Our intention in publishing adverting guidelines is to attempt to standardise the interpretation and presentation of information on our site. We feel this will benefit both our advertisers and their clients alike. We must stress these are guidelines only and we do not verify the correctness of the information being presented. However in extreme cases where continued abuse is brought to our attention we reserve the right to withdraw the the offending advertisement in line with our terms and conditions.
The Guidelines are incorporated in the help text available to our advertisers when entering their advertisement and are presented in a grey background. If you are a visitor to our site looking for accommodation to rent we must again stress these are only our guidelines. Advertisers are under no legal obligation to follow them and might not even view them when entering their advertisement. We advise that all clients should check the advertised information with the advertiser before making a booking.
The guidelines are presented under the sections in which they appear in the advertisement.
Registering with Us
Viewing your Account
Create New Advert
Property Summary
Property Description
Accommodation
Facilities
Location Description
Location Details
Additional Information
Web Site Links
Contact Details
Charge Details
Photos
Activating your Advert
Maintaining your Booking Chart
Special Index Entries
Advertisers' Registration Screen
Before setting up your first advert, you need to complete the Advertisers' Registration process. This is a simple process which allows you to register your email address and contact numbers. At this point you also set up your Userid and password. Once set up, your Userid may not be changed, but yur password can be changed at any point by returning to this screen. You may additionally specify a Memorable Place to provide you with additional security. You will then need to provide this each time you log on. We do advise that you do not use sensitive information for your Userid and password such as information you might use to log onto your on-line Banking System.
Fields which are optional are marked with a red asterisk. When you register initially, you will be asked to let us know how you found out about us. This is very useful information for our marketing purposes and we appreciate you providing it.
Once you have registered with us, you are able to proceed to set up your first advert. On returning to the system in the future, access the Advertisers' Logon screen by clicking on the "Owners Home Area" button at the top of any screen or link at the side of most screens.
Additional Registration Details
Use this screen to enter additional information about yourself prior to making your first advert live. Currently the only extra information required at this point is your address.
This screen may be accessed directly from the Owners Home Area screen or, if any registration details are missing at the point of making your first advertisement live, you will be directed here automatically.
The Owners' Account Details screen allows you to view all your charges and account entries including their current payment status. Each charge has a reference which should correspond to the reference on the invoice sent to you for that charge. The reference of any Promotional Code which was applied to your charge is also listed.
The screen will also tell you the date on which your current advertising space runs out.
Please check the information on this screen carefully and contact us should there be any errors.
There are currently four types of advertisement available:
Standard Self-Catering Advert. (Type SC)
This is the most common type and is for advertising a single property. It comprises a summary advertisement which is displayed when visitors search the site and a main advertisement which contains all the details of the property.
If this type of advertisement is suitable for your property please see: How to Create a Type SC Advert
Guestrooms only Advert. (Type MO)
This type of advert is only suitable for advertising Guestrooms in a Hotel/Bed and Breakfast or Guesthouse. If you also have self catering accommodation you can either take a separate Self-Catering Advert or you may wish to consider a taking out a Multi-unit advert - see below.
If this type of advertisement is suitable for your property please see: How to Create a Type MO Advert
Multi-Unit Adverts. (Type MMO - includes Guestrooms) (Type MSC - Self Catering only)
These types of advertisements are suitable where there are several separate units for rent at the same location e.g. a Gite Complex,B&B with additional self catering accommodation or several apartments in the same apartment block. They are NOT suitable for advertising several properties which are at different locations. Basically a Multi-Unit advert comprises a a combination of up to six standard adverts however the way the are presented differs from that of six separate standard adverts.
see: Multiple Standard Adverts vs one Multi-Unit Advert
If you do have multiple units for rent at the same location then this type of advertisement provides a cost effective alternative to purchasing separate advertisements.
