Building Blocks

Core Configuration, Operational Structure & Platform Governance

Overview

The Building Blocks module forms the foundation of an Expian configuration. It defines the core structural components that products, services, journeys, capacity plans, venues, sales rules and operational workflows rely on.

Building Blocks define what an organisation sells, where it is sold, how capacity is controlled, how ticket types behave, how customer data is captured and how cancellation or amendment rules are applied across channels.

• Terms & Amendment Fees
• Locations and Sub-locations
• Transfers
• Capacity Types and Capacity Options
• Venues and Capacity Plans
• Ticket Type Groups and Ticket Types
• Assistance Options
• Custom Fields
• Finance, CRM and analytics mappings

Why It Matters

Building Blocks are the backbone of the Expian platform. They create the shared data framework used by products, entitlements, reporting, finance integrations, CRM integrations, sales channels and operational teams.

• Operational accuracy: products, journeys and services behave consistently across channels.
• Data consistency: reporting, finance and integration references are standardised.
• Scalable growth: new locations, venues, capacities and ticket types can be added without reworking the core setup.
• Customer trust: bookings, refunds, amendments and terms are handled consistently and transparently.
• Integration reliability: stable external IDs, location codes, capacity definitions and field mappings support accurate finance, CRM and API integrations.

Without well-governed Building Blocks, downstream areas such as Products, Entitlements, Promotions, Reporting and Reservations can become inconsistent, unreliable or difficult to support.

Building Blocks Framework

Terms & Amendment Fees

Terms & Amendment Fees define how customer-facing terms, cancellations, amendments and associated financial charges are handled across the platform.

Terms and Conditions

• External ID: required system reference for integrations, APIs and reporting.
• Name: friendly internal or customer-facing terms name.
• Terms and Conditions Description: contractual text used within customer confirmation emails.
• Multiple terms can be created for different brands, markets, products or business areas.
• Expian automatically links the latest version of the relevant terms within confirmation emails.

Cancellation Fees

• Define the charge or refund logic applied when a booking is cancelled.
• Rules may vary by sales channel, ticket quantity, booking value or number of days before the visit.
• Fees can be a fixed amount, a percentage of booking value or a percentage reduction.
• Cost Centre and Account Codes may be mapped for finance reporting and reconciliation.

Amendment Fees

• Define charges applied when bookings are changed.
• Rules can apply to product changes, time changes, location changes, removed tickets, added tickets, removed addons or added add-ons.
• Rules may apply only when the booking value is reduced.
• Rule order determines how conditions are applied.

Locations & Sub-locations

Locations define the physical or operational places where products, services, journeys or route stops occur. They are used across attraction and travel environments.

Location Configuration

• External ID: unique identifier for integrations, APIs and reporting.
• Title: system and customer-facing location name.
• Location Code: shorthand internal or integration reference.
• Description: optional internal notes or operational description.
• Country, city and address: support reporting, routing and customer communication.
• GPS latitude and longitude: supports precise navigation and transfer details.
• Time Zone: ensures schedules, timetables and capacity plans align correctly.
• Sort Order: controls list and booking journey display order.

Sub-location Configuration

Sub-locations provide detailed operational control within a location, for example Main Entrance, Garden Gate, Gift Shop, Cafe or boarding gate.

• Define whether admission, event, route, entitlement or add-on products can be sold at the sub-location.
• Define whether admission, event, route, entitlement or add-on products can be scanned at the sub-location.
• Use sub-locations to support POS restrictions, scanner permissions and operational access control.
• Avoid unnecessary complexity by only creating sub-locations where operational control is required.

Transfers

Transfers allow customers to move between connected routes, attractions, stations or transport modes within a booking or itinerary.

• Internal transfer at this station: allows a location to function as a station or stopover between connected routes or venues.
• Minimum transfer between legs: defines the mandatory time gap between connected timetable legs.
• Transfer via another station: enables transfer between linked locations by walking, driving, shuttle, ferry, train or other methods.
• Instructions: provide customer-facing guidance such as exit, gate, walking or shuttle instructions.

Transfers support both attractions and travel operators by preventing impossible itineraries, improving customer communication and maintaining accurate capacity and timing control.

Capacity Types & Capacity Options

Capacity defines how physical spaces, visitors, vehicles, seats, berths or other measurable resources are controlled across venues, events and journeys.

Capacity Types

• Capacity Types define the unit of measurement, such as Visitor, Wheelchair Access, Passenger, Berth, Vehicle Lane Metre or Coach Capacity.
• Fallback Capacity Types allow capacity to move to an alternative type when thresholds are met, for example a vehicle exceeding a height threshold using high vehicle lane metres.
• Capacity Types are linked to Ticket Types so each sale consumes the correct physical or operational resource.

