Parkstack

Questions and answers

New to Parkstack? It’s a simple way for small attractions to build and run their own website, and sell tickets on it when they want to. Start with the first few questions below. Can’t find yours? Just ask: we aim to reply within one working day.

What is Parkstack?

What is Parkstack?
Parkstack helps small attractions build their own website and keep it up to date themselves. You get a proper website for your park, showing what there is to do, when you’re open, where to eat and how to find you, and you change it whenever something changes. When you’re ready, you can sell tickets on it too.
Who is it for?
Small and family-run attractions: amusement parks, fairgrounds, farm parks, petting zoos, play centres, small museums and anywhere else people visit for a fun day out. It’s made for teams with no web design experience who want a good website without the big budget.
What goes on our website?
Everything a visitor wants to know before they set off: your attractions, food and drink, shops and facilities, events, opening hours, frequently asked questions, accessibility, how to get there, and a contact form. You can add pages of your own, with your photos, logo and colours throughout.
How do we change our homepage and pages?
Build them from ready-made blocks, such as a banner, text, a photo beside some words, a gallery, a video or a quote, and arrange them however you like. A live preview beside the editor shows exactly how the page looks on a phone or a computer as you type. Your changes save themselves privately, and nothing changes for visitors until you press Publish.
Is it just for selling tickets?
No. Your website comes first, and you can use Parkstack without ever selling a ticket online. Ticket sales are there when you want them, built into the same website, so you don’t need a separate booking system.
We don’t charge for entry, and guests pay per ride. Is Parkstack still for us?
Yes. Lots of small parks work that way, and a good website matters just as much. Show your rides, opening times, events and prices, and let visitors know when a ride is closed. If you sell anything in advance, such as wristbands or ride passes, you can sell those as tickets, and staff scan the QR code when guests collect them. Parkstack doesn’t sell individual ride tokens at the moment.
How much does it cost?
Plans start at £49 a month, and paying yearly costs less. Every plan includes your website, the console and ticketing, and the price you see is the total you pay. The plans differ in how many staff logins you get and a few extras, such as full visitor reports and more room for photos.
See plans and prices
Can we try it first?
Yes. Every new park gets 14 days of our Essential plan free, and you don’t need a card to sign up. Build your site, have a good look around, and choose a plan when you’re ready to carry on.
Start your free trial
Will our website work on phones?
Yes. Most visitors look you up on their phone, often on the way, so every page is built to work well on a small screen as well as a computer.
Can I see one?
Yes. Riverside, our demo park, is built entirely in Parkstack. Have a look around it as a visitor would.
Visit Riverside
Who’s behind Parkstack?
Parkstack is made by PARKSTACK LTD, a small UK company that only makes software for visitor attractions. We’re registered in England and Wales (company number 17483563), with our registered office at 128 City Road, London, United Kingdom, EC1V 2NX.
About us
How do we get help?
Use Help & feedback at the bottom of your console, or email us at hello@parkstack.net. You’ll hear back from a real person, and we aim to reply within one working day.

Getting started

Do I need a developer?
No. Parkstack is designed for people who run attractions, not for programmers. If you can write an email, you can update your website, and when you press Publish your changes are live.
How do I get set up?
When you sign up, we walk you through six short steps: your park, your opening hours, how people find you, something to see or do, tickets, and a final look. Skip anything you’re not ready for. Your dashboard keeps a list of what’s left, so nothing gets forgotten.
Can I build my site before guests see it?
Yes, take as long as you like. You work on your own yourpark.parkstack.net address, which search engines never list. Your changes save privately until you publish them, and a live preview shows how it all looks as you go.
What do we need to run it?
Just a web browser. The console works on a computer, tablet or phone, and Gate, our ticket scanner, works on any phone with a camera. There’s nothing to install.
We already have a website and ticketing. Can we switch?
Yes, and there’s no rush. Build your new site while your old one carries on as normal, then switch over when you’re ready. Any bookings taken on your old system stay there, so check those guests in the way you do now until their visit dates have passed.

Your website

Can I use my own web address?
Yes, if your plan includes it. Point the address you already have, such as www.yourpark.co.uk, at Parkstack and we’ll handle the security certificate. We don’t sell domains, so you keep yours wherever it is now. Every park also gets a yourpark.parkstack.net address to work on.
Will it affect our email?
No, your email won’t notice a thing. You add one setting at the company where you bought your domain, and it only changes where your website lives.
What about our address without the www?
We connect the www version of your address. Ask the company you bought your domain from to forward the version without www to it, and visitors will reach you either way.
Will Google list our site?
Yes, once your own web address is connected. You switch it on yourself in your settings. Your yourpark.parkstack.net address is never listed, so Google only ever sends people to your own address.
Will links to our old website still work?
Not automatically, we’re afraid. An old address such as yourpark.co.uk/our-rides.html won’t lead to the matching page on your new site. Before you switch, make sure your most-visited old pages have a home on the new site, and update any links you control. Once you’re on Parkstack, renaming a page keeps its old link working.
Can the site look like us?
Yes. You choose your logo, colours and typeface, and every word on the site is yours.
What if Parkstack doesn’t do something we need?
Tell us! Use Help & feedback in your console and choose Suggest an improvement. Most ideas we simply build and roll out to every park, at no extra cost. If you need something that only makes sense for your park, we can talk about a bespoke build.

