How to: Manage Lynx Hospitality TV Guidebook Templates and Listings – Lynx

How to: Managing Your Hospitality TV Guidebook: A Step-by-Step Guide

Introduction

The Lynx Guidebook Categories Management system provides full control over the content displayed to guests on their Smart TVs. This guide explains how to add, edit, and configure your guidebook templates to create a customized and engaging digital experience for your guests.

The article is categorized into the following sections:

When to use this Guide
Benefits of using this Guide
Step-by-Step Resolution
Overview Layout Type & TV Layout Style Enhancements
Key Features
Related Articles

When to use this Guide

Promote on-site amenities (e.g., pool hours, gym access codes, or restaurant menus).
1. Use categories to make your property’s features easy to find on the TV screen.
2. Pool & Gym: To list operating hours, access codes, or towel locations.
3. Dining: To showcase on-site restaurant menus or room service options.
4. Parking: To explain permit requirements or designated spots.
Provide local recommendations (e.g., acting as a digital concierge for local attractions, dining, or emergency services).
1. Use categories to act as a digital concierge for the guest.
2. Local Attractions: For nearby parks, museums, or landmarks.
3. Restaurants & Bars: To categorize staff-recommended dining spots (e.g., "Best Breakfast" or "Late Night Eats").
4. Emergency Info: To provide locations for the nearest hospital, pharmacy, or grocery store.
Drive revenue by promoting upsell opportunities like late check-outs, room service, or equipment rentals.
1. The guidebook is a primary tool for upselling. Use it when you want to
2. Offer Services: Promote late check-out, mid-stay cleanings, or equipment rentals (like bikes or beach gear).

Benefits of using this Guide

• Real-Time Content Agility
Update menus, pricing, or local attractions across hundreds of rooms simultaneously via a central dashboard.
• Increased Revenue Generation
Facilitate direct bookings and create new advertising revenue streams by selling "listing space" to local businesses.
• Operational Efficiency
Reduce labor costs for maintenance and support eco-friendly initiatives by eliminating the need for printed, physical binders.

Important Notes:
- Obfuscation: Please ensure you obfuscate any live guest or sensitive business data before taking or sharing screenshots of your configuration.
- Character Limits: Custom menu titles are limited to 16 characters.
- AI vs. Manual: TV Layout Style settings are only applicable to AI-generated business listings. Manually added businesses follow a fixed template defined by Lynx.

Step-by-Step Resolution: (click on the orange text for links to other solution articles)

Overview Layout Type & TV Layout Style Enhancements

The Guidebook feature in Lynx has been enhanced with two new display configuration options:
Layout Type (To display the number of categories on TV) and TV Layout Style (To display the content style of nearby places). These settings give host more control over the visual experience guests see on TV screens when browsing the Guidebook.
Layout Type determines how the Guidebook category grid appears on TV. How many categories are shown and how large the tiles are. This applies to all Guidebook setups.

TV Layout Style determines how individual business content is displayed within a selected Guidebook category on TV. This setting is exclusive to AI-generated businesses, as manually added businesses follow a customized content template defined by Lynx and can be customised through this setting. For AI-generated businesses, the template can’t be customized, hence this can be controlled through these settings.

Both settings are accessible from the Guidebook and any changes are reflected instantly in the Live Preview on the right-hand side of the screen.

Process 1: Configure Layout Type

Process 2: Configure TV Layout Style

Manual vs. AI-Generated Businesses — Key Distinction

Feature Criterion	AI-Generated Businesses	Manually Added Businesses
TV Layout Style Impact	Fully affected. Toggleable between Information Focus and Visual Focus.	Not affected. Layout remains locked to predefined custom designs.
Template Control	Managed by Host via dashboard configuration choices.	Governed entirely by standard content templates provided by Lynx.
Recommended Use Case	Properties utilizing rapid bulk AI content population.	Properties displaying custom-curated local listings and unique partnerships.

Key Features

Explore the key functionalities built into these visual upgrades:

Real-time Live Preview: Instantly check how layout adjustments appear directly on the right-hand side of your configuration window before serving it to live screens.
Auto-Save Functionality: Layout configuration styles save immediately upon selection without requiring any manual save actions.
Layout Type Views: Choose Content Impact (3x3 grid up to 9 tiles) for extensive categories, or Visual Impact (2x3 grid up to 6 tiles) for bigger, premium image layouts.
Targeted TV Layout Styles: Toggle AI listings between Information Focus (compact images with detailed panels) and Visual Focus (large dominant image layout).
System Safeguards: Manually added listings strictly retain customized template designs managed via Lynx, safely separated from bulk AI layout toggles.