Capacity Option Groups & Options

• Capacity Option Groups organise related capacity options, such as Passenger Capacities, Vehicle Capacities, General Admission or Guided Tours.
• Capacity Options describe how capacity is allocated and sold, such as Standard Admission, Event Access, Car Parking or 2.4 Lane Metre Low.
• Restrictions can control required or excluded ticket types and assistance options.
• Always show in cart may be enabled where a free option should still be visible to the customer.

Ticket Types

Ticket Types define the sellable units within Expian, such as Adult, Child, Family, Car, Van, Coach, Access Ticket or Guided Tour Ticket. They connect capacity, assistance, companions, integrations, channel controls and analytics.

Ticket Type Groups

• Groups organise tickets by category, journey, experience or operational purpose.
• Examples include General Admission, Guided Tours, Passenger Tickets or Vehicle Tickets.
• Each group requires an External ID, customer-facing name, optional description and display icon.

Ticket Type Configuration

• Description: external ID, title, short description, group, sort order, collection requirement, API type and age restrictions.
• Capacity: links the ticket to one or more capacity types and defines units consumed.
• Mandatory Companions: enforces related ticket purchase rules, such as carer with access ticket.
• Integrations: maps ticket data to external systems, ferry gateway attributes, finance references or other operational systems.
• Settings: controls limits per booking, sales channel availability and entitlement restrictions.
• Analytics: applies tracking tags for analytics platforms such as Google Tag Manager.

Assistance Options

Assistance Options are customer-selectable accessibility or support flags that help define special requirements during the booking process.

• Examples include Wheelchair, Electric Wheelchair, Medical Equipment, Medication, Power Required, Walking Difficulties, Blind, or Blind and Deaf.
• Assistance options can inform capacity selection and operational planning.
• Operational teams can use this data to prepare boarding assistance, accessible seating, priority access or dedicated space.

Venues & Capacity Plans

Venues define the physical spaces in which events, admissions, journeys or services take place. Capacity Plans define how much capacity is available within those spaces.

• Venues may represent Palace and Gardens, Gardens Only, a function room, a ship, a train or an event space.
• Capacity Plans can be named or unnamed depending on whether allocated seating or general admission applies.
• Plans may be uploaded or downloaded for bulk configuration and version control.
• Multiple plans may exist for the same venue, for example general admission, banquet dining, ballroom dance or seasonal ferry vessel loading.

Custom Fields

Custom Fields capture additional information from customers during booking. They can be grouped and reused across products to maintain consistency in data collection.

• Supported field types include text input, text area, option select, radio select, checkbox and date entry.
• Option-based fields include labels, stored values and sort order.
• Settings define whether fields are required and what error message appears if the customer does not complete them.
• Custom Fields can be attached to relevant products through the Important Info tab.

How to Configure

1. Configure Terms & Amendment Fees

1. Navigate to Building Blocks -> Terms & Amendment Fees.
2. Create a new Terms record with External ID, Name and Terms and Conditions Description.
3. Add cancellation fee rules by channel, ticket quantity, time limit and fee type.
4. Add amendment fee rules by channel, ticket quantity, time limit, change type and fee type.
5. Configure Cost Centre and Account Codes in the Integrations tab where finance mapping is required.
6. Test cancellation and amendment rules using dummy bookings before linking to live products.

2. Configure Locations & Sub-locations

1. Navigate to Building Blocks -> Locations.
2. Create a location using External ID, Title, Location Code, address, country, city, GPS and time zone.
3. Add sub-locations where different sales or scanning rules are required.
4. Configure sell and scan permissions for admissions, events, routes, entitlements and add-ons.
5. Add finance or integration references in the Integrations tab if required.
6. Review History to maintain accountability for changes.

3. Configure Transfers

1. Within the Location record, open the Transfer tab.
2. Enable internal transfer if the location can be used as a stopover or transfer point.
3. Set the minimum transfer time between legs.
4. Configure transfer via another station or location where customers travel by walking, shuttle, driving, ferry, train or other methods.
5. Add customer-facing instructions for each transfer where required.

4. Configure Capacity Types & Options

1. Navigate to Building Blocks -> Capacity.
2. Create Capacity Type Groups to organise related capacities.
3. Create Capacity Types using External ID, Label, Description and optional Fallback Capacity Type.
4. Create Capacity Options and link them to the appropriate Capacity Types.
5. Configure restrictions for required or excluded ticket types and assistance options.
6. Validate that capacity consumption reflects real-world limits before go-live.

5. Configure Ticket Types

1. Navigate to Building Blocks -> Ticket Types.
2. Create Ticket Type Groups to organise customer purchase options.
3. Create Ticket Types with External ID, Title, API Type, age restrictions and sort order.
4. Link Ticket Types to Capacity Types and define units consumed.
5. Configure Mandatory Companions where linked purchase rules apply.
6. Configure integrations, channel restrictions, entitlement restrictions and analytics tags.
7. Review naming, capacity and dependency consistency before linking to products.