Multiple Standard Adverts vs one Multi-unit Advertisement
Note: *** -- Multi-Units advertisements only work if all accommodation is at the same location --***
The main advantage of taking out a number Standard Advertisements as opposed to a single Multi-Unit Advertisement is that when a search is made without specifying the size of party a summary advertisement will be displayed for every property advertised, whereas in the case of a Multi-Unit advertisement only the summary advertisement for the group will be displayed from which the visitor will have to select to view the summary advertisements for each accommodation unit within the group.
Apart from the cost advantage a Multi-Unit Advertisement has over multiple Standard Adverts the combined capacity of all units as well as their individual capacity is considered when visitors search for properties based on the number of persons that can be accommodated. e.g. If a property contains 3 units 2 of which sleep 4 and another sleeps 6 then not only will the individual adverts summaries appear if they match the required capacity but the the group summary will be displayed if the requirement can be matched by a combination of units i.e. 8(4 + 4) 10(6 + 4) or 14(6 + 4 +4).
If this type of advertisement is suitable for your property please see: How to create a Multi-Unit Advert
For more details and for the cost of each option please view our Options & Charges
To create a Self Catering advert you must complete as a minimum those sections listed below which are highlighted in green. While the other sections are not compulsory it is better to provide as much information as possible. The only dependency is that the Summary Advertisement section must be completed first. All other sections can be completed in any order you wish. You do not have to create your advert in one session but can leave and return to it at any time in the future as long as you complete you advert within 90 days of registration.
The sections are:
Property Summary
Property Description
Accommodation Details
Facilities
Location Description
Location Details
Additional Information
Web Site Link
Contact Details
Charge Details
Photos
Booking Chart maintenance
Special Index registration
Property Summary
Property Description
Facilities
Accommodation Details
Location Description
Location Details
Additional Information
Web Site Link
Contact Details
Charge Details
Photos
Booking Chart maintenance
Special Index registration
There are two types of Multi-Unit adverts:
A type MSC which effectively comprises up to 6 Self Catering (SC) adverts (which for the Multi-Unit version are a type CSC), and a type MMO which comprises up to 5 Self Catering adverts (Type CSC) plus a Guestroom only (MO )advert(which for the Multi_unit version are a type CMO).
When you create a Multi-Unit advertisement you build a dummy advertisement for the property as a whole which contains the information that is common to all the accommodation being advertised such as location, shared facilities, contact details etc. You then build the adverts for each of accommodation units you are advertising adding the information that is specific to each unit such as its description, the facilities available and the photographs. When you preview these individual advertisements and when you generate the live advertisements for the group you will see that the data from the dummy group advert has been incorporated into each advert. When the live adverts are generated one summary advertisement and one full advertisement is generated for each unit. In addition a summary advertisement and a full advertisement is generated from the group. The full advertisement for the group comprises the individual accommodation unit summaries from which you can select to view the full adverts for the individual units.
The accommodation capacity shown on the Group summary advertisement is the total that can be accommodated in all units. This summary will be presented by our Search functionality whenever the capacity required can be satisfied by a combination of individual units. It has been designed in this way so that larger groups may consider occupying several or all units of accommodation as an alternative to one single large property. From this summary advert visitors can view the summary adverts for each unit and from there the detail advertisements.
The table below shows which sections you create under the group and which ones under the individual Units. You do not need to memorise this information as the system will only allow you to create the applicable sections.
| Group Id | Unit Id |
| Property Summary | Property Summary |
| Location Description | Property Description |
| Location Details | Facilities |
| Accommodation Details | |
| Additional Information | Additional Information |
| Web Site Link | Web Site Link |
| Contact Details | Charge Details |
| Photos | Photos |
| Booking Chart Update |
After you have completed the registration process for a Multi-unit advertisement the system takes you to the screen for inputting the property summary information for the Group Advertisement. While you do not have to complete the the Group advertisement first we recommend that you do so that the information that is common to all units will appear when you proof read the adverts for each individual unit via the Display Advert function.
Update an existing Advertisement
You can update your advert at any time by selecting the property you wish to update from the drop-down box in the "Update Advertisement Details" section on the "Owners Home Page" and clicking on the Advert section you wish to update. The changes you make will not change your live advertisement until you select "Make Change Live" from the Migrate section. You can therefore make multiple changes to your advert and proof read those changes using the "Display Advert" Option before the changes appear in your live advertisement.
