In plain words
These pages describe MAYA as it works today, including what it cannot do yet. The Ask MAYA docs button opens the docs helper, which answers with the passage from these pages that best matches your question, word for word. It matches your question inside your browser. We count each question asked, without its words, and your words reach us only if you press Send. Never type guest names, card numbers or passwords into it.
How these pages are written
Every page describes MAYA as it works today. We check each page against the app before it is published, and we change it when the app changes. Where MAYA cannot do something yet, the page says so plainly and says what to do instead. We do not promise dates.
Each page is built from the same few pieces:
| On a page | What it is |
|---|---|
| In plain words | The answer to the page's question in two to four sentences. It stands on its own, so if you read one thing, read this. |
| Not yet | Something MAYA cannot do today, and what to do instead. |
| Careful | Something that costs money, sends a price or cannot be undone. |
| Good to know | A useful fact you did not ask for. |
| Example | A worked example, closed until you open it, so the page stays short. |
| Try it | A small tool where you change the numbers and watch the result. It uses the same numbers MAYA uses, with made-up bookings and rates, not your property's. |
| Cloudbeds, ThinkReservations and Mews tabs | The same topic for each property system. Pick yours once and pages open on it in this browser. Signed in to MAYA, your own system's tab comes first. |
| A dotted underline | A word from the glossary. Rest the mouse on it, tab to it or tap it to read what it means, with a link to the page that explains it. Esc, a second tap or a tap elsewhere closes it. Only its first mention in each part of a page, and in each system's tab, is underlined. |
| Updated recently | Beside the date under a page's title, for a page changed in the last 30 days. When the change is on What's new, it opens it. |
The Harbour Inn
Every worked example uses one imaginary property, so the numbers stay consistent from page to page. The Harbour Inn has 20 rooms: 12 Standard, 6 Deluxe and 2 Suites, plus a meeting room that does not count as a room. It is on US Pacific time and prices in US dollars. Sam is its Hotel Admin and Priya its Revenue Manager. It is not a real hotel, and no example uses a real guest.
Your own property in the examples
Signed in to MAYA in this browser, some pages use your current property instead. Its property system's tab comes first and opens first, unless you picked another tab in this browser. A few quoted messages, such as "That would have gone past your $300.00 ceiling for Standard, so it stopped there.", name one of your own room types with that room type's own floor and ceiling, lightly shaded so you can tell. A default limit quoted beside them is in your currency too. And a line on some pages says what your role on the property can do there. On a demo property there is no such line about going live or inviting people, since nobody can do either on a demo. On Mews there is none about going live while MAYA doesn't send prices to Mews, since there is nothing to switch on.
The room type is the first by name that counts as a room and has a floor and a ceiling of its own. With none, those messages keep The Harbour Inn's. The page asks MAYA for all of this once it has loaded, for your current property and nothing else, and nothing about it is stored or sent anywhere. If someone else signs in to MAYA in this browser, it asks again for theirs. Signed out, for our staff, or when MAYA can't be reached, every page reads as it does for everyone.
Finding your way around
- Search. The box at the top of the menu on the left (on a phone, Search in the bar at the top). Press the / key to jump to it from anywhere on a page. Results appear as you type, with the page, its section and the heading that matched. Searching happens in your browser.
- On this page. The list beside each page (above it on a phone) jumps to any heading. A thin bar across the top shows how far through the page you are.
- Reading time. Under each title, with the date the page was last updated where it has one.
- Related, previous and next. Each page ends with up to three related pages, then the previous and next page in order.
- Light or dark. The sun and moon button switches the theme, and this browser keeps your choice.
- Printing. A printed page opens every example and shows every property system's tab.
Links into MAYA
If you are signed in to MAYA in this browser, the names of places in MAYA on these pages open that place in a new tab, with a small arrow after the words. Some how-tos also show a button that opens MAYA with the rule, filter or choice from the page already filled in.
A link never saves or changes anything. You still click Add Rule, Save This Rule or Send invitation yourself, and MAYA still checks what your role allows. A link opens your active property. Signed out, you see the same words without links.
It works the other way too. Help at the top of MAYA's screens opens the page about the screen you are on, in a new tab. Learn more in a "?" panel, and the ? on each item in the change log, open the passage that explains it in a panel at the side of the screen, at that passage's heading. On a phone the panel fills the screen.
A link inside the panel opens that page in the panel, and the arrow at its top goes back to the page before. Open full page opens the page in a new tab. The X, Esc or a click beside the panel closes it, and you are back where you were, with nothing on the screen changed. To open the passage in a new tab instead, hold Cmd (Ctrl on Windows) as you click. If the panel can't load, the passage opens in a new tab.
