Creating a Booking Calendar

From the Architect Panel → Booking Calendars, click New. The configuration form opens with three logical sections: core settings, availability, and slot configuration.

Core settings

• Name — internal name and the default page heading. Be specific: "Dr. Smith's Consultations" rather than just "Doctor".
• Description — text shown on the booking page above the calendar. Use it to explain what's being booked, any preparation the booker should do, cancellation policy.
• Owner — the user or resource the calendar belongs to. For per-staff calendars, this is the staff member; for resource calendars, it's typically a service account.
• Slot Duration — how long each bookable slot is. Standard durations: 15, 30, 45, 60, 90 minutes. Custom durations are supported.
• Buffer between slots — optional gap inserted between adjacent bookings (e.g. 15 minutes for cleanup or travel time).
• Lead time — how far in advance bookings must be made. Useful for preventing last-minute bookings that the resource can't realistically accept.
• Booking window — how far ahead users can see slots. Limits future visibility (e.g. "can only see and book the next 6 weeks").
• Capacity per slot — usually 1 for 1-on-1 services, higher for classes or events.

Availability rules

Set working hours per day of the week. The standard pattern: enter a start time and end time per weekday, leaving days off the resource closes blank.

Then add exceptions:

• Closed dates — public holidays, training days, leave.
• Special opening — e.g. "Saturday opening for a sale weekend".
• Reduced hours — half-day closures or extended hours.

Each exception has a date (or date range) and either marks the day closed or overrides the working hours for that day.

Slot rendering

When a user views the calendar to book, the platform renders the available slots by computing:

• Take the working hours for the day.
• Generate slots based on slot duration + buffer.
• Subtract any already-booked slots (with capacity check).
• Subtract any slots within the lead-time window.
• Subtract any slots beyond the booking window.

What's left is shown as available. Slots in the past are never shown.

Custom fields on bookings

Beyond the default booking fields (name, email, slot, status), you can add custom fields to capture booker-specific information. Examples:

• Reason for appointment — text area where the booker describes what they need.
• Special requirements — accessibility needs, equipment needed.
• Number of attendees — for group bookings where capacity isn't 1.
• Phone number — for SMS reminders.

Custom fields are added to the calendar's bookings datastore via the standard Datastore Field admin.

Test before going live

Before pointing real customers at the booking page, run through it as a test user:

1. Open the booking URL.
2. Verify the days show up correctly (matching your working hours config).
3. Pick a slot and book.
4. Confirm the confirmation email arrives.
5. Verify the slot is now marked unavailable to other bookers.
6. Test the cancellation flow.