to that date on your booking page; iPhone or laptop, light theme or dark, it wears your site's own colours. Nothing shows while no special date is open. Switch it off here if you would rather the site never showed one.
• What we offer — on by default, and it shows only while you have at least one experience on sale (Experiences, on Pro and Complete): a "What we offer" part sits under the booking card (or straight after the hero if the booking card is off) with a card for each experience on sale — its picture, name, price, how long it lasts and the group sizes, with your own words about it — each opening your site's own Book page with that experience already chosen. It wears your site's own colours. Nothing shows while no experience is on sale or while online bookings are off. Switch it off here if you would rather the site never showed it — your experiences stay on your booking page and keep their own links.
• Waitlist card — a compact card linking to your waitlist page, where guests put their name down.
• Gift cards — a compact "Gift cards" card linking to your gift card page.
• Loyalty card — a compact join card, shown while your scheme is open to new members.
• Order online — a compact "Order online" card linking to your collection and delivery ordering page, shown while collection or delivery ordering is switched on.

Two ordering handles need no switch at all. The Order button in the site's header (and "Order online" in the phone menu and footer) appears whenever collection or delivery is on — it opens the same ordering chooser your guest navigation uses. A venue that only takes orders at the table has no header button: guests at the table scan its code. And when you take orders at the table, an Order to your table card joins the row (switch it off under Home with Show "Order to your table"): for a venue that only takes orders by scanning the code on the table it's informational ("scan the code on your table"); when your Flexible table entry setting accepts a typed table number, it's a real link into the which-table step.

Section order

The Section order row lets you drag the home page's sections into the order you want (or use the up and down buttons beside each row). The hero always leads and the booking invitation always closes the page. The four compact cards move together as one row. The Now booking card and What we offer sit with the booking card (or straight after the hero when it's off), so they aren't in this list either. Contact & hours and your own pages are pages in the site menu, not home-page sections, so they don't appear in this list. Sections with nothing to show simply don't appear — the order is kept for when they do.

When a page isn't available — you choose what shows

Every feature page tells you honestly whether guests can actually use it right now — for example, if online bookings are switched off, or your public menu is switched off. You're only asked this for things your venue has — Book a table while online bookings are switched off, and Menu while your public menu is switched off. What's on is part of every plan, so when nothing is coming up it simply stays out of sight until you add something. When something you have isn't available, you choose per page:

• Show a friendly notice — the page keeps its place with honest copy like "Online bookings aren't available at the moment — call us on…" (your phone number is included automatically).
• Hide it — the page disappears from the site entirely.

Preview any pages you change to check the notice or hidden-page choice works for your venue.

While your website is live, your look carries across every page your guests reach from it — the menu, events, gift cards, waitlist, tickets and the account area all render inside your site's header and footer and adopt your theme's fonts, colours and shapes, so the site never feels like it ends at the front page. With a dark look (Modern Dark, Deco Brasserie or Chalkboard), the booking, order and payment screens stay dark by default, or sit on a light card in your look's fonts and accent if you choose Light card under Booking and payment steps.

Related: How do I set up my venue website? · How do I set up my website's pages? · How do I publish my website and get found on Google?