This is the release where Digital Guidebooks stopped being a launch product and became a real product. Six weeks of work in a single push. The headline change is operator analytics, but several other large things landed at the same time: a mobile-first admin, a new pricing structure, a domain migration to digitalguidebooks.com, and a fully redesigned marketing site.

This is going to be a longer release post.

A Full Operator Analytics Dashboard

The launch version of Digital Guidebooks tracked clicks and emails. The numbers were there, but the dashboard showed them as a flat list of counts. Operators consistently asked the same kinds of questions that the flat list could not answer: which guide is earning the most tips, which guidebook is the strongest, are my emails actually growing, is this partner placement working?

The new analytics dashboard answers those.

Every summary card now has a sparkline trend showing the metric over time, daily or weekly. A date range selector lets operators look at the last 7, 30, or 90 days, by month, or in a custom range. The headline metrics drill down by individual guidebook and by individual guide, so an operator with multiple tours can see which tour is converting and which guide is over-performing on tips, reviews, or shares.

Three additions matter most:

  • Gratuity expansion. Tip totals now break down by tier (the 15/20/25 percent picks guests made) and include cash tracking with a per-guide toggle.
  • Correlation insights. The dashboard exposes the completion-to-tip multiplier (guests who finish the guidebook tip at higher rates) and the tip-to-review multiplier (guests who tip leave reviews at higher rates). These are coaching numbers for guides, not just operator vanity stats.
  • Platform benchmarks. Once three or more operators are on the platform, anonymized medians appear next to each metric. An operator can see whether their email-capture rate is above or below the platform median without ever seeing another operator's specific numbers.

Partner-Shareable Reports

The single most-requested analytics feature from operators running partner programs was the ability to show the partner the engagement they are getting. A featured restaurant or attraction wants proof. The operator wants more value to offer the partner without renegotiating the commercial deal every quarter.

Every local place and stop in a guidebook now has a partner-shareable report at a private URL. The report shows click-through rate, channel breakdown across website, social, and directions, the visitor versus local split, period-over-period change, and a trend chart. Operators hand the URL to the partner directly. The partner sees the engagement numbers without needing a Digital Guidebooks account, and the operator has data to bring to the next renewal conversation.

A guide coaching PNG download was added alongside, with operator and Digital Guidebooks logos branded into the image, so an operator can send a clean one-page snapshot to a guide for a quarterly review.

Mobile-First Admin

The launch version of the admin app was desktop-first and unusable on a phone. The buttons were too small, the layouts overflowed, the page list ate the screen. Operators consistently said the same thing: they wanted to fix a typo on a stop description, or check whether a tour got any tips, from their phone during a 20-minute gap between groups. They could not.

The mobile admin overhaul rebuilt the editor and settings from scratch for a phone-sized screen:

  • A nav overlay replaces the sidebar on mobile
  • The page list opens as a bottom drawer instead of a sidebar
  • The settings sections use the same bottom-drawer pattern
  • A sticky header carries page-specific action buttons that hide on scroll-down and reappear on scroll-up
  • Touch-safe hover guards stop hover effects from sticking on tap

The net result is that editing guidebooks from a phone is now an actual workflow rather than a workaround.

Tourist Experience Polish

The guest-facing side of Digital Guidebooks got a long list of refinements:

  • Swipeable image carousels on stops, with looping
  • Long-press to copy payment links on the gratuity page
  • Real brand SVG icons on review buttons (the launch version used text only)
  • Dedicated share page with email and phone invite modals, plus a personalized landing page at /:org/:tour/shared for the recipient
  • Share invite expiry at 15 or 30 days, operator-configurable
  • Map InfoWindow redesign — the popup now shows the stop thumbnail and a clean card layout
  • Map pin letters — grid-layout stops show A/B/C pins, numbered-layout stops show 1/2/3
  • Swipe transitions slide pages in from the opposite direction with no brand-color flash
  • Bottom-nav improvements — z-index fix, safe-area-inset padding, stays fixed on iOS scroll
  • Cover page — fixed viewport, no scroll, Digital Guidebooks logo top-left on the free tier, 27px title
  • Stop details — combined address and directions, muted allergen badges
  • Gratuity page — horizontal payment buttons, Venmo 70px, "already tipped" and "tipped in cash" options
  • Fork-and-knife icon for food stops

Guest Surveys

Growth-tier operators and above can now configure a post-tour guest survey from /admin/surveys. Each survey has its own set of questions, a heading and encouragement message, and a custom button label. The survey appears as a page in the guidebook that operators can toggle on or off, and responses appear in the operator's admin alongside the rest of the analytics.

