With Altegio, you can easily schedule group bookings.

What is it and what is it for?

Many businesses, particularly those in the sports industry, rely on booking systems that allow clients to book a series of events at once. This type of scheduling is widely used, as evidenced by recent UX research that found all 9 businesses surveyed dealing with fixed schedules and repeated events. Promotions and trial visits are typically the exception to this rule.

Using the Schedule functionality, administrators can easily make bookings for clients across a series of events, and can also remove clients from the series if their bookings are cancelled. Additionally, it's possible to edit and delete schedules as needed, making it simple to keep your booking system up to date and accurate.

Creating schedule

To create a schedule for an event, begin by navigating to the "Schedule" tab within the Event settings.

1. Before creating a schedule, you'll need to first create an event within the Appointment Calendar. You can learn more about creating events in detail here. Be sure to indicate the staff member and service as basic settings for the event within the "Current event" tab.

2. Once you have created the event, click either the "Go to schedule" button or manually navigate to the "Schedule" tab within the event to begin configuring the schedule.

3. Set the schedule by following these steps:

• Start by checking the days of the week that you want to set the schedule for. You can then customize the Start and End times, duration, and resources (including more than one resource) for each event as needed.

• Be sure to also set the Schedule end date, which determines the date by which events will be created.

• Finally, if you have added clients to the event, you can check the "Add clients from the current event" option to include them in the schedule as needed.

4. Click Save.

Important

• Scheduled events are not created instantaneously, but rather through a queue mechanism. The rate at which events are created is typically around 100 per minute, so it may take a little time before all events in the schedule are fully created and displayed.

• If an event is currently being created, you will see a clock icon next to it, indicating that the process is underway.

• Additionally, it's important to note that neither administrators nor clients will be sent notifications when events are created via a schedule. However, events will still be created even if the schedule is set for days when an employee doesn't have a work schedule set.

Editing schedule

You’ll be able to edit the schedule after you set it.

The main principle for editing the schedule already set is that you can’t edit the schedule in past events.

For instance, the schedule was created on May 1 for the period from May 1 to August 1. Today is July 1 and if you open any event before July 1 you won’t be able to edit the schedule (buttons for this will be missing because the user is trying to make mass changes to the schedule from the past event). However, you’ll be able to change the schedule completely if you go to Schedule in any event after July 1.

Mass editing the schedule

1. Navigate to the Schedule tab and click the Edit schedule button.

2. From here, you can edit the schedule by performing the following actions:

• To prolong the schedule, simply extend the Schedule end date. To shorten the schedule, adjust the date accordingly. However, please note that you cannot set a date that is earlier than the current one, and you also cannot shorten the schedule past events that have already been created.

• To add days of the week to the schedule, simply check the boxes next to the days you want to add.

• To remove a day of the week from the schedule, click the three dots button in the Schedule tab, then select "Delete". Please note that removing a day of the week will delete the entire series of events for that day, and you will not be able to delete a portion of the events (e.g. only certain dates).

• Finally, please note that it is not possible to change the service using mass editing for the schedule or series of events.

 

3. Click Save.

4. To remove the schedule completely, click the Delete Schedule button.

Notes

•  You cannot shorten/prolong part of the schedule, only the entire schedule. For instance, when you set the schedule for Monday and Thursday for the period from May 1 to August 1 you won’t be able to shorten the schedule for Thursdays up to July 1 only, you’ll need to shorten the entire schedule.
• If the event was changed separately from the series of events/schedule then the changes you make to schedule or series of events (day of the week) afterwards will be applied to all parameters except those that were changed separately. For instance, you set the schedule for Mondays and Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. from May 1 to May 31. We change a single event on May 5 separately, e.g. change start time from 6 p.m. to 3 p.m.. Then we open the May 1 event and go to change the schedule for Mondays and we change 6 p.m. to 9 a.m.. Altegio will indicate that the time was changed previously in one of the events and that changing the schedule will not affect that particular event (you can check the Apply changes to unique events option to apply changes to that unique event as well).

Editing a single event in the schedule

To make changes to a specific event in a series or schedule, you can open the event in the Appointment Calendar and modify the relevant parameter in the Current event tab. Then, click Save to apply the changes.

If you want to delete a particular event in the series, you can also open it in the Appointment Calendar, go to the Current event tab, and click Delete.

Note

• If the event was changed separately from the schedule it will not be changed when you make changes to the schedule or series of events afterwards.
• When editing a particular event in the schedule you can change the service.

Displaying the Repeat tab

• The Schedule tab substitutes the Repeat tab in the event.
• When you create schedule you’ll see the link to Repeat tab in the initial event. If you open an event that was created using Schedule tab you won’t be able to switch to the Repeat tab in it.
• You can switch between Repeat and Schedule tabs multiple times.

Status in the Appointment Calendar

• Group appointments united as a series of events will have special indication in the Appointment Calendar: you will see a specific icon and schedule end date in the header of the event.

• Group appointments with parameters that differ from the parameters of the series of events will have special indication: you will see a specific icon and schedule end date in the header of the event.