The docs helper
Where to find it
The Ask MAYA docs button sits at the bottom right of every docs page, the docs home and the support page. On a phone, tap Ask in the bar at the top. It opens a panel with a box to type in. While the panel is empty, it offers a few common questions to start from.
To see how it works, open it and ask "Is there a status page?", then compare the answer with the page it links to.
How it finds an answer
The docs helper does not write anything. Every answer is a passage copied from these pages, word for word, or one of a few short replies written in advance for general questions such as "hi", "what can I ask?" or "can I talk to a person?". Ask "how does this work?" or "what is this page?" and it answers about the page you are on, with its In plain words box and its headings.
When you ask a question, it compares your words with:
- the words in every section of every page,
- the questions each page lists as the ones it answers,
- a list of words people use for the same thing, such as "price" and "rate", "undo" and "put back", or "wedding" and "group".
Small spelling mistakes are allowed for. It then shows the section that matches best, with the page and section it came from as a link, and up to two more sections under Also see. From a long section it shows the part that matches, and the link reads "More in:" instead of "From:". A follow-up question leans towards the page of the last answer, so "what about Mews?" stays on the same topic.
When the match is weak, it says so. It shows the closest section under "This might help", followed by "Not quite it? Send us your question." and a Send button, which works like the one below. When nothing matches, it shows no section, only the message below.
Example: What an answer looks like
Sam types "forgot my password". An answer looks like this. First, word for word, the In plain words box of Reset your password. Then a link to that page, and "Did this help?" with Yes and No.
When the docs cannot answer
The panel says "No clear answer in the docs.", links the pages that came closest (when any came close) and a few good places to start, and gives you two ways forward:
- Send sends your question to us so we can write the missing page. It carries no name or email address, so we cannot reply to it.
- The email link opens an email to us with the subject "Docs question". Use it when you want an answer. We aim to reply within one business day.
What is sent, and when
Your question is matched inside your browser. Your words reach us only if you press a button that sends them. Each question asked is also counted, without its words.
| When you | What reaches us |
|---|---|
| Ask a question | A count, never your words: the kind of reply (a passage, a set reply, "This might help" or no answer), the part of the docs you were in, whether you were signed in to MAYA and, if Help in MAYA opened the docs, which screen it was on |
| Press Yes under "Did this help?" | Nothing |
| Press No under "Did this help?" | Nothing yet. A box opens for an optional note, with a Send button |
| Press Send | Your question, your note if you wrote one, the page you were on and which sections were shown |
| Press Yes or No under "Was this page helpful?" at the foot of a page | Nothing yet. A box opens for an optional short note, with a Send button |
| Press that Send, or leave the page without pressing it | Which page it was and which button you pressed, plus your note only if you pressed Send. One vote per visit to the page |
Before anything you send is stored, email addresses, phone numbers and long runs of digits (such as a card number) are replaced with "[removed]". It is kept as text only, with no name, account, IP address or cookie attached. The only other thing noted is whether you were signed in to MAYA when you sent it. Treat that clean-up as a safety net, not a reason to type personal details. The count is stored with the day, not the time, and with no name, account, IP address or cookie.
Your conversation stays in the browser tab you asked it in, and is gone when you close the tab. Apart from that count of questions, these pages run no visitor counting, and they set no cookies of their own. The Privacy Policy explains the rest.
What not to type
The docs helper answers from these pages, not from your account, so it never needs:
- guest names, or anything about a guest,
- card numbers or bank details,
- passwords, yours or your property system's.
What it cannot do
It has no access to your property. It has these pages and nothing else: not your prices, bookings, rules, bill or change log. Ask "why did Deluxe go up on November 13?" and it can only show you a page such as Find out why a price changed. Your property's own reasons are in the change log and behind the Show the numbers button.
It cannot do anything for you either. It cannot reset a password, switch a property back to simulation or change a setting. A password is reset from Forgot password? on the sign-in page. For the rest, contact support.
Getting better answers
- Use the words on your screen. Name the tab, the button or the message you see.
- Paste a message exactly. The pages quote MAYA's messages word for word, so a pasted message is the quickest way to the page that explains it.
- Name your property system when the question is about Cloudbeds, ThinkReservations or Mews.
- Ask one thing at a time.
- If an answer misses, open the page it came from, or ask again in other words.
Suggesting a fix
If a page does not match what you see in MAYA, or leaves your question unanswered, email us with the subject "Docs fix". Include the page, the sentence and what you see instead. Pressing No and then Send in the docs helper tells us about an answer that missed. For a page, press No under "Was this page helpful?" at its foot and say what is wrong in the note, up to 300 characters. We read every one, but cannot reply to it.