General Settings
Configure your LEXOH parking system's core settings, including site information, tax configuration, parking capacity, system behavior, branding, and customer messaging. Access these settings through Settings → General in the admin dashboard.
Basic Settings
Configure the fundamental settings that define your parking facility's identity and tax handling.
Site Name
The name of your parking facility or organization. This appears on:
- Parking tickets and receipts
- Customer emails and notifications
- System dashboard header
- Reports and administrative documents
Use Taxes
Enable or disable tax calculation on parking transactions. When enabled, you can configure up to two separate tax rates.
Tax Configuration
Configure up to two separate tax rates for your parking transactions. This is only available when "Use Taxes" is enabled.
Tax 1
| Tax Percent: | Percentage rate (e.g., 5 or 13.5) |
| Tax Name: | Display name (e.g., "GST", "Sales Tax") |
| Tax Number: | Official tax registration number |
Tax 2
| Tax Percent: | Percentage rate (e.g., 7 or 8.5) |
| Tax Name: | Display name (e.g., "PST", "Local Tax") |
| Tax Number: | Optional secondary tax number |
Tax 2: 8% PST (Tax #: PST-7890-1234)
Total: Customer pays 13% tax on parking fees
Parking Configuration
Manage your parking facility's capacity, current occupancy, and grace period settings.
Parking Capacity
The maximum number of vehicles your parking facility can accommodate. This setting:
- Controls entry barrier behavior when facility is full
- Displays on digital signage and mobile apps
- Triggers notifications when capacity thresholds are reached
- Affects occupancy percentage calculations in reports
Vehicles Inside
The current number of vehicles in your parking facility. This value:
- Automatically increments when vehicles enter
- Automatically decrements when vehicles exit
- Can be manually adjusted to correct discrepancies
- Resets to 0 when using the "Reset Count" feature
Grace Period
The number of minutes customers can park for free before charges apply. Typical values:
| Grace Period | Use Case |
|---|---|
| 0 minutes | Charges start immediately upon entry |
| 15 minutes | Quick drop-off/pick-up (airports, malls) |
| 30 minutes | Short errands (pharmacies, banks) |
| 60+ minutes | Customer-friendly retail parking |
System Behavior
Control how your parking system operates under various conditions with these advanced settings.
Maintenance Mode
When enabled, the parking system enters a restricted operational state:
- Entry and exit barriers operate in manual mode only
- Automatic payments and ticketing are suspended
- Dashboard displays a maintenance banner to all users
- Customer-facing kiosks show "System Under Maintenance" message
- API endpoints return limited functionality status
Auto-Close Entries
Automatically closes parking sessions for vehicles that entered but never exited:
- Runs daily at midnight to clean up open entries
- Applies to sessions older than 24 hours
- Charges are calculated up to auto-close time
- Prevents database bloat from lost tickets or system errors
- Generates audit log entries for all auto-closed sessions
Disable Vehicle Limit
Overrides the parking capacity limit and allows unlimited entries:
- Entry barriers remain open even when capacity is reached
- Useful for facilities with overflow parking areas
- Dashboard still displays occupancy percentage (may exceed 100%)
- Removes "Lot Full" signage and notifications
Allow Exit Without Entry
Permits vehicles to exit without a recorded entry event:
- Exit barrier opens for all vehicles regardless of entry status
- Useful during system migration from non-automated parking
- Prevents vehicles from being trapped during system issues
- Creates "orphan exit" log entries for tracking
- No charge is applied (no entry = no parking duration)
Branding & Visual Identity
Customize the visual appearance of your parking system to match your organization's brand identity.
Logo for Coupons & Receipts
Upload your company logo to appear on printed parking tickets and receipts:
- Supported Formats: JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP
- Recommended Size: 300x100 pixels (3:1 ratio)
- Maximum File Size: 2MB
- Color Mode: RGB (for color printers) or grayscale-friendly
- Appears On: Parking tickets, payment receipts, kiosk displays
Logo for Emails
Upload a logo optimized for email communications sent to customers:
- Supported Formats: JPG, PNG, GIF, WebP
- Recommended Size: 600x200 pixels (maximum width 600px)
- Maximum File Size: 2MB
- Color Mode: Full color RGB
- Appears On: Email receipts, access card confirmations, notifications
Branding Color
Choose a primary brand color that represents your organization:
- Applied to buttons, headers, and accents in the admin dashboard
- Used in customer-facing kiosk interfaces
- Colors email templates and digital receipts
- Supports full RGBA color values with transparency
- Format: Hex color codes (e.g., #FF2196F3 for Material Design blue)
- Visual color selector with hue, saturation, and brightness controls
- Hex input field for precise color values
- Alpha channel support for transparency effects
- Live preview of selected color
Customer Messages
Customize the messages displayed to customers on parking coupons and email communications. All messages support bilingual French and English text.