Special Index entries are also updated automatically after you select the confirm function.
The Property Summary is the first thing a visitor will see about your property so it should be made as eye-catching as possible. You have 70 characters of emboldened text + 350 characters of normal text including spaces in which to present the best features about your property. e.g. you may think your large pool and garden is its main attraction or perhaps its location close to the town. Try not be too verbose - better to have less flowing text but more features in terms of bullet points.
If you change this section after your advert is live, the changes will be stored on your Draft Advert but you need to select "Make Changes Live" from the Owners Home Page to activate these changes on your Live Advert.
If you change this section after your advert is live, the changes will be stored on your Draft Advert but you need to select "Make Changes Live" from the Owners Home Page to activate these changes on your Live Advert.
Property Description Back to Top Swap to 4U2 Main Screen
The property description gives you 2000 characters of free format
text in which to describe your property - its aspect, décor and
best features. When completing the description bear in mind you do
not have to use this text to list the number of rooms or equipment
in the property or to describe the surrounding location. These
features are described in other sections.
If you change this section after your advert is live, the changes will be stored on your Draft Advert but you need to select "Make Changes Live" from the Owners Home Page to activate these changes on your Live Advert.
For Self Catering advertisements (type SC) the accommodation section is driven from the input provided by you when completing the property summary. The number of bedrooms and bathrooms entered there drives the questions in this section as to the facilities in each room.
For Guestroom adverts (types MO and CMO) you are allowed up to you 6 slots to describe your Guestrooms which you define under this section. If you have more than 6 Guestrooms or would prefer not to describe each room individually you can allocate the slots as a room category such as Standard, Deluxe etc. When creating room categories the rooms you let under these categories must attract the same charges and should contain the same or similar facilities. Unlike the Self Catering adverts the details of the room capacities are specified when completing this section.
If you change this section after your advert is live, the changes will be stored on your Draft Advert but you need to select "Make Changes Live" from the Owners Home Page to activate these changes on your Live Advert.
This sections allows you to specify the facilities available within the property and in the surrounding grounds. Most data is captured by simple tick or selection boxes.
If you change this section after your advert is live, the changes will be stored on your Draft Advert but you need to select "Make Changes Live" from the Owners Home Page to activate these changes on your Live Advert.
Use this section to describe the location in which your property is situated and the area surrounding it. Remember that other sections are available to allow you to describe the property itself.
If you change this section after your advert is live, the changes will be stored on your Draft Advert but you need to select "Make Changes Live" from the Owners Home Page to activate these changes on your Live Advert.
If you change this section after your advert is live, the changes will be stored on your Draft Advert but you need to select "Make Changes Live" from the Owners Home Page to activate these changes on your Live Advert.
Use this section to enter any additional information that you have not had the opportunity to enter elsewhere. Note that, for Multiple Unit adverts, you can enter this information for both the group and the individual unit. Both sets of information will be displayed on the individual unit advert.
If you change this section after your advert is live, the changes will be stored on your Draft Advert but you need to select "Make Changes Live" from the Owners Home Page to activate these changes on your Live Advert.
Use this section to enter a link to your private Web Site.
You will first be asked to read our Terms and Conditions regarding Web Site Links & References. By clicking the ACCEPT button you are confirming that you have read and accepted these Terms & Conditions.
The next screen asks you to select the type of link you wish to create. Your options are
A Reciprocal Link which is Free of Charge if the link back to us is installed on your web site at the time you make your advertisement live or
A Chargeable Link which you should select if you do not wish to provide a link back to our site. Please see Web Link Charge for the current charge for a Non Reciprocal Links
The screen then prompts you to enter the name of your Web Site which should include the prefix www.
The Code you should enter into your Web Site if you decide on a Reciprocal Link is displayed and the option to email this code to yourself is also available. This information is also available on the previous page which you can refer to at any time.
