Documentation & Setup Guides
Find the right setup path for Accommodation Booking Manager Free/Core, Pro, the AN Self Catering Theme and the Customer Portal. Use this page for installation guidance, feature setup, shortcodes, Elementor workflows, licensing help and troubleshooting.
Choose your product path
Each customer may enter African Nomad from a different point: a free Free/Core installation, a Pro plan, the theme, or the Customer Portal.
Install Lite, create the required pages, add your first accommodation listing and test the enquiry or quote flow before going live.
Set up add-on / Pro Bundle licensing, feature entitlements, payments, deposits, reports and the operational tools needed for growing accommodation businesses.
Use the Elementor-friendly theme as the visual foundation for a polished direct-booking website with editable hospitality pages.
Use the portal for product downloads, license keys, authorised domains, support tickets and account-specific customer resources.
Setup playbook
Use this sequence to avoid the most common setup problems: missing pages, incomplete rates, untested quote forms or unclear launch steps.
Confirm WordPress, WooCommerce if required, Elementor if you are using the theme, permalink settings and your preferred public page structure.
Install Free/Core plus any premium add-ons, activate the theme if needed, then confirm that the required admin menus, shortcodes and public pages are available.
Add properties, accommodation types, descriptions, gallery images, amenities, policies, services and location information.
Add seasons, rates, adult and child pricing, minimum stays, unavailable dates and any booking rules needed before launch.
Run a full guest journey from listing page to availability, quote request, booking/payment flow and customer communication.
Connect your license, check updates, publish the live pages, and use the portal or contact page if you need assistance.
Documentation index
These topic areas map to the parts of a real accommodation booking website: setup, content, pricing, availability, payments, operations and support.
Install Free/Core, add-on / Pro Bundle and theme packages safely, then understand updates and product version checks.
02Create listing, detail, quote, download, documentation and portal pages using the correct shortcodes or widgets.
03Build your property structure with rooms, units, cottages, villas, full-property rentals and public listing content.
04Prepare photo galleries, amenities, services, policies, disclaimers and guest-facing content that supports bookings.
05Set seasonal date ranges, adult rates, child rates, minimum stays and pricing rules for accurate quote requests.
06Block dates, test availability results and confirm the quote/booking workflow before publishing the site.
07Understand premium payment requests, deposits, subscription access and how payment workflows fit into the booking process.
08Use premium reporting, exports, guest operations, housekeeping and maintenance features as your business grows.
09Use the AN Self Catering Theme with Elementor containers, page sections, image areas, CTA blocks and booking widgets.
10Solve common problems with blank pages, shortcodes, permissions, cache, styling, mobile layouts and missing features.
11Manage license keys, authorised domains, downloads, product access and support routes through the Customer Portal.
12Review the final pre-launch items before taking the site live and inviting guests to enquire or book directly.
Help centre
The live documentation library is powered by the African Nomad Portal documentation system when the portal plugin is active. If the portal documentation shortcode is available, it will appear below inside this styled documentation area.
Find setup guides, product documentation, shortcode help, and troubleshooting articles for Accommodation Booking Manager users.
Current setup path for African Nomad products and Accommodation Booking Manager.
African Nomad Portal
A current overview of the African Nomad customer portal, plugins, themes, licensing, downloads and support flow.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
A plain-language overview for property owners, guesthouses, lodges, villas and accommodation providers.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
How to install and activate Accommodation Booking Manager on a WordPress website.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
A safe order for setting up your first accommodation website.
How customers access licenses, downloads, themes, documentation and support from one place.
African Nomad Portal
Where customers access downloads, licenses, documentation, themes and support.
Create and manage properties, rental mode, location, images, services and policies.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
How to add the main property record that accommodation options, rates and availability will link to.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
Explains when to use a multi-accommodation property versus a full-property rental setup.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
What content to add to make the public property page useful and complete.
Add rooms, units, villas and other accommodation options linked to a property.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
How to add rooms, units, cottages, villas or accommodation types under a property.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
How accommodation detail pages work and how accommodation-specific images are displayed.
License activation, update checks, download access, product matching and property allowances.
African Nomad Portal
How product downloads are made visible and how license-gated downloads are matched to customers.
Accommodation Booking Manager Pro
How the Pro plugin checks license status, activated sites and property limits.
