Scheduling & Calendar Settings

What Are Scheduling Settings?

Scheduling settings control how your calendar behaves and what options are available when creating bookings. These settings affect the entire business and apply to all staff members.

Where to find it: Settings > Scheduling & Calendar

[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER: Settings menu with Scheduling & Calendar highlighted]

The Four Main Settings

1. Default Booking Duration

What it does: Sets the default length for new bookings when you create them.

How it works:

• When you create a booking, the end time auto-fills based on this setting
• Example: If set to 2 hours and you start at 9:00 AM, end time fills as 11:00 AM
• You can always change the duration when creating individual bookings

Recommended values:

• 1 hour - Quick service calls, quotes, small repairs
• 2 hours - Standard residential installs, medium jobs
• 3-4 hours - Large commercial work, complex installs
• 8 hours - All-day jobs (though you might just manually set these)

[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER: Default booking duration dropdown showing hour options]

Tip: Set this to your most common job length. You can always adjust individual bookings as needed.

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2. Business Hours (Start & End)

What it does: Defines your operating hours - when your business is open and available for bookings.

How it affects the calendar:

• Portal calendar: Timeline view shows these hours by default (you can scroll outside them)
• Mobile app: Timeline starts at your business start time
• Booking suggestions: System suggests times within business hours
• Staff availability: Helps identify when bookings are outside normal hours

Setting business hours:

1. Start Time: When your business opens (e.g., 7:00 AM)
2. End Time: When your business closes (e.g., 6:00 PM)
3. Must be at least 4 hours between start and end
4. Cannot span across midnight (same-day only)

[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER: Business hours start and end time pickers]

Common setups:

• Typical tradie hours: 7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
• Extended hours: 6:00 AM - 8:00 PM
• Standard business: 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
• Early start: 6:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Important notes:

• You CAN book outside business hours - they're just visual guides
• The calendar still shows all 24 hours, business hours just set the default view
• If you do emergency/after-hours work, you can still schedule it

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3. Allow Booking Overlaps

What it does: Controls whether staff can be double-booked (assigned to multiple bookings at the same time).

Two modes:

Prevent Overlaps (Recommended - OFF)

When this setting is disabled (unchecked), the system prevents you from double-booking staff by showing a conflict warning if you try to assign someone who's already busy. You can still override the warning for emergencies, but it helps you avoid accidentally scheduling the same person in two places.

This works best for most businesses, especially those with field workers who can only be in one location at a time.

[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER: Conflict warning modal when trying to double-book]

Allow Overlaps (Advanced - ON)

When enabled (checked):

• No conflict warnings
• Staff can be assigned to multiple bookings at same time
• Useful for specific situations (see below)

Best for:

• Office staff who can handle multiple tasks
• Supervisors who oversee multiple job sites
• Emergency/on-call scenarios
• Businesses with unique scheduling needs

[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER: Allow booking overlaps checkbox]

Warning: Only enable this if you understand the implications. Most businesses should keep this OFF.

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How to Change Settings

Step-by-Step

1. Go to Settings in the left sidebar
2. Click "Scheduling & Calendar"
3. You'll see all four settings on one page
4. Make your changes:
   • Select default booking duration from dropdown
   • Set business hours start time
   • Set business hours end time
   • Check/uncheck "Allow booking overlaps"
5. Click "Save Changes" (bottom right)
6. Changes apply immediately

[IMAGE PLACEHOLDER: Full scheduling settings page with all fields visible]

Saving Changes

The "Save Changes" button is only enabled when you've made changes. If it's grayed out, no changes have been made.

After saving:

• Success message appears
• Changes apply immediately to the calendar
• All staff see the new settings
• Existing bookings are not affected (only new ones)

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Validation Rules

The system won't let you:

• Set business end time before start time
• Set business hours shorter than 4 hours
• Set business hours spanning midnight (must be same day)
• Set default booking duration to 0 hours

If you try, you'll see an error message explaining what's wrong.

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Effect on Calendar Views

Portal Calendar

• Timeline view displays your business hours as the default visible range
• You can scroll up/down to see outside business hours
• Bookings outside business hours show in a slightly different shade (if implemented)

Mobile App

• Timeline starts at business start time
• List view shows all bookings regardless of hours
• Business hours don't restrict what you can see or create

Creating Bookings

• Default duration auto-fills based on your setting
• Start time can be any time (not restricted to business hours)
• Conflict warnings depend on overlap setting

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Best Practices

Setting Default Duration

• Use your most common job length
• Round to whole hours for simplicity
• Review every few months - adjust if your work changes
• Too short: you'll always extend it (annoying)
• Too long: you'll always shorten it (also annoying)

Business Hours

• Match your actual operating hours, not aspirational ones
• Include travel time at start/end of day
• If you regularly work early/late, adjust accordingly
• Don't set ultra-wide hours "just in case" - it makes the calendar harder to read

Overlap Setting

• Default: OFF for almost all businesses
• Only turn ON if you have a specific need
• You can always override conflict warnings when OFF
• If you're unsure, leave it OFF

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Common Questions

Do business hours restrict when I can create bookings? No. Business hours are just a visual guide for the calendar. You can create bookings at any time, including outside business hours.

What happens to bookings I already created if I change business hours? Nothing. Existing bookings stay exactly as they are. Business hours only affect the calendar display and new booking suggestions.

Can I have different business hours for different days? No, currently business hours are the same every day. If you don't work weekends, you can still use the calendar - just don't create bookings on those days.

If I allow overlaps, will I get warnings at all? No. With overlaps enabled, the system assumes you know what you're doing and won't warn you about conflicts.

Can I change default booking duration for just one staff member? No, it's business-wide. But you can always adjust the duration when creating each individual booking.

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Troubleshooting

"End time must be after start time"

Your business end time is set to before (or same as) the start time. Make sure start is earlier in the day than end.

"Business hours must be at least 4 hours long"

The gap between start and end is too small. Set a range of at least 4 hours.

"Cannot span across midnight"

You tried to set business hours that go past midnight (e.g., 9 PM - 2 AM). Business hours must be within the same calendar day. For 24-hour or late-night businesses, use 6 AM - 11 PM or similar.

Changes don't seem to apply

• Make sure you clicked "Save Changes"
• Refresh your browser page (Ctrl+R or Cmd+R)
• Check that you're not in ServiceM8 mode (these settings are hidden in ServiceM8 mode)
• Clear browser cache if still not working

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Next Steps

• Creating Bookings - Schedule work using your settings
• Handling Booking Conflicts - Manage double-booking situations
• Using the Calendar - Master the calendar views