Driver Manual, Part 1 · Chapter 2: Setting Up Your Booking Page

Everything here happens in your operator console. That is the SOLODRIVE.PRO app at `app.solodrive.pro/operator/`. It opens on your dashboard. If your page is not live yet, the dashboard shows a short "before you go live" list of what is still missing, with a link to each one. Work down that list and you are done.

The settings are grouped into tabs. You reach each by tapping it on the dashboard, or by the address `…/operator/?tab=` followed by the tab name. After you save one section, the console sends you straight to the next thing you still need. You do not have to hunt.

We will go in the order the console itself asks for: your handle, your base of operations, your rates, then your brand.

Open the Storefront tab (`?tab=storefront`). At the top you will see your handle, shown as `@yourhandle`.

Your handle is the name your booking page lives under, at `app.solodrive.pro/t/yourhandle`. You picked it when you signed up. It is already yours.

One thing to know, and it is important: your handle is permanent. It cannot be changed after launch. That is on purpose. Once you start handing out your address on cards and in the car, it needs to stay the same so a rider who saved it last month can still reach you next year. Look at it, make sure it is the one you want to be known by, and move on.

The Storefront tab also holds the switches that turn your page on and let it take requests. The two that matter to get live are the master storefront switch and "accepting requests." Turn your page on when you are ready for it to be found. You can also set a busy message and a closed message that riders see when you are not taking requests, and set your hours if you want the page to follow a schedule. None of that is required to launch. The page works the moment it is on and accepting requests.

Open the Base Location tab (`?tab=base_location`).

This is your home base. Start typing your base address and pick it from the list of suggestions that drops down. Picking from the list matters: it saves the exact place along with its coordinates, so the map knows precisely where you are based. If you only type the address without picking a suggestion, it will not save right.

Your base does three real jobs. It stands in for your location when live GPS is not available. It centers address suggestions on your area, so when you or a rider type a pickup, the right streets come up first. And it is the starting point for figuring distance on a ride. Set it to where you actually start your day.

Open the Pricing tab (`?tab=pricing`). This is where you decide what a ride costs.

First, one thing that trips people up. The rates you set here are what YOU charge the rider. They are a separate thing from the small SOLODRIVE.PRO application fee from Chapter 1. You set your fare. The fee comes out of it. Do not mix the two up.

Here is what you set:

• Rate mode. How your fare is figured. The default is "greater of time or distance," which charges whichever comes out higher on a given ride. You can instead make it always time-based or always distance-based. Greater-of is a safe default. It keeps a short-but-slow ride from underpaying you.
• Base fare. The amount every ride starts at. Example: 8.50.
• Minimum fare. The floor. No ride costs a rider less than this, no matter how short. Example: 12.00.
• Per mile rate. What you add for each mile. Example: 2.35.
• Per minute rate. What you add for each minute. Example: 0.65.
• Wait time per minute. What you charge while you wait. Example: 0.50.

There are a few more you can leave alone at first. A deadhead setting lets you charge for the empty miles to reach a rider, and add a return leg on long trips, if you want it. A flat service fee can be added to every quote. And a quote expiry sets how long a price you give a rider stays good before it has to be refreshed. Set these later once you know your area. The six rates above are enough to price a real ride.

Not sure what to charge? The guide on how much to charge for a private ride walks the math for your market.

Two tabs make your page look like yours instead of a blank form.

Open the Profile tab (`?tab=profile`) first. Set your business name. This is what riders see at the top of your page and in messages from you, so use the name you want to be known by. You can add a short description of your service, and a support phone and email a rider can reach if something goes sideways. You can also add a photo of yourself here, so a rider knows the face behind the name.

Then open the Brand tab (`?tab=brand`) to set how your page looks. You can set a display name, pick your colors (a main color and an accent color for buttons), choose a button shape, and pick a light or dark look. A live preview on the same screen shows exactly what a rider will see as you change it. Make it feel like your business.

One more worth doing: the Vehicle tab (`?tab=vehicle`). Add your car's make, model, color, and plate. This is the car line your rider sees while you are on the way and pulling up, so they spot you. You can type it in, look it up by VIN, and add a photo of the car.

Each tab shows you what it is still missing before you can go live. Fill those in and save. When the "before you go live" list on your dashboard is clear of setup items, your page is built.

There is one item on that list this chapter does not cover, because it is the big one and it gets its own chapter: connecting Stripe so you can actually get paid. That is Chapter 3: Connecting Stripe and going live.