New Pricing Structure

The tier names that shipped at launch (Free, Launch, Growth, Scale) were not landing the way operators understood their own businesses. The new structure renames and re-anchors:

  • Local Favorite — entry paid plan for an operator running one to a few tours in a single city
  • Market Leader — larger plan for established operators with multiple tours and a guide team
  • Founding Member — sits alongside both with a price locked forever, 20 publicly stated spots, and roadmap features shipped to Founding Members first

Guide-seat limits were raised across all tiers. The current numbers live on the pricing page. Legacy accounts retained their existing pricing.

Domain Migration to digitalguidebooks.com

The marketing site moved from digitalguidebooks.co to digitalguidebooks.com. The product app stayed at digitalguidebook.co. Old marketing URLs redirect automatically, so existing links continue to work.

The change was driven by trust signals: operators evaluating SaaS tools recognize .com as the canonical extension, and the previous .co domain was occasionally being mistaken for a typo of .com by guests sharing links.

Marketing Site Full Redesign

Six main pages on the marketing site (home, features, how-it-works, pricing, about, guides) were redesigned end to end. The image weight across the site dropped from 99MB to 17MB. A new /how-it-works page replaced the old explainer section. A new /about page tells the team story with a timeline. An /reviews page collects operator quotes.

The articles section got a redesign with a featured-hero plus grid layout. Eight new articles landed in this cycle including four DIY comparisons (vs. ChatGPT, Canva, PDF guidebooks, and custom website pages) that explain why a tour-specific product solves the problem better than the workarounds operators have been using.

Smaller Wins in This Release

A handful of smaller improvements that landed alongside the big work:

  • Page sequence system. The root URL of a guidebook now lands on page 1 of the operator's defined order. The access page gates at its own position, so any pre-access pages are visible without an email gate.
  • Login redesign. Two-column layout, self-signup hidden during beta.
  • Waiting list flow. Operators on Coming Soon plans can join a waiting list with a survey and confirmation email.
  • UTM parameters on outbound stop and local-places links so operator analytics tools attribute traffic correctly.
  • Map fallback. When a guidebook has no stops or no addresses, the map falls back to the operator's city region.
  • Shortcode resolution on tourist page headings, including [guide-first-name] for personalized welcomes.
  • Stop editor tab system with Stop Info and F&B tabs, plus multi-platform social links and a logo field with URL validation.
  • Media picker. Every image upload zone now has a "choose from library" option that opens the media library modal.
  • QR panel redesign with a design-lab card preview that includes the guidebook cover photo as background.

Frequently Asked Questions

What metrics does the Digital Guidebooks operator analytics dashboard show?

The analytics dashboard tracks emails captured, tip clicks with tier distribution, review clicks per platform, share events, FAQ engagement, and outbound clicks to local-place partners. Every metric has a sparkline trend, a date-range filter, and drill-down by individual guidebook or by individual guide. Operators with three or more orgs on the platform also see anonymized benchmarks against the platform median.

Can I share analytics with my partners?

Yes. Every local place and stop has a partner-shareable report at a private URL. The report shows click-through rate, channel breakdown across website, social, and directions, the visitor versus local split of who engaged, period-over-period change, and a trend chart. Operators send the link to a featured restaurant or attraction to prove the guest engagement Digital Guidebooks is driving them, without giving the partner a login.

Can I edit guidebooks from my phone in Digital Guidebooks?

Yes. The admin app went through a full mobile-first overhaul in this release. The page list and settings panels open as bottom drawers, the header carries page-specific action buttons that hide on scroll-down and reappear on scroll-up, and every editor surface works on a phone. Operators routinely edit guidebooks between tours from their phone.

What changed in Digital Guidebooks pricing?

Pricing tiers were renamed and re-anchored to operator scale. Local Favorite is the entry paid plan, Market Leader is the larger plan, and Founding Member sits alongside both with a price locked forever. Guide-seat limits were raised across all tiers and the limits page on the pricing site lists the current numbers. Older Free, Launch, Growth, and Scale tiers were retired but legacy accounts retained their pricing.

Did the Digital Guidebooks website URL change?

Yes. The marketing site moved from digitalguidebooks.co to digitalguidebooks.com. The product app stayed at digitalguidebook.co. Old marketing URLs redirect automatically, so existing links in the wild continue to work.