Setting up the styles for your online bookings
With your online booking site, it is important to set up the styles of your booking site to match your current website or business design. This will give your clients a consistent experience.
Firstly go to the Online Booking Settings screen.
- Click on Settings.
- Under the Online Booking section, select Online Booking Settings.
- Once you are on the Online Booking Settings click on the Site Content & Styling tab.
Booking Display Options
These options will dictate how your online booking will operate when the client makes a booking.
Hide the staff section of website - When a client books by default they will be able to choose which staff they prefer to be with, or they will be able to just choose first available. By unticking this option they will not be able to choose a staff member and will always go to first available.
Display staff first name only - If choosing a staff is available you may wish to only show their first name on the booking form to provide some privacy. If so then tick this option.
Show photo when selecting staff - Also when choosing a staff you can have their photo displayed on the booking form. Photos are uploaded via the Manage Staff in Settings.
Don't show prices when booking - If you provide services where the prices are often subject to change, for example after consultation with the client you will decide on the exact course of services they need, then you can tick this to hide the prices when booking to avoid confusion.
Show photo when selecting services - When selecting a service you might want to provide a picture of the service next to it. This can make the booking look a bit nicer while giving the client a bit of an indication of what the service entails.
Show maps when selecting location - If you have multiple locations then when a client selects a location you can have a little button to show a map with the location on it. This may be helpful with letting the client choose a location.
Show services as a list and not in categories - When booking and a client selects a service they are by default displayed grouped under their categories. This can be useful if you have a lot of services and your categories are grouped logically. But if you don't have many services you can choose to just display them in a list.
Booking Site Content
On your booking form and the whole mini-website, there are various sections of text that you can enter to give more information to your clients and make a more personalised experience.
Enter your company introduction to display on online booking - Some text that is displayed at the top of your booking form which contains information about your business. This is normally the first block of text the client will see when opening the booking form.
Website service text - On the services tab of the mini-website you can enter this additional text to describe your services.
Website booking text - On the booking form you can have this additional text to display any information about your booking you feel is important.
Website about text - On the about tab of the mini-website you can enter this additional text to describe your business.
Company logo - If you have an image file for your logo you should upload it here so it shows on your booking form and makes it a bit more personalised to you.
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest Links - Any social media links you have can be entered here and will be displayed on the contact and about sections of your mini-website to give you more exposure.
Custom Styles
You may want to change the styles or colours of your booking to match your own website themes.
Custom CSS Styles - This is some CSS code that will be inserted into your mini-website to style it. You might need help from a web developer to set this up.
Booking form embedded code - This will insert a chunk of Javascript code into the booking form. This is useful for something like Google Analytics to track form usage.
Colours - These various colours can be changed for the booking form to match it to your site. Our recommendation is to change the colours and just play around on your booking website until you are happy with how it looks.
Email Templates
When booking or purchasing a voucher the client will be sent some emails with the booking information included. The default emails are more than enough for most people, but if you want you can customise the emails, including the style, content or by adding any logo's you wish to it.
Emails should include header - If you want emails to include a basic header with your business details enable this option. Otherwise, you will be required to enter full email content. With our default templates, this is not required.
Email sent to a recipient of voucher - When someone receives a gift voucher online they will be sent this email.
Email sent to person purchasing voucher - When someone purchases a gift voucher online they will be sent this email.
With the next few templates, it is important to understand a couple of important concepts. An online booking made by the client can be either a confirmed booking or an unconfirmed booking. A confirmed booking means once they have booked it is treated like any normal appointment that is made directly in the system and the client can reasonably expect it won't change. An unconfirmed booking is one which is subject to confirmation by you, so after the client has booked you will need to make sure you are happy with the booking and then confirm it via the appointments screen.
Email sent to client making a booking - When someone makes an unconfirmed online booking they will be sent this email.
Email sent to client making a confirmed booking - When someone makes a confirmed online booking they will be sent this email.
Email sent to client when booking is confirmed - When an unconfirmed booking is confirmed by you this will be sent to the client.
Don't forget to click Save whenever you make any changes.