Step	Actions
Step 1: Visit the "Groups" Tab	Navigate to the "Groups" tab at the top of the Lynx portal.
Step 2: Select Group	Click to select the Group whose Hospitality TV settings you want to update, then click the "Smart TV White Label" section to expand it.
Step 3: Edit Settings	Click the "Click here - to see the settings" link to open Hospitality TV White-Label Settings for the selected Group.
Step 4: Select Guidebook Tab	Navigate to the Guidebook tab.
Step 5: Configure Options	Configure basic settings for your Hospitality TV Guidebook: Display "Guidebook" on Smart TV Menu: Toggle the Guidebook feature on or off. The default setting is "On", but you can toggle this off for seasonal maintenance, updating settings and content, or for any other reason you want to disable the Guidebook display. Menu Title: Click the "Edit" button green.edit.button.jpg to customize the title of the Guidebook option in the Hospitality TV display. Important Notes: - Custom menu titles are limited to 16 characters.
Step 6: Update Categories and Content	Click the slider to select which Guidebook options to edit: Category List: Think of categories as folders for your content. You can create categories to organize information logically, such as "Restaurants," "Tourist Attractions," "Health & Wellness," or "House Rules." A good structure makes it easy for guests to find what they're looking for. Category Content: This is where you add the actual details. Under each category, you can include descriptions, images, and specific information. For example, under the "Restaurants" category, you can add the names, descriptions, and even photos of your favorite local eateries.
Step 7: Manage Content" section.	Click and expand the Manage content section to manage the Guidebook Templates and Listings.
Step 8: Manage "Category" section.	Lynx offers 21 default categories to select from. You can select the category from the available list and then click on select category. We have the option if we can display the categories on TV using the icon option to show and hide on TV. We can also remove the select categories from action option on the Smart TV. We also have the option to add categories manually with relevant images.
Step 9: Edit "AI generated field" section.	Once you click and expand the manage category content section, you can see the following columns below: Category: Displays the business category name sourced from AI-generated data (e.g., "Health & Wellness," "Restaurants," "Cafes"). This field is read-only to prevent accidental edits. AI-generated tags from Property AI Fields are displayed alongside category names for classification and filtering. Currently, the AI tag matches the category name exactly. Example: Category “Health & Wellness” shows tag “Health and Wellness.” This linkage ensures displayed businesses are filtered consistently by AI tags.
Step 10: Manage and edit "Content name "section	Content name: Shows the name of the content template assigned to the category, defaulting to either the category name or a fixed string.
Step 11: Manage and edit "number of business "section	Number of Businesses: Indicates how many businesses are set to appear on the public screen for the category. Default is “Top 2,” but it can be customized. The default value is 2 businesses per category. You can change this via the edit interface. The system will never display more businesses than actually exist.
Step 12: Manage and edit "Actions "section.	Action: Contains two action icons Edit: Opens the Edit Content Settings interface. Preview: Opens the content preview with business details from Property AI Fields. Clicking the preview icon opens a window showing dynamic business details fetched directly from Property AI Fields, offering a realistic simulation of the content guests will see on public displays.
Step 13: Edit content setting	Click on the Edit button under the Manage Content to edit and customize content display settings per category. Category Name: Read-only, shows the selected business category name to prevent misassignments.
Step 14: Edit and manage "AI field" settings.	Select Tags (AI-generated fields): AI-generated tags from Property AI Fields. Default selection matches the category's current tag. Changing this alters which businesses are shown.
Step 15: Edit and manage "number of business to show".	Limit Number of Businesses to Show: Dropdown with options like “Top 2,” “Top 3,” etc. Default is “Top 2.” The system ensures the number of displayed businesses does not exceed the available count.
Step 16: Edit and manage "Content name".	Content Name: You can change the default name selected here and can add a personalized name. Click on save on the top right side once you are done making the changes.
Step 17: Edit and manage "Content display settings".	Content Display Setting: You can toggle the following content elements ON or OFF for TV displays: Display Description (ON by default) Display Reviews (ON by default) Display Price Level (ON by default) Display Opening Hours (ON by default) Display Tags (ON by default) Display Accessibility (ON by default) Display Distance (ON by default) Display Website (ON by default) Display Contact (ON by default) Display Address (ON by default) Display QR Code (ON by default)

	Actions	Who Does It
Step 1:	Go to the Guidebook section and navigate to Category List, then expand Manage Categories.	Host
Step 2:	Select either Content Impact view (3x3) or Visual Impact view (2x3) under Layout Type. Selection auto-saves instantly. Verify everything on screen via the Live Preview.	Host

	Actions	Who Does It
Step 1:	Within the Guidebook section, navigate to Category Content, expand Manage Category Content, and select a category containing AI-generated listings. Click on the Edit Icon.	Host
Step 2:	Locate the TV Layout Style section and select either Information Focus or Visual Focus. The selection auto-saves immediately and can be confirmed using the Live Preview.	Host