A booking slot is a single time window for an event that customers (or staff) can book into. Slots come from two places: they're generated automatically from your schedules, or you create them manually as a one-off with Create new > Custom time slot. Once a slot exists, it has a status, timing, customer-facing display text, optional custom pricing, resource assignments, and a full activity log. This article covers every field and option on a booking slot.
Getting started
Open any booking view (Bookings > Bookings) and click a slot. The booking drawer opens with the slot's details; use Edit time slot to open the edit view.
How it works
This article is about editing the slot itself (status, timing, customer-facing text, pricing rules). To book a customer into a slot or add a slot to the cart for checkout, see the Creating a booking article. The two flows live in the same drawer but are separate workflows.
Booking slots live inside schedules. Your schedules define repeating time windows (e.g., "every Friday 7pm–9pm for Haunted Manor"), and the system generates one slot per occurrence up to 12 months ahead. A slot starts life as Available. As bookings happen, its status progresses to Booked, Completed, Cancelled, Expired, etc. Between those automated transitions, you can manually change the status, edit timing, change pricing, add resource assignments, or reset an incomplete state.
Slots that sit directly next to resource slots (same time window, same resource) can be automatically linked via the resource_booking_slot_link table. This lets one customer booking consume the needed resource slot for the duration, which powers the Resource calendar view and auto-block rules.
The edit experience comes in two variants:
- The Edit time slot drawer (used from list, calendar, kanban) is the primary flow: a side panel with collapsible sections
- The Edit slot modal in the Resource calendar is the same fields in a wider modal, with additional resource-linkage controls
Booked or completed slots have limited editing (you can change timing, but status and most settings are locked to prevent accidents). Unbooked slots can be edited freely.
Step-by-step guide
Open a slot for editing
- From the list or kanban view, open the row's three-dot menu and click Edit time slot (or Edit booking if the slot is booked or completed)
- From the calendar view, click the cell to open its action popover, then click Edit time slot
- From the resource calendar, click the cell to open the action popover, then click Edit time slot or Edit booking
- The edit view opens with Slot details, Timing, and Additional settings sections
Change the slot's status
- Open the slot for editing
- Under Slot details, pick a Status from the dropdown (Available, Call to book, Blocked, or any custom status defined in Booking slot settings)
- Click Save
The Status dropdown is hidden for booked or completed slots (status is locked). Change status by cancelling the booking first.
Edit timing
- Open the slot and expand Timing
- Toggle All day event to treat the slot as spanning the full day
- If all-day, optionally set Display text (e.g., "Available all day") that shows on the customer-facing calendar
- If not all-day, set Start date, Start time, End date, End time
- Click Save
If the slot is linked to a resource slot, its timing is constrained by the resource slot's coverage window (the all-day toggle is disabled in that case).
Update many slots at once with bulk actions
Bulk actions are the fastest way to apply the same change across a date range of slots, for example blocking off every slot for a long weekend, raising the minimum booking notice for a season, or stamping the same internal note on every slot in a week.
Open the gear menu in the toolbar of the list or calendar view, click Bulk actions to open the Bulk update modal (requires the Update booking slots permission), and pick the action you want from the dropdown:
| Bulk action | Effect |
|---|---|
| Change slot status | Set the status to Available, Blocked, or Call to book on every eligible slot in the range |
| Change minimum booking notice | Set the minimum-booking-notice value and period (minutes, hours, days, weeks, months) on every eligible slot |
| Change maximum booking in advance | Set the maximum-booking-in-advance value and period on every eligible slot |
| Clear resource assignments | Remove the resource link on every eligible slot. Toggle Attempt reassignment to resource slots to let the system reassign automatically afterward |
| Add a booking note | Add the same staff-only note to every eligible slot |
| Change slot pricing | Apply a custom pricing model and category configuration to every eligible slot |
| Set custom message | Apply the same Custom message (text and display style) across the date range. Same fields as the per-slot Custom message section: toggle, message (max 200 chars), display style (Text or Badge) |
Set the Start date and End date that bound the update, optionally toggle Time range to also bound the update by start and end time within each day, then click Update slots to apply.
Bulk actions only ever modify slots that are currently Available, Blocked, or Call to book. Booked, completed, and cancelled slots are skipped; bulk actions never touch a slot that has a transaction attached. The intro alert in the modal calls this out: "All other slots will remain unchanged."
Tip: The same range can be hit with a second bulk action right after the first. For example, set every slot next Monday to Blocked, then run a second bulk action to add a note that explains why.
Add or update a custom message on a slot
Custom messages let you display a short note like "Closed for Christmas!" right on the slot, independent of its status. The message appears either inline under the slot's time or as a small corner badge on the slot tile, depending on the display style you pick. This replaces the old workaround of switching a slot's status to Call to book just to surface a note.
Open the slot in Edit time slot (or the Create slot drawer if you're starting fresh) and scroll to the Custom message section. Toggle Show message on this booking slot on, type the message in the Message field (max 200 characters; placeholder reads "e.g. Closed for Christmas!"), and pick a Display style from the segmented toggle: Text (inline under the slot's time) or Badge (small corner pill on the slot tile). The live Preview below renders exactly how the slot will look. Save the slot when you're done.
