Booking rules

Your rules decide which times your booking page offers, so clients only see times that work for you. They live in Calendar → Settings, they save with "Save settings", and each service can set some of its own. They hold for online bookings only; as the page says, "When you book for someone yourself, you can go past all of them." Your kind of business sets the starting values, such as an hour's notice and 30 days ahead for a salon. The labels use your calendar's words, so a consultant's read "When invitees can book".

When clients can book

• "Minimum notice". From "No minimum" to 7 days. With 1 hour, clients can't book less than an hour ahead, so nobody turns up unannounced.
• "How far ahead". How many days of open times clients see, from 7 to 365.
• "Start times every". 10, 15, 20, 30 or 60 minutes, counted from midnight: with 15, clients pick from 10:00, 10:15, 10:30. On a consultant's calendar, meeting types shorter than 30 minutes start every 15 minutes when this is longer, unless the meeting type sets its own.
• "Upcoming appointments per client". How many future bookings one person can hold online, from 1 to 50. It counts the ones you booked for them as well, but never stops you booking them yourself.

A service can have its own notice, window and start times, including every 5, 45, 90 or 120 minutes, under "Booking rules for this service" on its page. They read "Same as your calendar" until you change them.

Daily limits

Two limits stop online booking for the rest of a day. On a service, "At most this many a day (all together)" counts that service across everyone: for a treatment you can only fit in a few times a day, say. On a person, "Most in one day" in their details counts everything they're booked for. Both count the day's bookings, the ones made at the desk included (a cancelled one frees its place), and a day with nothing left reads "Full" on your booking page. The desk can still book past them.

Changing, cancelling and your policy

"Clients can change or cancel online" sets how close to the start clients can still reschedule or cancel from their own booking page, from "Until it starts" to "3 days before". After that, their page says online changes have closed and offers to call or message you. Someone booking after the cutoff has already passed is told before they book. The cutoff never applies to you: the desk can move or cancel at any time.

"Your policy, in your words" shows when clients book, on their own booking page, and in their confirmation and reminder emails: what happens after a late cancellation, say, or how to reach you. The calendar only shows it; it never charges a fee.

What you ask for, and blocking a client

"Mobile number required" and "Email required" decide what the booking form asks for; keep at least one on, so you can reach people. With email optional, clients who leave none get no emails unless they add one: the page they land on after booking holds the link to their booking and asks "Want a reminder? Add your email". Bookings you make at the desk need only a name.

When someone shouldn't book online any more, open their page (the Clients tab or, where there's none, the link in the history of one of their bookings, such as "Open invitee") and press "Block online booking". Your booking page then refuses their number and email and asks them to contact you directly. Your desk can still book them, and "Unblock online booking" lets them back in; Your clients has the rest of the record.

Open your calendar →