The Contact Details section allows you to input up to two sets of contact details for your property. You are able to swap between primary and alternative contact details using the buttons at the bottom of the screen. Alternative contact details are optional.
On a multiple unit advert, the contact details are entered once only, at group level, but will appear on each of your individual unit adverts.
When you enter this screen for the first time, you will find that values have been defaulted from your Owner's Registration entry. You may keep these values or overwrite them as you choose.
Most of the fields in this section are self-explanatory, but note the following:
Title: The title field is optional.
Email: Your email address will be validated only to the extent that it contains an @ character. You are asked to enter your email address twice to ensure correctness.
Telephone No 1: Only telephone number 1 is mandatory.
Telephone No 2: Telephone number 2 may be indicated as a fax number by clicking the Fax radio button. If you have a number which is both telephone and fax, we suggest that you enter it as both telephone number 1 and 2 and click the Fax radio button on telephone number 2.
Other Languages: Ideally these should be listed and separated by comments.
If you change this section after your advert is live, the changes will be stored on your Draft Advert but you need to select "Make Changes Live" from the Owners Home Page to activate these changes on your Live Advert.
For Self Catering advertisements (types SC & CSC) you create a single set of charges for the advertisement.
For Guestroom advertisements (types MO & CMO) you can either create one set of charges for each Guestroom slot that you created under the accommodation section See Accommodation Details or you can link several Guestroom slots to a single set of charges. Once you have defined each charge slot, entry of the charges is the same as for Self Catering adverts.
You can split your charges into as many periods as you wish. Your charge periods can be named e.g. "High Season", "Low Season" but this is not mandatory.
If you change this section after your advert is live, the changes will be stored on your Draft Advert but you need to select "Make Changes Live" from the Owners Home Page to activate these changes on your Live Advert.
Before using our automated photo upload and maintenance screen please read the help text below:
Number of Photos Allowed:
Sending your Photos:
Preparing your Own Photos:
Photo Sizes:
Photo Positioning:
Using the Photo upload and maintenance screen:
To upload a photograph:
=> Select the position in which you wish the photo to appear.
=> Select the shape for the photograph.
=> Enter a description for the photograph. This is optional but if entered it will appear on the advert centered below the photograph.
=> Select Browse. This will display a pop up box displaying the files on your own machine. Select the photo file you wish to upload by double clicking on the file or selecting open. The file name will appear in the select file box.
=> Select Upload and the file will be uploaded and appear under current photos.
Processing your Current Photos:
Deleting a Photo
=> Select the position of the photo you wish to delete.
=> Check the delete button.
=> Select Process.
Moving a Photo to a Different Position.
=> Select the position of the photo you wish to move.
=> Check the move to button.
=> Select the position to which you wish to move the photo. If that position is already occupied you need to select hold area. Note Photos in the hold area are not displayed on the advert so you will need to move the photo again once you have moved or deleted the photo that is occupying the position to which you wanted to move the photo.
=> Select Process and the photo will appear in its new position in the current photo display.
Also Use on Summary
You may either upload a separate photo for your summary ad or use a copy of a photo being displayed on your main advert:
=> Select the position of the photo to be displayed.
=> Check the also use as summary button.
=> Select process.
Amending a Photo Description
=> Select the position of the photo whose description you wish to change.
=> Enter a new description.
=> Select process.
Cancelling a Selection
=> Check the Cancel button and the other buttons will become unchecked.
Number of Photos Allowed:
You are allowed to include up to 13 photographs with your advertisement. One of these photographs must be of thumbnail size for inclusion in your summary advertisement.The other photographs may be any one of 5 different allowable sizes. See Photo Sizes. The photographs allocated to your main advertisement are split between the actual advertisement and a supplementary page which visitors select to view from the main advertisement. The number displayed on each will depend on the positioning and size of the photographs. see Photo Positioning
Sending your Photos:
We do not to accept photographs through the post as nowadays most people either have their own digital cameras or have their films developed onto digital media which can easily be sent electronically. This makes the setup process much quicker and less prone to loss or damage. If in the future there is sufficient demand for a postal service we will reconsider this policy.
