Dines: Initial Setup

Everything you need to know about setting up an account and starting to trade using Dines

Greetings! 👋 If you’re visiting this article, there’s a good chance you’re looking into setting up a Dines account, which is fantastic news! We’d be delighted to have you on board.

To keep things straightforward, we'll outline the steps for creating your Dines account below. We’ll also note any necessary equipment required to use Dines, and provide you with a few extra tutorials, to make sure there is no delay in kickstarting your trading with our system.

If you’re reading through this guide and have any questions at all, please do not hesitate to reach out via email at care@dines.co.uk, use our Live Chat, or message us via WhatsApp on 07822 002783. There’s always somebody on hand ready to help!

Creating Your Dines Account

The first thing to do is create your Dines account, which can be started by heading to our website and clicking “Register Venue” at the top right.

From here, you’ll be prompted to enter a few details for creating your account;

Your Venue’s Trading Name
Business Type (Sole Trader or Limited Company)
Your preferred Email Address
A Password to log in to your account
Your Contact Number

You’ll also need to agree to our terms of service, which can be found here.

And with that, step one is done! 🎉

Now we just require a few more details regarding you and your business. To begin, log into Dines using the account details you've just set up.

Once you have logged in, you will first be prompted to enter your business address. It is best to fill these boxes with the exact address you are trading from, or (if applicable) the festival you are working at.

You'll also have the opportunity to review your Contact Information. If you prefer customers to send queries to an email address different from the one you initially registered with, you can make that adjustment here.

On the next page, you will be asked to complete a few more details about your business, including the Company Name, Companies House Number, and whether you are VAT registered. Providing you are VAT registered, please input your VAT Number. If any of the above information is not applicable, you can leave the relevant fields blank.

Now, we're down to the last step! To complete your account setup, please enter a memorable 4-digit PIN. This PIN will be essential for accessing management-only features. We advise keeping this PIN secure, as it will be required for access to PIN-protected areas of Dines, such as Reporting. If you forget it, don’t worry: we can reset it for you. Just drop us an email at care@dines.co.uk from your registered account email address. We require that for security purposes.

If you forget your password at any point, you can reset it on the same page by clicking “Forgotten Password?” and entering your account’s email address. Please make sure to check your Spam/Junk folder in case the Password Reset email has landed in there.

Next Steps

Congratulations - you now have full access to your Dines account! There are a few further steps which you can now undertake, which we will outline below.

Book a Demo: They say the best way to grasp something is through a hands-on demonstration, and we wholeheartedly agree! Therefore, we are always happy to give a demo on the ins and outs of Dines. To book a demo, simply follow this link, and choose a day/time that suits you.

Complete Payout Settings: This one is crucial - we cannot pay what you’ve earned via Dines if we do not have your payout details! You can access Payout Settings by navigating to Settings > Venue > Payout Settings. There are two steps to complete here; adding your bank account information, and completing Stripe Onboarding. A full guide for both can be found by watching this short video.

Download the Dines For Venues App: To make use of your Dines account, you’ll need to download our iOS app. To do this, simply head to the Apple App Store on any iOS device, and search “Dines for Venues”. Alternatively, click here if you’re already on an iOS device.

Download the app, log in to your account, and you’ll be all set!

Learn More: There is lots more to learn about Dines, which you can absolutely do at your own pace. Of course, we try to make our system as user-friendly as possible, but it can still help to have a few guides as backup. Thankfully, there are tonnes of resources for learning how to use Dines. We’ll link a few below to get you started;

We also have a range of video tutorials here, covering a variety of topics on using the Dines app.

Equipment

To get up and running with Dines, you will need two essential piece of equipment; an iOS device running the latest software, and a Wisepad 3 card reader.

iOS Device: The Dines for Venues app is exclusively compatible with Apple iOS devices running iOS 15 or higher. That means that either an iPad or iPhone are your best bet for running Dines smoothly. If you do not own one of these devices, you can purchase them from our webshop. Once you have your iOS device, please ensure that you update to the latest version of the iOS software. Apple provides a helpful guide on this, which you can find here.

WisePad 3: This is a portable card reader that integrates with the Dines for Venues app via Bluetooth. It can be used to seamlessly take contactless and chip-and-pin payments. You can also find these on the Dines shop.

These two items are essential kit for a smooth experience Dines. While these are crucial, you may also find other equipment beneficial, such as Thermal Printers, Access Points, Tent Cards and more, which are also available on the Dines shop. Should you ever require assistance in setting up any of this equipment, we're always here to lend a helping hand.

Thank you for reading our article on getting started with Dines. If you have any questions at all, or if you have suggestions for a Knowledge Base article you’d like to see, please do not hesitate to reach out to our team. You can contact us via email at care@dines.co.uk, use our Live Chat service here, or message us via WhatsApp on 07822 002783.