Appointment Types

SwipeSimple Appointments offers a variety of bookable appointment types, and you can customize each category and type. 

By default, some appointment types are already created. You can edit them, delete them, or create your own. You can also create categories and organize your appointments into them. For example, you could have both an in-person and virtual meeting category, with unique appointment types under each. 

 

Below is a breakdown of the default appointment types and how you might use them for your business. 

1. One to One

This appointment type involves two individuals: the user and the customer. One-on-one appointments will be the most common choice for merchants who regularly offer services to individual customers, such as a salon.

2. One to Many

This appointment type is between multiple people, typically the user and many customers at once. This is useful if you offer classes or seminars working with multiple customers on the same thing. 

3. Many to One

This appointment type is between multiple people, usually multiple users and one customer. This appointment type is often used for panel interviews, conference calls, and workshops. 

4. One Off Appointments

This appointment type is not visible to customers but allows admins and users to book singular or even multiple appointments simultaneously. This is very useful when trying to squeeze someone in at the last minute, or you want to set up a regular recurring appointment with your customers. One-off appointments can be booked via the built-in calendar or the customer's profile. See Manual Bookings down below.

Creating New Appointment Types

Once you have decided on the type of appointment you want to create, you will need to set one up. You can do this by clicking Appointment Types and clicking the “+ Appointment Type” button or by clicking the pencil icon next to an existing appointment type to edit it. You can create new categories by clicking the “+ New Category” button.

Details

You will need to fill out details about the appointment type and provide the following information:

• Appointment Name - What is the appointment for?
• Price - Leave blank if this is a free appointment. (Great for consultations)
• Duration - How long is the appointment in minutes. 
• Description - Brief description or reason for the appointment.
• Where - Location or meeting link if a virtual appointment. 
• Pre & Post Buffer Time - Extra time before or after the appointment. (Useful for prep or clean-up time)
• Appointment & Text Color - Customize the color of the appointment and text color on the calendar. 

Additional Options

You will find some additional options below the above fields that give you more customization, including:

1. Invitee Questions - This will allow you to add customizable questions for the customer to answer when they are booking an appointment for the selected Appointment Type.
2. Additional Options
   • Number of Appointments 
   • Limit Customers from - This will limit the selected Appointment Type from being booked more than once based on the below frequencies.
     • Per Day
     • Per Week
     • Per Month
   • Apply Limit Per Customer - With this enabled, the “Limit Customers from” setting will only apply per individual customer for the selected Appointment Type.
   • Redirect Website - Adding a website here will redirect the customer to that site after they have booked an appointment.
   • Select Language - English only supported currently. 
     

Select Users

Select the checkbox next to the name of each user you want to be bookable for this appointment type.

Appointment Type Availability 

This tab allows you to choose when this appointment type is available for booking and how scheduling will work. You have a few settings that can be configured.

• Date Range
  1. Infinitely - Can book appointments infinitely. 
  2. Date Range - Can book in a specified date range
  3. Rolling Days - Can book an appointment for a set number of consecutive future days

Note: Date Range settings only apply to single-service appointments. Multi-Service appointments are considered bookable infinitely.

As an admin you also have the ability to control if the Appointment Type is shown for all available appointment slots or just specific dates/time.

• Scheduling Mode
  1. Automatic - This mode will display all available time slots for the selected Appointment Type 
  2. Manual - This mode will allow  you to limit the Appointment Type to only show up for specific time frames. (ex: Consultations can only be scheduled Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:30am)

Manual Bookings

Users have the ability to create a manual booking on their calendar in SwipeSimple Appointments. This is a great option for merchants who want to fully control the booking process end to end, but this can be very useful if you need to book something last minute or if you want to set up a recurring appointment for a customer. Below are the steps to set up an appointment manually. 

When creating a new appointment manually, you have two options. 

1. Calendar
   • Click directly on the Calendar: Create a new appointment by clicking directly on the date/time you would like to schedule
   • Create One-Off Appointment Button: This will allow you to create a link that you can copy and manually send to the customer. This link will only allow the customer to book the specific time that you have selected.
     • Click the “Create One-Off Appointment” button
     • Click directly on the desired date/time on the Calendar to create a temporary placeholder appointment
     • Set the duration, number of attendees, and title from the lower left-hand corner of your screen
     • Click the “Create One-Off Appointment” button from the lower right-hand corner of your screen
     • Click on either the “Share Link” or “Copy Slots” buttons from the lower right-hand corner of your screen to copy the link
     • Paste to email or other location
2. Customers
   1. Navigate to the specific customer and click the Appointments tab on their profile. Click the + button to create a new appointment. 
   2. Once you have created the new appointment, you will have to provide details for the booking. 
      • Select Staff
      • Select Appointment Type
        • Note: If you pick one of your existing appointments, the fields below should automatically populate with the appointment type details. 
      • Price
      • Duration
      • Description
      • Private Notes
      • Date/Time
      • Status
      • Click “Create Appointment” to save it.