Lesson 1: Getting started with Sitehotelminder

1.1 Accessing your Sitehotelminder account

After your first order you will have received an email from Sitehotelminder with a link to set up your Client Area. If you cannot find it, go to the Client Area access page and enter the email you used to place the order — a fresh access link is sent immediately.

Sitehotelminder uses email-based magic links rather than passwords. Each link is valid for 30 minutes and opens your dashboard. Access links are sent to your registered email address. Keep your inbox secure — access to your email is equivalent to access to your Sitehotelminder account.

1.2 Dashboard orientation

On first sign-in the dashboard shows your active modules, connection status and a billing summary. The main navigation gives you access to: Modules (list of active subscriptions and their status), Settings (SiteMinder API credentials, billing information), Reports (usage reports per module) and Billing (invoices and payment history).

1.3 Connecting your SiteMinder API credentials

Go to Settings → Connected SiteMinder Account. Enter your SiteMinder API key and API endpoint URL. If you have not yet retrieved them from your SiteMinder account, follow the SiteMinder access guide step by step before continuing.

Click "Test connection". Sitehotelminder runs a test call against the SiteMinder API and confirms your property name, active rate plans and the scope of permissions granted. If the test fails, check: (a) that the API key was copied in full without stray spaces; (b) that the endpoint URL is correct; (c) that the API key has the required permissions.

1.4 Activating your first module

Go to Modules → the relevant module name → Activate. For each module you will be prompted for module-specific configuration before it goes live. This step typically takes 5 to 15 minutes. The module status switches to "Active" once the configuration is validated. The first data synchronisation happens within 15 minutes of activation.

1.5 Checking a module’s status

The Modules dashboard shows the timestamp of the last successful synchronisation for every active module. A green indicator means the module is connected and synchronising normally with your SiteMinder account. A yellow indicator means the last synchronisation completed with warnings (details are available in the log). A red indicator means the module has lost connection to SiteMinder — check your API credentials in Settings.