Setup guides for the free Accommodation Booking Manager plugin.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
How to install and activate the free plugin and confirm the first setup.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
Recommended order for setting up properties, accommodation options, seasons, rates and public pages.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
Common shortcodes used for dashboard, listings, stay detail, booking quote and quote view pages.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
How seasons, rates and blocked dates work together for quote calculations.
Set seasonal date ranges, base rates, adult/child rates and minimum-stay rules.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
How to create date ranges such as low season, high season, peak season or special periods.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
How to add pricing rules linked to properties, accommodation options and seasons.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
How minimum stay settings affect enquiries and quote calculations.
Pro add-on setup, license usage reporting and license-controlled allowances.
Accommodation Booking Manager Pro
How to install the Pro add-on, enter a license key and confirm license status.
Accommodation Booking Manager Pro
Why Pro property support depends on the license record instead of one universal hardcoded number.
Block unavailable dates, use the timeline calendar and run availability checks.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
How to block dates that should not be available for enquiries or quotes.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
How to use the timeline calendar to review availability, blocks and enquiries visually.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
Use the QA Check before launch or after changing rates and availability.
Display listings, stay detail pages, availability search, quote requests and quote views.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
The main shortcodes used to display Accommodation Booking Manager features on your website.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
Recommended WordPress pages to create for a public accommodation website.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
How to hide or show search fields in the availability search form.
AN Self Catering theme, Elementor containers, starter pages and image placeholders.
AN Self Catering Theme
Current setup steps for the Elementor-based AN Self Catering theme.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
Best practice for property hero images, galleries and accommodation image display.
How the African Nomad AI Assistant learns from documentation, plugins and frontend pages.
African Nomad Portal
How the AI support bot answers questions and escalates to support tickets.
African Nomad Portal
When to rebuild the AI knowledge base and what sources are indexed.
Use the optional Elementor widgets included with Accommodation Booking Manager.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
How to use the included Elementor widgets when Elementor is active.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
How to style listing cards in Elementor.
Manage enquiry and quote-request workflows in the free version.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
Explains what happens when a visitor submits a quote or enquiry request.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
How managers can review and act on incoming enquiries or quote requests.
How support works through the Customer Portal and how tickets are escalated.
African Nomad Portal
How customers should request support and what information to include.
Add hero images, gallery images, accommodation images and use the carousel/lightbox gallery.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
How the version 1.0.21 gallery carousel and image enlargement feature works.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
Recommended image practices for accommodation listings and detail pages.
Common setup, license, download, shortcode, quote and display problems.
African Nomad Portal
What to check when a customer has an active license but no available download.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
Common reasons a shortcode page appears empty or incomplete.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
Checklist for common public display and quote/enquiry issues.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
What to check when the listings page does not show your properties.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
What to check when rates, seasons or quote amounts do not look correct.
African Nomad Products
Recommended baseline environment for African Nomad plugins and accommodation sites.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
What to check if a user cannot access the Accommodation Manager Console.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
How to handle missing or incorrect latitude and longitude values.
Understand what is included in the free version and what is planned for Pro/PMS editions.
Accommodation Booking Manager Free
A clear list of the main features currently included in the free plugin.
Accommodation Booking Manager Pro
A high-level overview of features that are planned beyond the free version.
Need more than a guide?
Some questions are solved by a setup guide. Others need a demo, product comparison, license check or support request. Use these paths to get to the right place quickly.
Compare Free/Core, add-ons, Pro Bundle and theme options before choosing the right setup path.
Open →Choose the add-ons or Pro Bundle that fit the business.
Open →Review the AN Self Catering Theme and its Elementor-ready page structure.
Open →Request a guided walkthrough before committing to a setup route.
Open →FAQ
These quick answers help users decide where to start and when to use the portal, demo or contact route.
Public documentation helps new visitors understand the product and helps customers find setup guidance quickly. Account-specific downloads, licenses and tickets still belong inside the Customer Portal.
Start with installation, required pages, properties, accommodation types, seasons and rates, then test the quote or booking workflow before publishing.
Free/Core is designed as the starting point for a direct-booking website with unlimited properties. Add-ons or the Pro Bundle are better when the business needs payment workflows, reporting, channel sync, operations or advanced growth features.
No. The AN Self Catering Theme is designed to work with Elementor-friendly layouts. Elementor can still be used for editable containers, images, headings, buttons and page sections.
Use the Customer Portal for downloads, license keys, domain activations and customer support tickets linked to your account.