6. Configure Assistance Options

1. Navigate to Building Blocks -> Assistance Options.
2. Create assistance options with External ID, Title and optional Description.
3. Keep options customer-friendly and operationally meaningful.
4. Map assistance options to capacity or operational workflows where relevant.
5. Review regularly to ensure options remain accurate and useful.

7. Configure Venues & Capacity Plans

1. Navigate to Building Blocks -> Venues.
2. Create a Venue using External ID, Venue Title and associated Location where relevant.
3. Open the Capacity Plans tab and add a new Capacity Plan.
4. Choose named or unnamed capacity depending on whether allocated seating or general admission applies.
5. Select the relevant Capacity Option and enter the available quantity.
6. Add additional records where multiple capacity categories are required.
7. Use upload/download tools for bulk configuration, review or backup.

8. Configure Custom Fields

1. Navigate to Building Blocks -> Custom Fields.
2. Create a Custom Field Group using External ID, Name and Description.
3. Create fields using the appropriate type: text, text area, option select, radio select, checkbox or date entry.
4. Define field options, option values and display order where applicable.
5. Set required field behaviour and error messaging in the Settings tab.
6. Attach fields to products through the Important Info tab where required.

Best Practice

• Use clear, standard naming conventions for External IDs, Location Codes, Ticket Types and Capacity Types.
• Keep titles customer-friendly while ensuring internal references align with integration standards.
• Define locations, venues and capacities before linking products to avoid rework and overbooking.
• Use sub-locations only when operationally required to avoid unnecessary complexity.
• Test cancellation, amendment, capacity and custom field rules in sandbox before publishing.
• Regularly audit capacity allocations against real-world operational limits.
• Use upload/download tools for bulk capacity changes and version control.
• Avoid duplicate ticket types or redundant custom fields.
• Document dependencies such as linked assistance options, integrations, entitlements and mandatory companions.
• Review History tabs regularly to maintain configuration governance and accountability.

Feature Highlights

Summary

The Building Blocks module provides the essential foundation for every operational element within Expian. It defines the structure, logic and relationships between products, venues, capacity, ticket types, terms, custom fields and integrations.

By configuring these components clearly and consistently, organisations create a scalable and reliable ecosystem that supports complex ticketing, multi-site operations, ferry and travel services, admissions, reporting and data-driven decisionmaking.

Integrations

Supports availability management across

Defines exactlywhat is sold and how it is fulfilled.

Supports accessibility, policy compliance and

Physical and logical measurement

Assistance Options

Improves personalisation, reporting and data

Operational Value

Locations

Ticket Types

Defines customer terms, cancellation rules

Category

Linked route and venue transfers

Prevents overbooking and supports safe,

Improves inclusivity and operational

Grouped capacityconfigurations

Controls what can be sold or scanned in each

Assistance Options

Custom data capture

Supports transparent customer policies and

Custom Fields

Multi-level location hierarchy

Comprehensive ticket configuration

Venues & Capacity Plans

Accessibility support

Capacity planning

Enables accurate operational control and

Connects ticketing, capacity, integrations

Why It Matters

Captures additional customer or booking

Improves inclusivity and operational

Prevents overbooking and supports safe capacity

Sub-locations

Controls what can be sold or validated at each

CapacityOptions

Terms & Amendment

Prevents impossible itineraries and supports

Supports accurate routing, reporting and

Captures accessibility and support

Transfers

Locations

Mandatory Companions

Ticket Types

Transfers

Sell and scan permissions

Custom Fields

Ensures transparent policy handling and

Defines what customers can purchase and

Supports accurate availability and safety

stations,routes or linked attractions.

Terms & Amendment Fees

Flexible refund and amendment rules

Capacity Types & Options

Area

Capacity Types

Defines spaces and the capacity plans used

Feature

Defines physical or operational places where

Venues

Sub-locations

Linked purchase rules

Purpose

Defines connections between locations,

multi-leg journeys.

Defines how physical or logical capacity is

Defines areas within a location such as

Improves personalisation, reporting and data completeness.

Simplifies setupand supports scaling.

Prevents booking conflicts and improves

reporting.

and analytics.

what capacityis consumed.

control.

compliance.

customer communication.

information.

planning.

operational consistency.

correct sales logic.

and amendment charges.

finance alignment.

services, products orjourneys occur.

requirements.

accurate capacitycontrol.

area.

gates, shops, entrances or operational

completeness.

preparedness.

Fees

for events,admission or travel services.

measured and allocated.

operationalpoint.

customerjourneys.

attractions and ferries.

zones.

Cost centres and account codes

Supports finance, CRM and reporting

reconciliation.

Analytics

Performance tracking

Supports insight into product and channel

performance.