Creating and Managing Schedules

Schedules in Cally help you set up availability for your bookable products, services, and staff members. Each schedule can be one of three types:

Continuous Availability

Keep your service open for booking at any time and date, offering maximum flexibility to your customers.

Weekly Recurring

Set a weekly repeating schedule, allowing you to define specific times and days for your activities or appointments. You can specify the availability for each day of the week.

Non-Repeating

Create a one-time schedule without repetition. Ideal for unique events, appointments, or tasks that don't follow a regular weekly pattern. You can specify multiple date-time ranges for this type of schedule.

Each product and staff member must have a schedule. By default, you can create a continuous availability schedule with one click, making the product or staff member always available.

A schedule can have the following properties, which you may want to configure:

Timezone

This setting defaults to your store's timezone, which you set in your settings. It’s useful for services in different timezones or for staff members located in various timezones.

Schedule Gap

Specify the gap between each time slot. For instance, selecting "Every 30 minutes" will show customers time slots like 12:00 PM, 12:30 PM, 1:00 PM, etc.

Advance Booking

Define how far in the future customers can book appointments.

Gap Between Appointments

Create time breaks between appointments for rest or preparation. This setting can be overridden by product-specific settings, such as before and after gaps. The longest gap will be applied. If a staff member has a different schedule with a separate gap, the greatest value will be used.

These features allow you to customize and manage your availability effectively, ensuring a seamless booking experience for your customers.

Step-by-Step Guide

Example: Setting Up Schedules for a Gym

Step 1: Create a Service

If you haven't created a product yet, follow the link to learn how to create your first service. In this example, we'll create a Yoga product with a maximum of 10 attendees.

Step 2: Create and Assign a Schedule

1. Navigate to Schedules > Add schedule.
2. Create a new schedule:
   • Name: Yoga Schedule
   • Type: Select a recurring schedule.
3. Set the availability times:
   • Days and times: Specify that the Yoga class is available Monday to Friday from 8 am to 9 pm.
4. Choose the Yoga service to assign the schedule.
5. Save the schedule.

Step 3: Assign Trainers to the Schedule

1. In the Cally app, go to Staff Members > Add staff member.
2. Enter the details of the staff members who will provide the Yoga class, and create each an individual schedule (see step #2):
   • Anna's Schedule: Recurring schedule, Monday to Friday from 8 am to 1 pm.
   • Mia's Schedule: Recurring schedule, Monday to Friday from 1 pm to 9 pm.
3. Assign Anna and Mia to the "Yoga" product.
4. Save the staff member details.

Step 4: Specify Appointment Gaps (Optional)

If you wish your staff members to have a rest between appointments, you can specify the appointment gaps in their schedules.

1. Select the staff member's schedule.
2. Specify the desired appointment gaps to allow rest between sessions.
3. Save the changes.

Step 5: Integrate Staff Calendars (Recommended)

To ensure your staff members have their own access to classes assigned to them, integrate their calendars, such as Google Calendar, and assign each trainer an individual calendar. This way, they won't miss their bookings.

1. In the Cally app, navigate to Staff Members > Manage calendars.
2. Link each staff member's individual calendar, such as Google Calendar.
3. Ensure the staff members can view and manage their bookings.
4. Save the settings.

Step 6: Add Online Meeting Integration (Optional)

If your services are conducted online, such as online Yoga classes, add Zoom or Google Meet integration to your product. This ensures that every customer will receive a meeting invitation, allowing them to attend the class.

1. In the Cally app, go to Products > Manage products.
2. Select the "Yoga" product.
3. Enable online meeting integration (e.g., Zoom or Google Meet).
4. Ensure customers receive meeting invitations for online Yoga classes.
5. Save the changes.

Step 7. Add Days Off for Staff Members (Optional)

If you want to give a day off or holidays to your trainers, you can add date-time ranges to their schedules. During this time, customers won't be able to make bookings.

1. Navigate to your staff member's schedule.
2. Specify the date-time ranges when the staff member is not available for bookings.
3. Save the schedule.

By following these steps, you can efficiently set up and manage Yoga classes using the Cally booking app on Shopify, ensuring a seamless booking experience for your customers and staff.