FAQ: Setup

How do I block out vacation days?

The easiest way is to add a booking of type "busy" in the calendar spanning your whole vacation, which blocks all booking for that period. For single days, click the clock icon in the calendar and set the date as closed; this overrides your standard opening hours for that date only. See the article Vacations, holidays and blocking dates.

How do I add buffer time between appointments?

There is no dedicated buffer setting, but you get the same effect with the "Available slot every" setting on the service. Set it longer than the service duration: for example a 45-minute service with slots every 60 minutes gives you 15 minutes between every appointment. See the article Buffer time between appointments.

How do I set a minimum lead time so customers can't book at the last minute?

Use the "Do not allow reservations until" setting under Setup > Booking site. Enter the restriction in English as a time phrase relative to now, for example "in 24 hours". See Restrict future bookings for more examples: https://help.makeplans.com/article/33-restrict-future-bookings . The similar-looking cancellation deadline setting uses phrases like "24 hours before" instead, since it is relative to the booking's start time.

How do I create a free event?

Just leave the price field empty when setting up the event; no price will be shown on the booking site. Entering 0 gives an error ("price must be greater than 0"), so an empty field is the correct way. Free events have no MakePlans transaction fees.

Can you restore something I deleted by accident?

Usually, yes. A deleted customer is only set as inactive and can be restored from their profile edit page ("Undelete"), and if a new customer is created with the same email or phone number, the old profile is restored automatically. Deleted services, resources, events and coupons can in most cases also be restored; contact us and tell us what was deleted, and we will help. Note that deleting an event cancels its bookings; they remain visible as inactive but must be re-activated manually one by one.

Can I block a specific customer from booking?

Yes. Go to the customer's profile, click Edit, and use the block link in the menu on the left. If you want to go further and only allow booking for people you have approved, you can enable the setting "Only allow booking for existing customers" under Setup > Booking site; then only customers already in your database can book.

Does the booking page adjust to the visitor's time zone?

No. All times on the booking site are shown in the time zone set on your account, not the visitor's local time. You can change the account time zone under Setup > Account, but be aware that changing it shifts the time of all existing bookings. If you serve customers in several time zones, mention the time zone in the booking site footer, or use a separate account per location.