The Availability tab is where we start to add recurring availability. When your booking widget is in request mode, this area is primarily used to select times that you DO NOT want people to book on a re-occurring basis.
This is not the place for 'one-time' blockouts such as Christmas or Easter.
One-time blockouts, for example, are performed in the Blockout tab, which is covered in the Blockouts & Override lesson.
Adding a Re-occurring Blockout:
- Make sure you are in the table section of the Availability tab.
- Go to the Sections tab, and select All Sections.
- Hover over the desired period in the Time Slots area and click on the Drop Down arrows.
- Additional times will appear after clicking. By checking each individual checkbox, you can choose which times you DO NOT want customers to book.
- Next, select the days on which your availability blockout reoccurs.
- If you want to add another, use the Add Another option. When finished, click Save.
Remember to keep track of your Intervals and to test regularly.
As discussed in the previous lesson, this is where your intervals and start time start to come into play. While the time slots will likely always be displayed in 15-minute intervals, you may find yourself blocking out times that are never displayed, or restricting availability as a result of this. Remember you can always use the Preview & Links tab to make a booking, if unsure of what your settings will do.
The following examples will assume interval times of 30 minutes. We will go over this in greater detail later.
Reoccurring Blockout Availability Example 1:
We have a venue that is only open from 5:00 pm-10:00 pm, but we would like their first booking slot to begin at 6 pm and their last booking slot to begin at 8.30 pm. This is the procedure that will be followed for the setup.:
Reoccurring Blockout Availability Example 2:
This location is open seven days a week from 11:00 am to 10:00 pm. The venue is open for take-out, but only for a sit-down lunch on Wednesdays, but for dinner seven days a week.
Reoccurring Blockout Availability Example 3:
In this example, we have a venue that is only open from 5:00 pm -10:00 pm but prefers to take bookings at 5.30 pm, 6:00 pm, 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm Sunday through Thursday and 5:00 pm, 6:00 pm, 7:00 pm and 8:00 pm, Friday through Saturday.
What's Next?
Step 7 - Blockouts & Override tab