Welcome to Open Campground™
Go to Tips, Techniques and Updates for details.
Why should you look at Open Campground?
- Are you running a campground using a reservation system that consists of a bunch of notes on which you try to keep track of who has a reservation when, what spaces will be available and who your customers are?
- Are you running a campground that is too small to support one of the multi-thousand dollar reservation systems?
- Do you have and use a computer or even a smart phone?
If you answered yes to those questions you need to look at Open Campground. There is a version of the system that will help you.
What is Open Campground?
Open Campground is a free open source campground reservation system. It was built for you to use in smaller campgrounds and RV parks where you would like the advantages a computer based system gives you but do not want to spend a lot of money. It is written in the Ruby language using the open source Ruby on Rails framework.
Click on the page images to see full sized screen shots.Features
In Open Campground you will find a mix of features that you will not find on many other systems:
- easy to use: It is a simple to use system designed from the ground up to require little training. When training is needed, it has a training mode that will not affect the operational database.
-
adaptable: The system is designed to be easily
adaptable to the conditions and desires of any campground.
In the setup screens you can customize the system in many different ways to
look and work like as you would like it to.
For the really demanding,
any person with the requisite skills can modify the
system as desired as the source is provided. - economical: Open Campground is available in a variety of modes. You can download and run the system for free, you can order an inexpensive CD which has an installer and other features or you can subscribe to Open Campground in the Cloud as a service. See the product descriptions for more details on each option. In all cases the same operational software is used.
- cross-platform: The Open Campground servers work on Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Linux, Mac OS X, and BSD. For a client you can use any computer system that supports a web browser, even your iPhone.
- available as a system in the Cloud: Open Campground is additionally available as a system in the Cloud (Open Campground in the Cloud , see the demo) which means the only thing in your office is a normal Windows PC or Mac on which you will use your normal web browser (like Internet Explorer) to access the system which will be maintained in a central location. All system support, maintenance, updates, setup and administration like backups etc. will be handled for you.
- open source license: Licensed under the GNU Public License so anyone has the freedom to use it, improve it and share it.
- built on a strong foundation: It is coded in the Ruby language using the mature and widely used Ruby on Rails framework.
Exploring the System
The System Demo which is a live Open Campground system running in the Cloud with a real database will give you an opportunity to see what the system looks and acts like in action.
A short tutorial is included in the User's Manual. It will give you a guided tour through the common functions of the system in a step-by-step manner. Take a look at it and follow along with it in the training mode.Installation, features and use of the system are described in the User's Manual.
Users interested in the internal details of Open Campground should access the Rubyforge project page. This page will also give you access to forums for discussion of the system, reporting of bugs encountered and requests for enhancements to the system.
Calling all Users
If you install Open Campground I would like to know about it. I would like to get feedback on what meets your needs and what needs improvement. Just send me an email to let me know you are out there.
Norm Scherer