All photographs must be in jpeg format and must have a file suffix of .jpg or .JPG.
Our preferred method of receiving your photographs is via our automated upload facility which is available from our Photo Update function. This facility can handle most Photos up to 5MB in size. There are however a few Photos less than 5MB that fail to upload. If your Photos are > 5MB or you are left with a blank screen after using the automated upload facility please email the photos to us - see below.
Using this facility you can automatically position your photographs, give them a description and resize them. A small amount of clarity will be lost during the resizing process but if the original photos are of good quality the effect will hardly be noticeable. If you are not happy with your photos' appearance once they are uploaded you can either:
Resize them prior to uploading. In which case you will be able to use your photo-editing software to touch up any loss of quality that has resulted from the resizing process or
Email them to us @ admin@4u2-rent.co.uk and we will prepare them for you and include them in your advertisement.
If you do email them to us you must quote your advert number the position 0 - 12 and shape in which you wish each one to appear and if required a short description. Please note though we cannot guarantee to improve photographs that are already of poor quality.
Preparing your Own Photos:
The quality of a digital photograph not only depends on the quality of the captured image but also on the medium onto which that image is reproduced. When preparing photos for display on computer screens over the web you should consider that at lot of computer screens are not capable of displaying at more than 72x72dpi (dots per inch). It is therefore preferable that your photographs are prepared for display at this density as the resulting file will be smaller and take less time to transmit and will display on your advertisement with no loss of clarity. When re-scaling photographs most Photo imaging packages will prompt you for the resolutions or quality at which you wish to save the edited photograph. As the file size of photographs of the same dimensions vary depending on their content it is not possible to give an exact expected size for dimension. We have however listed what we expect the maximum file size to be. If the files you upload greatly exceed these sizes we reserve the right to reprocess the photographs to obtain a resultant file of a more optimum size See Photo Sizes.
Photo Sizes:
The table below list the 5 sizes at which photographs can be displayed on your advertisement. The file sizes listed are the maximum sizes one would expect for each dimension if the files are saved at 72x72dpi. See Preparing your Own Photos
Type
Size(Width x Height)
in Pixels
Approx size in mm
@ 800x600 res
max file size
in Kbytes
Panoramic
Landscape Standard
Portrait Standard
Landscape Thumbnail
Portrait Thumbnail
650W x 250H
300W x 200H
"200W X 300H
150W X 112H
112W X 150H
192w X 70h
89w X 59h
59w x 89h
43w X 35h
35w x 43h
80
45
45
10
10
When uploading your photographs you will be able to select a position for each photograph from 0 to 12. Position 0 is always allocated to the Summary photograph which must be of thumbnail dimensions. The remaining photographs can be of any of the 5 allowable dimensions and will be split between the main advert and the supplementary page. The adverts are positioned from top to bottom left to right starting with the main advertisement and continuing onto the supplementary page. A panoramic photograph will take the full width of the advert while 2 standard size photographs or 4 thumbnail sized photos will be displayed side by side across the page. The number of photos displayed on the main advert will depend on the height of the photographs in the lower positions. A depth of 605 pixels has been allocated on the main advert so allowing for a gap of 5 pixels between each photo it is possible to display 4 standard size landscape photos plus a row of 4 thumbnail photos on the main advertisement.
Make Advert Live Back to Top Swap to 4U2 Main Screen
Once you are happy with the information you have entered to build your advert, your can proceed to activate it using the Make Advert Live button. Note that you can review the expected look of your advert at any time by using the Display Advert function from the Owners' Home Page or from any of the Update screens.
If this is the first time you have activated an advert and you have not yet recorded any Additional Registration details, you will be directed automatically to the Additional Registration Details Screen.
Having proceeded to activate your advert, you will be presented with a confirmation screen which will outline any charges which will be applicable to you once your advert is live. This will include details of the standard annual advert charge, additional charges for multiple unit entries and any Activity Holiday Index entries you may have. These charges will secure your advertising space for a year (or for the length of time indicated by any Special Offer applicable to you) after which time they will be renewed.
