The guest and visitor management module gives housing administrators complete oversight and control of campus visitor policies, from configuring invitation rules to tracking visitor history and managing banned individuals. This guide covers all admin portal capabilities for the guest module at /admin/visitors.
Required Permission: viewGuestManagement (to view visitors and invitations), manageGuestManagement (to configure settings and forms), banVisitors (to ban/unban visitors). The GUEST_MANAGEMENT feature must be enabled for your institution.
Enabling Guest Management
The guest and visitor module is controlled by a feature flag. If you don't see visitor options in your admin portal, contact Housing.Cloud support to enable the GUEST_MANAGEMENT feature for your institution.
Accessing Visitor Management
Navigate to /admin/visitors to access the main visitor management dashboard. You'll see:
Visitor List — Searchable grid of all visitors with name, email, phone, and visit count
Filter and Export — Filter by status, date range, or host; export to CSV for reporting
Visitor Details — Click any visitor to view full profile with visit history and notes
Invitation Management — View all invitations at /admin/invitations with status tracking
Managing Visitors
Viewing Visitor Details
Click any visitor in the list to open their detail page at /admin/visitors/[visitorId]. You'll see:
Profile information (name, email, phone, date of birth, age)
Current status (Invited, Checked-In, Checked-Out, Banned)
Complete visit history with dates, hosts, and check-in/check-out times
Number of total visits to campus
Administrative notes
Banning and Unbanning Visitors
If a visitor violates campus policies, you can ban them from future visits:
Navigate to the visitor's detail page
Click Ban Visitor
Enter a reason for the ban (required for record-keeping)
Confirm the action
Banned visitors cannot receive new invitations. Their status will show as Banned across all portals. To unban a visitor, open their profile and click Unban Visitor.
Banning a visitor does not automatically revoke existing invitations. Cancel active invitations separately if needed.
Configuring Guest Policies
Navigate to /admin/visitors/config to set institution-wide visitor policies:
Invitation Time Limits
maxInvitationTimeInHours — Set the maximum duration for a single visitor invitation (default: 48 hours). This controls how long a guest can stay on campus per invitation. Residents cannot create invitations exceeding this limit.
Visitor Schedule
Define when visitors are allowed on campus using the visitorSchedule configuration:
Set allowed days of the week
Define time slots for each day (e.g., 8:00 AM - 10:00 PM)
Multiple time slots per day supported
Residents can only create invitations that fall within the configured schedule. Invitations outside these hours will be blocked.
Exclusion Dates
Use visitorExclusionDates to block visitors during specific periods:
Final exam weeks
Move-in/move-out periods
Campus closure dates
Special events requiring restricted access
Add dates in the admin config panel. Residents will see these dates grayed out when creating invitations.
Phone Number Requirements
Toggle requirePhone to make phone numbers mandatory for all visitor invitations. This improves contact tracing and emergency communication capabilities.
Automatic Check-Out
Enable autoCheckOut to automatically check out visitors when their invitation period expires. This keeps visitor lists accurate without requiring manual check-out by front desk staff.
Managing Guest Forms
Navigate to /admin/setup/forms/guest to create and manage custom forms for the guest workflow. Two form types are available:
Guest Invitation Form Template
This form appears when residents create visitor invitations in the resident portal. Use it to collect:
Emergency contact information
Vehicle details for parking
Dietary restrictions for dining access
Health screening questions
Purpose of visit
Responses are saved with the invitation and visible to operations staff during check-in.
Guest Check-In Form Template
This form appears when operations staff check in a visitor at the front desk. Use it to collect:
Photo ID verification
Health attestations
Liability waivers
Building access acknowledgments
Responses are saved with the visitor record and visible in the admin portal.
Form Management
In the forms table:
Click New Form to create a new template
Edit existing forms to update questions
Toggle forms between Published and Archived
Only one form per type can be published at a time
Archive old forms instead of deleting them to preserve historical data from past invitations and check-ins.
Customizing Email Templates
Edit the invitationEmailTemplate to customize the email sent to visitors when they receive an invitation. The template editor supports:
Dynamic variables (guest name, host name, dates, QR code link)
Rich text formatting
Institution branding
Custom instructions for visitors
Visitors receive this email with a link to their QR code for front desk check-in.
Exporting Visitor Data
Export visitor lists from the main visitor grid:
Apply any filters (date range, status, host)
Click the export button
Download CSV file with visitor data
Export data includes visitor names, contact information, visit counts, current status, and host information. Use exports for:
Compliance reporting
Occupancy tracking
Security audits
Policy analysis
Permissions and Access Control
Control who can invite visitors on a per-resident basis. In any resident's profile:
Navigate to the resident's profile page
Locate the canInviteVisitors toggle
Enable or disable visitor invitation privileges
When disabled, residents see a banner in the portal: "You are not allowed to invite visitors." Use this for:
Residents on conduct probation
Temporary restrictions during investigations
Specific housing agreements or contracts
This setting only affects the ability to create new invitations. It does not revoke existing invitations.
Notifications
The guest module automatically sends notifications at key points:
GUEST_INVITATION_REQUESTED — Sent to visitor when resident creates invitation (includes QR code link)
GUEST_ARRIVED — Sent to host resident when operations staff checks in their guest
GUEST_WAITING — Sent to host if guest is waiting at front desk
Notifications are delivered via in-app alerts, email, and SMS based on tenant communication settings.
Common Administrative Tasks
Reviewing Pending Invitations
Navigate to /admin/invitations to see all invitations across all statuses (invited, checked-in, checked-out, canceled). Use filters to identify:
Upcoming visitors in the next 24-48 hours
Currently checked-in guests on campus
Overdue check-outs (if auto-checkout is disabled)
Investigating Incidents
When investigating a visitor-related incident:
Search for the visitor by name in /admin/visitors
Open their visitor detail page
Review complete visit history with dates and hosts
Check invitation details and form responses
Export visitor data for incident reports
Auditing Visitor Activity
Run regular audits by:
Filtering visitor list by date range
Exporting data to CSV
Reviewing check-in/check-out patterns
Identifying frequent visitors or unusual patterns
Troubleshooting
Feature Not Visible
If you don't see /admin/visitors in your navigation, the GUEST_MANAGEMENT feature flag may not be enabled. Contact Housing.Cloud support to enable it for your institution.
Staff Cannot Check In Guests
Verify that operations staff have the checkInGuests permission enabled in their role configuration.
Residents Cannot Create Invitations
Check:
The resident's canInviteVisitors profile setting is enabled
The invitation dates fall within configured visitorSchedule
The invitation duration doesn't exceed maxInvitationTimeInHours
The dates aren't in the visitorExclusionDates list
Related Resources
Resident Portal: Guest Invitation Guide (for students)
Operations Portal: Visitor Check-In and Management (for front desk staff)
Glossary: Guest Status Definitions