Booking Settings Overview

Booking Settings Overview

The Booking Settings panel defines the global rules that control how bookings, classes, notifications, and scheduling behave on your platform. As a platform owner, these settings apply across all vendors/businesses on a multivendor marketplace or across your single business if you’re running a standalone setup.

Each option in this section affects how customers interact with the booking engine, how vendors manage appointments, and how availability is calculated on the public front-end.

This guide provides a complete breakdown of every option so platform owners can configure their system with confidence—whether you’re managing one business or an entire marketplace with hundreds of vendors.

1. Accessing the Booking Settings

To open the Booking Settings:

• Log into the WordPress Admin Dashboard.
• Navigate to Administration → Booking Settings from the top menu.
• Use the left sidebar navigation to access related settings like Page Settings, Plan Settings, and User Settings.

These controls are global. In a multivendor environment, vendors cannot override these unless platform owners enable such permissions.

2. Appointment Status

This determines whether your platform accepts appointment bookings at all. Turning this off disables the entire appointment engine.

Options

• Enable Appointments
  Activates booking functionality for all businesses. Customers will be able to browse services, view availability, and complete appointment bookings.
  
  Multivendor Example: All vendors on your marketplace can offer appointments.
  Single Vendor Example: Your business is now open for appointment bookings.
• Disable Appointments
  Hides all appointment booking forms globally. Existing appointments remain visible to admins, but customers cannot create new ones.
  
  Multivendor Example: Useful during platform maintenance or a soft launch—no vendor can receive appointments.
  Single Vendor Example: Pause new bookings during staff shortage or seasonal closure.

3. Type of Appointment Scheduling

Select how the calendar behaves on the front-end and how customers choose time slots.

Options

• Single Calendar
  Displays all availability in one unified calendar. Customers do not select staff or resources; the system assigns internally.
  
  Multivendor Example: Great for vendors with only one staff member or when “any available staff” logic is acceptable.
  Single Vendor Example: Ideal for solo practitioners, small clinics, barbers, massage therapists, etc.
• Multi Calendar
  Customers can choose specific staff members, locations, or resources before selecting a time. Each calendar displays its own availability.
  
  Multivendor Example: Vendors with teams can let customers choose between multiple staff or rooms.
  Single Vendor Example: Perfect for salons, spas, gyms, or cleaning teams with multiple providers.

4. Appointment Confirmation Mode

Decides whether bookings are instantly confirmed or require approval.

• Automatic Confirmations
  The booking is confirmed immediately after the customer submits it.
  
  Multivendor Example: Faster workflow for high-volume vendors like barbershops or clinics.
  Single Vendor Example: Great when staff availability is highly predictable.
• Manual Confirmations
  Bookings enter a pending review state and must be manually approved.
  
  Multivendor Example: Vendors offering complex services (legal, consulting, contractors) may prefer to review details first.
  Single Vendor Example: Useful when service slots vary or depend on approval.

5. Appointment Notifications

Controls whether vendors, staff, and customers receive notifications when appointments are created, cancelled, or updated.

Options

• Enable Notifications
  Sends all configured email/push alerts across the platform.
  
  Multivendor Example: Ensures vendors are notified immediately of new bookings.
  Single Vendor Example: Keeps your team and customers updated automatically.
• Disable Notifications
  Prevents all outgoing notifications—ideal for testing or development.

6. Class Booking Management

Enable or disable group class booking features (workshops, group sessions, fitness classes, training sessions, etc.).

• Enable Classes
  Allows creation of group sessions with capacity limits.
  
  Multivendor Example: Vendors like gyms, yoga studios, tutors, or community centers can add classes.
  Single Vendor Example: Perfect for fitness instructors, coaches, or trainers offering sessions for groups.
• Disable Classes
  Hides class-related options entirely.

7. Start Day of the Week

Adjusts the calendar layout visible to both vendors and customers.

• WordPress Default — uses the site-wide setting
• Sunday — forces all booking calendars to start on Sunday
• Monday — forces all booking calendars to start on Monday

Recommendation: For global/multivendor platforms, Monday often provides the most universal experience.

8. Booking Availability Window

This section defines how far in advance customers can book, including start/end dates, rolling windows, and last-minute block rules.

Modes

• Rolling Window (recommended)
  Automatically moves forward daily.
  
  Multivendor Example: Vendors can accept continuous bookings even if they haven’t set a long-term schedule.
  Single Vendor Example: Ideal for barbers, salons, or medical professionals.
• Fixed Date Range
  Define a hard start and end for bookable dates.
  
  Multivendor Example: Seasonal vendors or special events can limit booking periods.
  Single Vendor Example: Course-based businesses or term-based programs.
• Indefinitely
  No upper limit on future bookings.

Lead Time Settings

• Minimum Lead Time
  Prevents same-hour or same-day bookings if preparation is needed.
• Lead Time Unit
• Cut-Off Before Start (min)
  Extra last-minute block to stop bookings shortly before a time slot.

9. Practical Examples

Example 1: Multivendor Marketplace

• Enable Appointments
• Multi Calendar
• Automatic Confirmations (optional)
• Enable Notifications
• Enable Classes (if vendors offer them)
• Start week on Monday
• Rolling Window: 90 days
• Lead Time: 2 hours / Cut-off: 60 minutes

Example 2: Single Vendor Business

• Enable Appointments
• Single Calendar (solo provider)
• Automatic Confirmations
• Enable Notifications
• Disable Classes (if not needed)
• Start week based on preference
• Fixed date range for seasonal promotions
• Lead Time: 24 hours / Cut-off: 30 minutes

Final Recommendations

• Test booking flows using both customer and vendor accounts.
• Use a staging environment when making large changes.
• For marketplaces, communicate global rule changes to all vendors.
• Review booking settings monthly as your platform scales.

Need more help? Visit the AnmarBookings Documentation Hub.

Article last updated: November 2025