Press the Confirm button to proceed. Your advert is now on the Live system and can be selected and viewed by visitors to the site. You will shortly receive an invoice by email detailing any charges which will become due to you.
Changes to existing adverts can be activated by using the Make Changes Live button. You will be presented with a confirmation screen. Pressing Confirm at this point will migrate any changes you have made via the Update Advertisement Details functions to the Live system. No additional charges become due as a result of this function.
Note that changes made via Update Bookings and Activity Holiday Index Entries become live with immediate effect and do not require activation.
Your Booking Chart is a highly important function for potential renters of your property. Keeping it up to date will ensure that you only receive queries for those times when your property is actually available and that potential clients are not frustrated by out of date information.
You may enter bookings up to 15 months in advance on a rolling basis. Therefore, it is advised that you check your Booking Chart frequently as future dates become available for update.
Every time you record a booking your property is submitted to an algorithm that affects how close to the top of the Search Results Page your property will appear, so it is important that you update your booking chart with any bookings you receive, whatever the source.
By default, the system assumes that your property is always available when not booked. You can update your Booking Charts to show bookings and periods of non-availability up to 15 months into the future. We default availability to reduce the amount of information you need to enter and because the system looks for availability when potential clients search by dates - if availability is not shown, your property will not appear in the Search Results for date related searches.
If you would prefer to enter your own availability, the first time you update your Booking Chart you should delete the pre-recorded availability. You can then add your own periods of availability and any bookings up to 15 months into the future. Note that if you do this you will need to add all availability manually in the future.
Rules for updating occupancy
Before updating the Booking Chart you should familiarise yourself with the following rules:
1. Booking and Hold occupancy types can be entered for any period showing as available or to be advised. They cannot be entered for periods that are already occupied. (i.e. Booked or Held). To adjust a period that is already occupied you must cancel that occupancy and re-enter a new breakdown for the period.
2. All occupancies should be recorded based on the actual day on which they start and finish (i.e. the changeover day). On the start and finish dates occupancy types can overlap.
3. All occupied periods that are cancelled will revert to available.
To Add an Occupancy Type
Use the appropriate radio button to select the Occupancy Type you wish to add - Booking, Hold or Availability. Enter the start and end dates to which this occupancy type refers. Click on Update to register the Occupancy. Continue entering or deleting Occupancies as you require.
To Delete an occupancy Type
Click on the start of the Occupancy you wish to delete. Occupancy start dates are always denoted by the presence of a radio button. Click on Update to register the deletion.
Remember: Your additions and deletions will only be added to the system when you finally press Save/Exit.
Special Index Entries or Activity Holiday Index entries allow you to market your property to a specific group e.g. Skiers. Currently there are 7 types of index available - Golf, Snow Skiing, Sub-Aqua, Sailing, Cookery, Painting and Horse Riding. Properties which are part of these indices will be found by Activity Holiday search functions, while properties which are not part of these indices, even though they may have Golf of Skiing nearby, will not be found by these searches.
We make a small charge for most of these entries in order to maintain the quality of the index and its usefulness to both Owners and site Visitors.The current charge is indicated next to the Index name on the screen. Note that this is the current charge to you e.g. if you have registered for a special offer which provides you with free advertising for a year, the charge will show as zero. For a different Owner, the charge may not be the same.
The screen is simple to use, allowing you to tick in order to join and index or in order to withdraw from it.
Press the Update button to process your changes. You will then be presented with a Confirmation screen, at which point you may accept the changes or return to correct them. Once you have confirmed your updates, your Special Index entries will be treated differently according to whether your Advert is Live or not.
For live Adverts, your Special Index entries will be activated immediately and you will shortly receive an email, invoicing you for any amounts which are due.
For adverts which have not yet been activated, your Special Index entries will be stored until such time as you activate your advert. Your activation invoice will include details of any charges which may be due.
Special Index membership, and the charge for it, is for a one year time period. At the end of that time, you will be sent a new invoice for a further year's membership. If you wish to withdraw from the index, you are able to do so.