In this document:
- Introduction
- Accept Payments with PayPal or Stripe
- Send Appointment Info to Other Apps with Webhooks
- SMS and Email Reminders and Follow-Ups
- Tracking Bookings Calendar Activity
- Google Calendar Sync
- Google Meet for Video Calls
- MailChimp Newsletter Sign Ups
- Group Events or Reservations
- Custom Booking Fields
- Integrate with Gravity Forms or Formidable Forms
- Display the Calendar on Your Site
- Style and Customize the Calendar
- Block Out Holidays and Vacations
- Style and Write Your Notifications
- Add Advanced Rules to Your Booking Calendar
- Translate the Booking Calendar
Introduction
You’ve just upgraded to the Professional Edition of Simply Schedule Appointments, we’re glad to have you with us! We wanted to give you this guide to help you start using your new Professional Edition features.
In case you need help installing and activating your new Professional Edition, here’s a guide to help you do that: Installing a New Premium Edition
Accept Payments with PayPal or Stripe
Take payments for each appointment booked, and let customers pay through PayPal or Stripe.
Use this to:
- Set a price for each type of appointment – you choose whether to make payment optional too.
- Only book appointments who successfully process payments.
- Receive money directly to your personal accounts in Stripe or PayPal.
Guides to help you set this up:
Send Appointment Info to Other Apps with Webhooks
Send appointment info to other apps, either homemade ones or using services like Zapier or IFTT.
Zapier wrote a helpful article to help explain what a Webhook is.
Use this to:
- Zapier offers 1500+ apps to connect to such as Google Sheets, Slack, Envoy, ActiveCampaign, Dropbox, Trello, etc.
- Send information based on when someone books, cancels, or edits an appointment.
Guides to help you set this up:
SMS and Email Reminders and Follow-Ups
Send text messages or emails for reminders or follow-ups on appointments.
Use this to:
- Send a text to remind your client of tomorrow’s booked meeting.
- Automate a thank you note after each appointment.
- Get a text message anytime someone books, especially useful for same day bookings.
Guides to help you set this up:
Tracking Bookings Calendar Activity
Find out how your visitors use your booking calendar and see how that fits into the bigger picture of your website
Use this to:
- See if your website is meeting its goals and track funnels.
- Understand places where your site needs to improve using tests based on data.
Guides to help you set this up:
Google Calendar Sync
Get two-way sync between your Booking Calendar and your personal calendar.
Use this to:
- Easily block off time chunks that you need for personal stuff – Dentists, the first day of school, holiday hours, etc.
- Automatically add a Google Invite to your customer’s calendars
- See an overhead calendar view of all your booked appointments
- Access all your appointment information from your smartphone, don’t have to log in to WordPress Dashboard!
Guides to help you set this up:
Google Meet for Video Calls
Automatically add a unique Google Meet link to your Google Calendar events.
Use this to:
- Make coordinating video calls simple
- Create a Join with Google Meet location in your SSA Google Calendar events.
Guide to help you set this up:
Add in a MailChimp opt-in checkbox directly to your booking form.
Use this to:
- Make it easy for your clients to sign up for your newsletter – they’ve already filled in their info, now they just have to check off the box!
- Collect client emails to keep them updated on new products, promotions, or services
- Send automated emails to encourage the client to book another appointment with you
Guides to help you set this up:
Group Events or Reservations
Create special time slots to allow group booking or reservations.
Use this to:
- Host group classes and keep an attendance list
- Rent out limited equipment or spaces
- Limit the amount of visitors in your shoppe or office
Guides to help you set this up:
Custom Booking Fields
Tailor the booking form to collect the customer information you need for a successful appointment.
Use this to:
- Get a better idea of what you’re clients need help with – Radio buttons for specific service (haircut, shave, color)
- Find out the best way to contact them – Checkboxes for Zoom, Phone call, Email, and Text
- Let your clients write out their questions – Multi Line Box to let them write it all out!
Guides to help you set this up:
Integrate with Gravity Forms or Formidable Forms
Create complex booking forms that include conditional logic, custom confirmation screens and Advanced fields.
Use this to:
- Re-direct your clients to your web store after booking
- Direct them towards the right Appointment Type for them based off their multiple-choice answers
- Book multiple time slots with a single booking form
Guides to help you set this up:
Display the Calendar on Your Site
Place the booking calendar into any of your WordPress pages or posts.
Use this to:
- Let your visitors book a time slot in your Contact page.
- Display the booking calendar in each of your blog posts.
- Make your booking calendar for members only pages.
Guides to help you set this up:
Style and Customize the Calendar
Customize and style the booking calendar to match your site’s theme. Use our style settings tool or use our CSS snippets to create a look unique to your site.
Use this to:
- Change colors of text, background, accents.
- Modify the time slot formatting.
- Hide or change headers or text in the booking process.
Guides to help you set this up:
Block Out Holidays and Vacations
Choose days that you need to block out from your calendar. Make sure no one can book on the days that you business is closed.
Use this to:
- Remove all the time slots during your vacation days.
- Make sure no one books on a holiday
Guides to help you set this up:
Style and Write Your Notifications
Write and style the notifications to represent your business. Use our Twig templates or recommended plugins to customize the notifications your customers receive.
Use this to:
- Style the email notifications to match your branding.
- Write customized messages depending on the appointment type booked.
Guides to help you set this up:
Add Advanced Rules to Your Booking Calendar
Get more control on the rules for your booking calendar.
Use this to:
- Choose a date range for when time slots are bookable
- Limit when visitors can access your calendar
- Set how far into the future visitors can book time slots
Guides to help you set this up:
Translate the Booking Calendar
Get the booking calendar to display in different languages.
Use this to:
- Cater to your non-English visitors
- Use with multilingual site for international bookings
Guides to help you set this up:
Related Guides
-
Display the Booking Calendar on Your Site
-
Appointment Type Settings
-
After the Setup Wizard
-
Fixing ‘There Are No Available Appointments’