🎫 Parking Coupon Messages
These messages appear at the bottom of printed parking tickets issued at entry gates and payment kiosks.
Coupon Text (French)
Purpose: Closing message in French for French-speaking customers
Character Limit: 200 characters recommended
Appears On: Bottom of parking tickets when French is selected
Coupon Text (English)
Purpose: Closing message in English for English-speaking customers
Character Limit: 200 characters recommended
Appears On: Bottom of parking tickets when English is selected
✉️ Email Messages
Customize the introduction and closing text for automated emails sent to customers, such as access card confirmations and digital receipts.
Email Intro (French)
Purpose: Opening message that appears after the greeting
Use Case: Welcome customers and provide context
Appears On: Top section of automated emails
Email Intro (English)
Purpose: Opening message in English
Use Case: Welcome customers and provide instructions
Appears On: Top section of automated emails
Email Outro (French)
Purpose: Closing message and call-to-action
Use Case: Thank customers and provide contact information
Appears On: Bottom section of automated emails
Email Outro (English)
Purpose: Closing message in English
Use Case: Professional sign-off with contact details
Appears On: Bottom section of automated emails
📝 Message Writing Best Practices
- Keep messages concise and friendly
- Include customer support contact information if needed
- Use professional yet welcoming language
- Test readability on actual tickets and email clients
- Ensure French and English messages convey the same meaning
- Avoid special characters that may not print correctly
- Include website URL for additional information
Saving Your Configuration
How to Save Settings
- Make changes to any settings on the General Settings page
- A "Save Changes" button appears in the top-right corner when modifications are detected
- Click the "Save Changes" button to apply your configuration
- A success message confirms settings were saved
- Changes take effect immediately across all system components
💡 Auto-Save Indicator
The system tracks all field changes automatically. The save button only appears when unsaved changes are present, preventing accidental loss of configuration updates.
⚠️ Important Notes
- Always save your changes before navigating away from the page
- Logo uploads require saving before they appear on tickets and emails
- Branding color changes affect all active user sessions immediately
- Tax configuration changes apply to new transactions only (not retroactive)
- Maintenance mode takes effect instantly upon saving
⚡ Quick Reference
Common configuration tasks and their locations
Basic Settings → Site Name
Immediately
Basic Settings → Use Taxes
Next transaction
Parking Settings → Capacity
Immediately
Parking Settings → Grace Period
Next entry
System Behavior → Maintenance Mode
Immediately
Branding → Logo (Coupon/Email)
After saving
Branding → Branding Color
All sessions
Messages → Coupon Text
Next printed ticket
Troubleshooting Common Issues
Logo not displaying on tickets
- Verify image format is JPG, PNG, GIF, or WebP
- Check file size is under 2MB
- Click "Save Changes" after uploading logo
- Test print a sample ticket to verify appearance
- For thermal printers, use high-contrast images
Vehicle count inaccurate
- Enable "Auto-Close Entries" to prevent orphaned sessions
- Perform physical count during off-peak hours
- Manually update "Vehicles Inside" to match actual count
- Check barrier sensor functionality (entry/exit detection)
- Review recent entry/exit logs for missing events
Taxes not calculating correctly
- Verify "Use Taxes" is enabled in Basic Settings
- Check tax percentages are entered correctly (e.g., 5 not 0.05)
- Ensure tax names and numbers are properly configured
- Changes only apply to new transactions (not retroactive)
- Test with a sample transaction to verify calculations
Branding color not applying
- Click "Save Changes" after selecting new color
- Refresh browser cache (Ctrl+Shift+R or Cmd+Shift+R)
- Verify color format is valid hex code (e.g., #FF0000)
- Check color contrast meets accessibility standards
- Color changes affect all sessions immediately upon save
Backup & Maintenance
Automated Backups
- Enable daily configuration backups
- Store backups in multiple locations (local + cloud)
- Test restore procedures quarterly
- Keep 30 days of backup history
Maintenance Schedule
- Daily: Monitor device status, check alerts
- Weekly: Review access logs, test backup restore
- Monthly: Update firmware, clean cameras, test batteries
- Quarterly: Full system audit, user access review
- Annually: Hardware inspection, certification renewals
Configuration Complete!
Your general settings are configured. Explore more advanced features to optimize your parking system.
