Question
How can I set a Booking Service so that it is only available for a certain date range? For example, an advising cycle.
Answer
You can tailor the system so that a service is offered at certain times of the year. For example, Faculty Advisors on campus need a way to handle appointments during the advising cycles for their respective colleges. There is a way to configure Bookings so that an appointment is only selectable during a defined date range while not selectable during the remainder of the year. This allows a streamlined way for customers to schedule an appointments at the appropriate time for a specific service, such as advising.
To define a date range for a service, for example, an advising appointment, please take the following steps:
1. Log into Bookings and access the Dashboard of Booking Pages. Select the appropriate Booking Page Dashboard. In this example, I am accessing Mr. Melnik's Advising Appointments.
2. From the Booking Page Dashboard, click Services on the left.
3. Once the list of services loads, hover your mouse over the service and click the pencil icon next to the service. You can also click the pencil icon next to Edit Service in the details menu to the right. In this example, Advising Appointments.
4. Once you are at the service menu, click on Availability options on the left side. Then, under General availability, click the drop down menu and select Not bookable.
5. After selecting Not bookable, your screen will indicate as such. Next, click on Set different availability for a date range.
6. Specify the date range in which this service can be booked. In this example, the Fall advising cycle. After specifying the date range, you can select time options either 1. When staff (or the advisor) are free within the date range in the business hours (These will be Monday-Friday 8am-5pm unless you specify otherwise) or 2. Custom Hours (recurring weekly).
6a. If you select Bookeable when staff are free. No further action is required on your part. The system will use the Business Hours in coordination with staff (or the advisor's) calendar.
6b. In some cases, you may want to further narrow down the availability of a service. For example, a Faculty Advisor may want to offer advising during certain times of the day during the advising cycle. You also have the ability to offer more than one time range per day. As a default, the system will display the business hours. Adjust the time ranges accordingly below. To add multiple time ranges per day, just click the + icon and set the time ranges accordingly. Click the Trash Can Icon to remove a time range.
The system will consult the calendar of staff members involved for availability within these specified days/hours. You can further create special customizations and date ranges by clicking the Set availability for a date range again. This will allow you to follow the same steps as above. When you are finished customizing, click the Save changes button. It is recommended to go to your Booking page and make sure the customization is working as intended by browsing for an appointment in the time range specified.
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If you have any questions or need consultation, please reach out to YSU IT Training Services or email ITTraining@ysu.edu.