Overview

The Booking Period Spoke defines the window of time during which an offering or program can be booked. It allows you to control when users are eligible to make a booking — from how far in advance they can start booking, to when booking closes.

This spoke is flexible and can be configured in several ways: with no restrictions, using fixed dates and times, or based on timing relative to the start or end of the associated event. Setting the appropriate booking period helps manage availability and scheduling effectively.

This spoke is optional and not required.  If not added, then your course will become available to book as soon as it is built on the calendar.  

Setup

To set up or edit a booking period for your program:

1. Go to Build > Plans > Programs.
2. Select your desired program.
   
   
   
   
3. From the left-hand menu within the program, choose Booking Period.
4. If no booking period exists: Click the blue + New Booking Period Config button.
5. If a booking period already exists: Click the blue Edit link next to the offering.
   
   

Once you've accessed the booking period settings, you'll first need to name this booking period and then toggle it on to activate it.

The most important decision here is choosing your booking period type. This determines when your customers can start making reservations. Options include:

• • No Restriction: Want bookings to be open right away? Choose this. As soon as you publish your schedule, customers can book.
  • Fixed Date and Time: If you need bookings to start precisely on a certain day and time at a specific location, this is your best option.
  • Relative Date and Time: This is perfect if you want bookings to open a set amount of time before the actual course begins (e.g., 2 weeks before the start date).

Relative Date and Time can be useful for a program that recurs monthly or seasonally so that the booking period opens at a determined number of days prior to the next course start.

If you would like the booking window to close at a specific time, you will also need to choose a Fixed Date and Time or Relative Date and Time before saving.

Advanced Settings

The Advanced toggle allows you to write rules and conditions that will apply to the booking period for certain customer segments of people. This would be most useful if you wanted to allow active members the first opportunity to book an offering before the general public or allow someone who took a previous course a window for booking another series.

For information on building customer segments, check out our example article here.