Tickets and money

What does Parkstack take from ticket sales?
Nothing at the moment. Guests pay straight into your park’s own Stripe account, and Stripe charges its usual card fees. If that ever changed, we’d tell you first.
Do guests pay a booking fee?
No. Guests pay exactly the price you set, and we never add anything at checkout.
Where does ticket money go?
Straight into your park’s own Stripe account, and Stripe pays it into your bank. When you connect, Stripe will ask for your business and bank details, and may want to check your ID. We never see or store anyone’s card details.
Can tickets be for a particular day?
Yes. Tickets can be for a chosen day, with a limit on how many you sell each day. Guests can’t book days you’re closed, and online sales for today stop at your last entry time (or closing time, if you don’t set one), so nobody turns up to find you shutting.
Do we have to sell tickets online?
No. Online sales stay off until you turn them on. Sell online, at the entrance, or both. It’s up to you.
Can we sell tickets on the day, at the entrance?
Yes. Turn on the box office and your staff can take cash, use your own card machine, hand out free tickets, or take cards on a Stripe card reader. Every guest gets a proper ticket with a QR code, and you can print receipts and see the day’s takings at closing time.
Which card readers work with Parkstack?
Stripe’s own smart readers, such as the Stripe Reader S700 and the BBPOS WisePOS E, which you buy from Stripe. Payments on them go into your Stripe account, just like online sales. Happy with the card machine you’ve got? Keep using it. Take the payment as normal and record it as a card machine sale.
Can large groups book?
Online checkout takes up to 20 tickets at once. For bigger groups, you can switch on a group enquiry form. It sends their details to you so you can sort things out directly. It isn’t a booking or a payment, just a conversation starter.
We’re VAT-registered. Can guests see that prices include VAT?
Yes, just tick the box in your ticket settings and guests will see that prices include VAT. It only changes the wording: guests always pay the price you set, and we never add VAT on top.

Refunds

Who can give refunds?
Owners can always give refunds. You can also let other staff give them, with a limit per order if you want one, and make your trusted people supervisors who approve bigger refunds by typing in their own code. Gate staff can’t give refunds.
Can we limit how long guests have to ask for a refund?
Yes, if you want to. Set how many days guests have, counted from the day they bought. After that, an owner can still give a refund by noting why, and other staff need an owner or supervisor to approve it. Just make sure your ticket terms say the same thing, because guests agree to those when they buy.
Can we refund some tickets from an order and not others?
Yes. Pick the tickets you’re refunding. They stop working at the gate straight away, and those places go back on sale. You can also refund an amount without cancelling anything, if you just want to say sorry.
How does the money get back to the guest?
If they paid online or on a Stripe card reader, the money goes back to their card automatically. If they paid cash or used your own card machine, give the money back the usual way first, then record it in Parkstack.
What if a card refund fails?
It’s rare, but sometimes a bank can’t take the money back, for example if the card has been cancelled. If that happens, we’ll email you, flag it on your dashboard and put the guest’s tickets back, so you can get in touch and refund them another way.
Can owners see every refund that was given?
Yes. Owners get a refunds report showing who gave each refund, who approved it, why, and whether it was outside your refund period. You can download it as a spreadsheet, too.

At the gate

What do gate staff need?
Just a phone with a camera and an internet connection. Open Gate in the phone’s browser and add it to the home screen. Staff can scan the QR code on a guest’s ticket, or type in an order number, email address or gate code.
Open Gate
What if a guest cannot find their ticket?
No problem. Look them up by email address or order number. Every ticket in an order has its own code, so you can let in exactly the right number of people.
Can a ticket be used twice?
No. Scan a ticket that’s already been used and Gate shows when it was used and who let them in. Tickets for another day, unpaid orders and refunded tickets are turned away too. Let someone in by mistake? You can undo it.
Can gate staff see the rest of the console?
Not if you make them Gate staff. They can check tickets and nothing else: no sales figures, settings or guest lists. Box office staff, likewise, can only sell tickets and look after the box office.

Plans and billing

Is VAT included?
Yes. The price you see is what you pay. If VAT applies, it’s already included, never added on at the end.
How many staff logins do we get?
Each plan comes with a set number of staff logins, which you can see on our pricing page. Everyone gets their own login, so you always know who did what.
See plans and prices
Can I change plan later?
Yes, whenever you like, from Manage billing in your console. Moving up takes effect straight away, and Stripe charges the difference for the rest of the period. Moving down takes effect when your plan renews.
Is there a contract?
No long contract. Your plan renews each month, or each year if you pay yearly, until you cancel, and you can cancel whenever you like. You keep your plan until the end of the period you’ve already paid for. We don’t refund part of a period.
Can I cancel?
Yes, whenever you like, from Manage billing in your console. You keep your plan until the end of the period you’ve paid for. After that, your website stays up for 14 more days, then goes offline until you choose a plan again. Tickets you’ve already sold still work.
What happens when a trial ends?
Choose a plan to carry on. If you don’t, your plan features switch off and your website goes offline 14 days later. Tickets you’ve already sold still work, and choosing a plan brings your website straight back.

Your data and security

Who owns our content?
You do. Your words, photos and branding are yours, and if you ever leave, just ask and we’ll give you a copy. You can download your sales as a spreadsheet whenever you like.
Who’s responsible for our guests’ data?
You are. Your park is in charge of your guests’ details, and we look after them on your behalf under our data processing terms. Guests’ contact details are deleted automatically two years after they buy, as long as their visit has passed.
Read the data processing terms
Does Parkstack store card details?
No. Card payments are handled entirely by Stripe. We only keep Stripe’s reference numbers, never the card itself.
How do we keep our account secure?
Give everyone on your team their own login, and turn on two-step verification. It asks for a code from an app on your phone as well as your password, so a stolen password isn’t enough on its own. We recommend it for every owner.
I’ve lost the phone I use for two-step verification. What now?
Sign in with one of the recovery codes you saved when you set it up. If you’ve lost those too, get in touch. Once we’ve checked it’s really you, we’ll send a reset link to the email address your account already uses.
Contact us

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