Getting Started

Updated

Each thing people can book is a bookable: "Sunset Tour", "Court Time", "Kayak Rental". Each one gets its own page with a booking form.

1. Add a bookable

Go to Bookings → Add New Bookable and give it a title. The new page already has the Booking Form block below a short description. Write what people need to know (what to bring, where to check in) above it.

The Booking Form on the page shows a preview built from your settings, with an Edit button on each part (tickets, sessions and hours, extras, the form). The same settings are summarized in the sidebar under Bookable → Booking, each with its own Edit button. Changes show in the preview as you make them and save with the page.

2. Tickets

  • Checkout: Pay with WooCommerce or Free reservation. See Paid bookings and Free reservations.
  • Spots per session: how many people (or rentals) fit in one session. For three kayaks, enter 3. With Overlapping sessions on (step 3) it's called Spots at the same time: the most people booked at once, whichever time they started.
  • Ticket types: add at least one, for example "Adult" at $20 and "Child" at $10. Each ticket uses one spot. Set Spots each ticket uses to 0 for tickets that don't count toward the limit, like spectators. The booking form counts spots, not tickets: with 3 spots left it won't offer a ticket that uses 4, and once the spots are taken, tickets that use none can still be added.
  • Most tickets in one booking stops one person booking out a whole session.
  • Show spots left shows "12 left" under each time.

3. Sessions and hours

  • Session length cuts your open hours into sessions. Open 10:00–22:00 with 60-minute sessions gives 12 sessions a day.
  • Overlapping sessions lets people arrive at different times, as for public skating. Turn it on and set Start a session every (minutes). With hours of 12:00–3:30, 120-minute sessions and a start every 30 minutes, people can start at 12:00, 12:30, 1:00 or 1:30 (the last start that still ends by 3:30). Spots are shared: everyone booked at the same moment counts, so with 10 spots, 6 people at 12:00 leave 4 for any start that overlaps them. Once a group's session has ended, its spots are free again for later starts.
  • Weekly hours: add hours for each day the session runs. Days without hours are closed. Copy Monday to every day saves typing.
  • Days ahead people can book: 14 means today plus the next two weeks.
  • Stop booking: how many minutes before a session starts booking closes. A negative number keeps it open after the start (−30 lets people book until half an hour in).
  • Season opens / closes: leave empty to run all year.

All times use the site's timezone (Settings → General). Set it to your city (for example Chicago), not a UTC offset like UTC−6: an offset never changes for daylight saving, so session times would be an hour off for part of the year. Sessions & Hours and the Schedule show a reminder while the timezone is an offset.

4. Closed days and special hours

Under Closed Days & Special Hours, add holidays, weather closures, private events, or different hours for some dates. Tick Closed to close the dates, or leave it unticked and set the hours for those days. When dates overlap, the row lower in the list wins.

Closing a date doesn't cancel bookings already made. Open Bookings → Schedule for that day to see who's booked so you can contact them, and refund paid orders in WooCommerce.

5. Extras, questions and waiver

  • Extras are add-ons people choose with their booking. Open them with Edit Extras in the Booking Form preview (the section shows there even before you add one) or Edit next to Extras in the sidebar. Pick a Type:
    • Quantity: people choose how many, like equipment rental at $5 each, with a limit per booking.
    • Choice: people pick from options, each with its own price. Under People can pick, choose One option (round buttons, e.g. "Helmet: No thanks / Yes +$1.50"), Several options (checkboxes, e.g. snacks), or How many of each option (a + and − per option, e.g. sizes: 2 × Medium, 1 × Large, with a limit in total). Choices can be required.
  • Questions are asked with every booking. The answer can be a Short answer, a Long answer, One choice or Several choices from options you list, for example "Names of everyone in your group" or "Experience level: New / Some / Lots". Answers appear on the order and on the schedule. Answers don't change the price: for options people pay for (and how many of each), add an Extra instead.
  • Add a waiver: switch it on and paste your waiver text. People then tick that they agree and type their full name to sign before they can book. Checkbox text changes the wording next to the tick box (empty uses "I have read and agree to the waiver."). The name and the time they signed are kept with the booking.
  • Note for people who book (Booking Form): text sent with every confirmation, such as what to bring, where to check in or your refund policy. Paid bookings show it on the order page after checkout, in WooCommerce's order emails and in My Account (it's the product's purchase note, so moving from WooCommerce Bookings is a paste). Free reservations show it in the confirmation email and on the page after booking. Line breaks are kept and web addresses become links.

Pausing bookings

To stop new bookings for a while (a closure, a sell-out you're handling by phone, a busy day), switch on Pause bookings at the top of the Booking panel, or use Pause bookings under the bookable's title in the Bookings list. The page stays up and the booking form says "Bookings are paused right now. Please check back soon." (change the wording under Message while paused). Existing bookings are unchanged, and people already at checkout can finish. Resume bookings opens it again.

6. Publish

Publish the bookable and open its page. The form loads the dates and times live, so what visitors see is never out of date, even on cached pages.

To show the form on another page as well, add the Booking Form block there and choose the bookable in its sidebar.

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