Creating a Guidebook
Guidebooks let you present all the information your guests need in one place. Creating a new guidebook is quick -- a short two-step form gets you a working guidebook, and everything else (branding, host info, emergency contacts, navigation) is configured afterward in the guidebook's Settings.
How to create a new guidebook
- Go to Guidebooks in the sidebar.
- Click the "New Guidebook" button.
- A two-step form collects the essentials and creates the guidebook.
The two-step create form
The create form has just two steps.
Step 1 -- Basics
- Property name -- A clear, descriptive name. This becomes the guidebook title and is visible to guests at the top of the guidebook (e.g., "Beach House Villa" or "Apartment 4B -- City Center"). If you plan to share one guidebook across multiple properties, choose a general name (e.g., "Guest Guide").
- Language -- The guidebook's default (source) language.
If you have more than one listing, a Select Property picker opens first. Choosing a property pre-fills the name and address. With a single listing, those details are pre-filled automatically.
Step 2 -- Address
- Street address, postal code, city, and country.
The country is used to derive the right local emergency number for the guidebook automatically -- you can adjust it later in Settings.
When you submit, hejGuide creates the guidebook with a sensible default theme and a country-based emergency number, then drops you into the guidebook so you can start adding pages.
Slug
Each guidebook gets a slug -- a URL-friendly version of the title that becomes part of the public URL. For example, a guidebook titled "Beach House Villa" might get the slug beach-house-villa, producing a URL like https://guide.hejguide.com/beach-house-villa/. You can customize the slug from the guidebook settings.
Linking to a listing
When you pick a property, the guidebook is linked to that listing. Linking a guidebook to a listing does several things:
- The listing's property name and address coordinates are used in the guidebook.
- The listing's photo can appear in the guidebook header.
- The
{guidebook_link}template variable in Automated Emails resolves to this guidebook's URL for bookings at that listing.
TIP
You can create multiple guidebooks to suit your needs. For example, you might create one guidebook per property with specific details, or a single general guidebook that covers all your listings with shared house rules and local tips.
Configuring the rest in Settings
Everything below -- branding colors, host info, emergency contacts, the welcome modal, and navigation -- is set after creation, from the guidebook's Settings tab. None of it is part of the create form.
Branding and colors
Each guidebook can be branded with custom colors to match your property or company identity. There are three editable color settings:
| Setting | What it controls | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Primary color | Navigation background, header areas, and primary buttons | #2C5F8A (dark blue) |
| Text on primary | Text color used on top of the primary color background | #FFFFFF (white) |
| Page background | The background color behind the guidebook content | #F7F6F3 (off-white) |
All three are set as hex color values. The color pickers in the guidebook settings let you choose visually or enter an exact hex code.
TIP
Pick a text-on-primary color that has strong contrast against your primary color. White text works well on dark primary colors; dark text works better on light primary colors.
Host information
Fill in your host contact details so guests can reach you directly from the guidebook:
- Host name -- Your name or company name, displayed in the guidebook.
- Host phone -- A phone number guests can call or message.
- Host email -- An email address for guest inquiries.
- Host photo -- An optional profile photo that appears alongside your name.
These details appear in the guidebook and give guests a personal, direct way to contact you.
Emergency contacts
The emergency contacts section is one of the most valuable parts of the guidebook for guests. You can configure the following:
| Field | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Emergency number | The main emergency number (e.g., 112 in Europe, 911 in the US) |
| Police (non-emergency) | Local police station phone number |
| Healthcare info | General healthcare guidance or a clinic phone number |
| Hospital | Nearest hospital -- phone number and maps link |
| Pharmacy | Nearest pharmacy -- phone number and maps link |
| Dentist | Nearest dentist -- phone number and maps link |
Each entry that supports a maps link lets you paste a Google Maps (or similar) URL. Guests can tap the link on their phone to get turn-by-turn directions.
WARNING
Emergency contact information varies by location. If you manage properties in different cities or countries, make sure each guidebook has the correct local emergency numbers. Reusing emergency contacts from a different region could put guests at risk.
Welcome modal
You can configure an optional welcome modal -- a popup that appears the first time a guest opens the guidebook. This is useful for:
- A personalized greeting or welcome note.
- Important arrival instructions (e.g., "Park in spot #12" or "The key is in the lockbox").
- A brief orientation to help guests navigate the guidebook.
To set up the welcome modal:
- Open your guidebook settings.
- Toggle Show welcome modal on.
- Write your welcome message using the rich-text editor.
- Optionally, add translations of the welcome message for guests who speak other languages.
The welcome message supports full rich-text formatting (bold, lists, links, etc.) and can be translated into all 24 supported languages. The translation is stored as JSON and served based on the guest's detected language.
Navigation settings
You can control which sections appear in the guidebook's navigation menu. The following toggles are available:
| Toggle | What it controls |
|---|---|
| Show Home | Whether the home / landing page appears in the navigation |
| Show Info | Whether the Info system page appears (you can assign a specific page as the info page) |
| Show Nearby | Whether the Nearby section appears (powered by Local Guide) |
| Show Menu | Whether the full page menu is visible in the navigation |
These toggles let you tailor the navigation to your content. For example, if you have not set up the Local Guide, you can hide the Nearby section so guests do not see an empty page.
Info and Nearby page assignment
For the Info and Nearby navigation items, you can optionally assign a specific existing page as the target. This means that clicking "Info" or "Nearby" in the navigation takes the guest to a page you have already created, rather than a generic system page.
Display options
A few additional display settings let you fine-tune the guest experience:
- Show image on tile -- Controls whether header images are displayed on page tiles (the overview cards guests see).
- Local Guide category tiles -- Controls the visual layout of Local Guide categories (tile-based display).
- Local Guide require category -- When enabled, guests must select a category before seeing individual locations in the Local Guide section.
Organizing your guidebooks
After creating several guidebooks, you can manage them all from the Guidebooks overview page. Each guidebook shows:
- The guidebook name
- Which listing it is assigned to
- Its publish status (draft or live)
- A quick link to edit or preview it
WARNING
A guidebook without any pages will appear empty to guests. Make sure to add at least a few essential pages -- such as welcome information and house rules -- before publishing.
Related
- Guidebooks Overview
- Managing Pages
- Publishing Your Guidebook
- Listings -- Manage the properties you assign guidebooks to
- Local Guide -- Add local recommendations to your guidebooks
- Linking Local Guide to a Guidebook -- Connect local recommendations to specific guidebooks
- Template Variables -- Use
{guidebook_link}to share the URL in automated emails