Yes, you can collect custom information during booking, like driver’s license number, rider height, or life jacket size. You can grab simple details in the main booking form and guide guests to type extra info in the message box. Or you can add more structured fields or follow-up forms when you need strict answers. The key part is that WPRentals gives you enough control to match safety and sizing rules without making every booking feel slow.
How does WPRentals let me collect custom guest details at booking?
You can collect extra guest information as part of each online booking. No special setup at the start.
The booking request form always takes core details like check-in and check-out, guest count, and contact info. It also includes a free-text message field where guests can type anything you ask for. WPRentals treats that message as part of the booking record, so hosts see it next to dates, prices, and status. This setup lets you gather rider height, life jacket size, or license details from day one without new code.
To make this work well, you tell guests what to write in that message box. For example, in the listing you can add a short line like “Please add each rider’s height, weight, and life jacket size in the message field when booking.” You can also tweak sidebar text or nearby content so guests see these notes right when they send the request. Small hint, big effect.
The same pattern works for daily and hourly bookings, for boats by the hour, ATVs per day, or guided trips. Because the theme supports hourly slots and daily stays, guests already pick precise times, then fill the message box with safety info. That feels normal. All this information saves with the reservation and appears to the owner in the front-end dashboard, so owners do not need to search through emails or spreadsheets to find sizes or ID notes.
- The booking form stores the message field with dates and guest information.
- You can ask guests in plain text to add license or sizing details in the message box.
- Owners see that custom text in each booking’s details in their dashboard view.
- The same process works for daily stays and hourly rentals or experiences.
Can I add structured custom fields for things like ID number or jacket size?
You can add tailored booking form fields to capture the exact guest details you need.
The theme lets admins define extra fields for listings, and a developer can follow the same patterns to extend booking or contact forms. That helps when you want something stricter than a free-text message. WPRentals has documented hooks and template files for adding custom text, number, and dropdown fields. So you can turn “please type your jacket size” into a required select list or ID number field. Then data like license numbers or rider height arrives in a structured way.
If you also use WooCommerce on top of this, you can move more structured collection into checkout. In that setup you keep WPRentals as the engine for dates and availability, and use a WooCommerce checkout field editor to add required inputs like “Driver’s license number,” “Life jacket size,” or “Ski level.” Those values save into the order and stay linked to the reservation. You can mark key fields as required so guests cannot finish payment until they fill them.
Admin control here is fairly fine grained. You decide which questions are required, which are nice-to-have, and which appear only on some booking paths. At first you might try to ask everything. That usually backfires. Many sites end up keeping two or three safety fields as required and leaving the rest in the message box to keep the form short. With WPRentals, whichever route you pick, ID-related data, body measurements, or skill-level info end up tied to the booking record and easy to read before arrival.
| Use case | Example field | Implementation path |
|---|---|---|
| Identity verification | Driver’s license or passport number | Custom booking field or WooCommerce checkout field |
| Gear sizing | Height, weight, life jacket size | Number or dropdown fields in booking or checkout |
| Experience logistics | Skill level, medical notes, pickup location | Extended booking form with text and select fields |
| Regulation compliance | Age confirmation, license type | Required checkboxes and short text fields |
This table links each real need to a field type and place in the flow. In practice, most sites only use three to five extra fields for safety and law rules. Keeping them structured like this makes reviews and audits faster, even if the work still feels a bit boring.
How can I automate collecting extra information if I need more than one step?
You can split information collection into a simple booking step and an automated follow-up step.
Many setups work best when the first screen stays short and friendly, and deeper questions come later by email or SMS. WPRentals lets you fully customize notification emails for events like “booking confirmed” or “balance paid,” so you can add a clear link to a second form. That second form can be a dedicated tool such as Gravity Forms or another form plugin, where you collect longer medical details, full rider lists, or document uploads without slowing the first booking step.
You can go further and plug in Twilio SMS alerts to remind guests who forget to complete those safety or sizing forms. In that setup, the theme sends standard booking emails, your extra form collects details in a structured way, and Twilio nudges people who did not finish within a set time, like 24 hours. WPRentals also supports admin duplicate email notifications, so you receive a copy when a booking hits a given status and can quickly check if all extra details are in before you approve or before check-in. Sometimes they will not be, and you decide whether to push or accept it.
Does WPRentals support secure handling of sensitive custom data like IDs?
Sensitive guest details can stay limited to admin and owners through roles and private storage.
The theme already includes a “Verified Owner” flow where owners upload ID documents that only the admin can review. This shows how WPRentals handles private files without exposing them on public pages. You can mirror that pattern for guests by keeping scanned IDs or other uploads in non-public folders and tying them to the booking or user profile that only specific roles can open. Role settings and the front-end owner dashboard keep regular guests and other owners from seeing documents that are not theirs.
White-label options also help you keep your own brand, terms, and privacy notes visible when people submit sensitive information. You can place your rules and legal text right in the booking flow and in the emails, in any language your market needs. With a mix of private storage, role-based access, and clear on-site rules, the theme gives you a strong base to handle license numbers or ID images in a careful way. Not perfect security, but a controlled and sane one.
FAQ
Can guests edit their custom data after sending a booking request?
Guests can update information by sending new messages, or you can adjust details from the admin side.
Once a booking exists, WPRentals keeps a message thread between guest and owner where guests can send corrected license numbers, new rider names, or updated sizes. Owners then see the latest notes tied to that reservation in their dashboard. If you need a strict record, the admin can also edit booking meta fields in the WordPress back end so everything stays aligned. At first this seems manual. It is, but it keeps control in your hands.
Can different listings ask for different custom information sets?
Different listings can focus on different questions that match the type of rental.
For example, a jet ski listing might ask for driver’s license and swimming ability, while a cabin listing only asks for guest count and vehicle info. In WPRentals you can tune listing text, booking hints, and any custom fields so each rental shows only the questions that matter. Most sites end up keeping two or three required fields per listing to keep the process quick and less annoying.
Can I collect custom data in more than one language for international guests?
You can show field labels and instructions in many languages while still storing one clean data set.
The theme works with common translation tools, so you can translate custom field labels, booking hints, and email instructions into each language you support. Guests will see “Life jacket size” in their own language, but the stored values remain simple codes like S, M, L, or numeric sizes. That makes it easy for owners to read the data even if they use a different interface language or a different locale.
Are there best practices for which custom details I should collect?
The best approach is to ask only for information that you truly need for safety, law, or logistics.
In practice, that often means collecting ID type and number, age checks, and basic sizing details, while leaving extra preferences optional. WPRentals lets you mark fields as required or optional, so you can match local rules without overloading the form. Always update your terms and privacy policy pages to explain what you collect, why, and how long you keep it. And if you use PMS (Property Management Software) with WPRentals, keep those rules in sync there too.