The toggle controls visibility independently of the text. Turning the toggle off keeps the saved message for later but hides it from the booking site. Saving with the toggle on but the message blank is blocked with the validation message "Add a message before enabling, or turn the toggle off". The Badge display style works best with short text (around 20 characters or less); the section shows a warning when the text is longer than the badge can comfortably hold.
To apply a custom message to many slots at once, use the Set custom message option in the bulk actions drawer (see Update many slots at once with bulk actions above).
Configure additional settings
The Additional settings section contains all the per-slot rules and customer-facing text. Which fields appear depends on the slot's status.
- Open the slot for editing
- Click Show additional settings (or expand the Additional settings section if it's collapsed)
- Configure any of the following (only the fields relevant to the current status appear):
- Allow bookings after start time (Available / Call to book): let customers book a slot that's already started
- Minimum booking notice or Maximum time after booking start: value + period (minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years)
- Maximum bookings in advance: value + period; caps how far ahead customers can book
- Minimum notice block off text or Time slot text: customer-facing message shown when the slot is unbookable due to notice rules, or when it's Call to book
- Link to external page: toggle, plus URL field to redirect customers somewhere else instead of the normal booking flow
- Notes (Blocked / Call to book): free-text staff-only note explaining the slot status. Visible in the slot tooltip and the booking drawer; never shown to customers
- Click Save
Enable custom pricing on a slot
Custom pricing is available on Create time slot and certain edit flows. Configure it with:
- Toggle Enable custom pricing on
- Pick a Reservation style: Private (one group per slot) or Public (multiple groups share)
- Toggle Cumulative category pricing to combine ticket counts across categories when picking a tier (e.g., 2 adults + 2 children = 4 total participants for tier matching), rather than evaluating each category's count in isolation
- Toggle Hide pricing rate to hide the per-ticket rate from customers
- Add categories (e.g., Adult, Child) with tier-based pricing: each tier has a Participant count threshold and a Price
- Toggle Allow deposit if customers can pay an optional deposit amount or the full price
- Toggle Require only deposit amount during checkout to reserve with only the deposit amount
- Set the Deposit amount
- Save the slot
View a slot's activity log
- Open the slot's booking drawer
- Click Activity log (may be a three-dot menu option or drawer section depending on view)
- The activity log shows chronological entries: creation, edits, status changes, resource assignments, cancellations, and who did what with a timestamp
Add or edit booking notes
- Open the booking drawer on a booked slot
- Use the Notes section or the Notes action from the three-dot menu
- Notes persist on the slot and display on the calendar card (when the importance flag is set)
Manage resource assignments on a booking
The booking drawer has a Resources section where you can see every resource linked to the booking and assign, reassign, or unassign them without leaving the page. The section is collapsible and shows a count badge next to its title. The empty state ("No resources assigned yet.") appears when nothing is assigned.
Open the booking drawer on any booked slot and expand the Resources section. Each row shows a lock / unlock icon on the left (with the tooltip "Locked - will not be auto-reassigned" or "Unlocked - can be auto-reassigned"), the resource name and category with a color dot, the time assigned and time freed, and a three-dot menu on the right with three actions: Edit resource slot, Reassign to…, and Unassign. Clicking the lock toggles the lock state immediately with a confirmation toast.
Assign a resource to a booking
In the Resources section, click Assign resource. A Search resource autocomplete appears with the placeholder "Search by label or staff name". Type to search; suggestions show the category color dot, resource display name, and category name. Pick a match to add it (the assignment appears in the list immediately), or click Cancel to close the search without adding.
Reassign a resource to a different one
Use Reassign to… when you want to swap a resource for another one in a single atomic action (replacing the previous workflow of "add a new one and remove the old one in two steps", which often left bookings pinned to two resources at once).
In the Resources section, open the three-dot menu on the resource you want to change and click Reassign to…. The search panel opens with a banner reading "Reassigning [resource name]" plus the category. The autocomplete is labeled Replace with and the placeholder reads "Search replacement". By default, suggestions are scoped to the same category, so reassigning a room only suggests other rooms and reassigning a staff member only suggests other staff.
If you need to swap across categories, tick Show all categories to widen the search. Pick the replacement and the old assignment is removed and the new one is added in a single step. The new assignment is automatically locked, so the system won't immediately reshuffle what you just chose.
Jump from a booking to the resource itself
In the Resources section, open the three-dot menu on any assignment and select Edit resource slot. The resource slot drawer opens on top of the booking drawer. Edit the resource's timing, identity, capacity, or blocking rules and close the resource drawer to snap back to the booking drawer.
Unassign a resource
In the Resources section, open the three-dot menu on the assignment and click Unassign (renamed from "Remove assignment" so the verbs read distinctly: Edit / Reassign / Unassign). Confirm the prompt. The assignment is removed; the booking is otherwise unchanged.
Cancel or delete a slot
- For unbooked slots: use Delete time slot from the three-dot menu
- For booked slots: use Cancel booking from the three-dot menu. The cancel modal asks which status to leave the freed slot in and whether to keep or delete any linked waivers
- For public bookings (shared across multiple groups), the menu reads Cancel entire booking instead and cascades the cancellation
Reference
Slot entry points (how to open a slot for editing)
| View | How to open |
|---|---|
| List | Open the three-dot menu at the right of the row and click Edit time slot (or Edit booking for booked or completed slots). The row body itself isn't clickable; actions live in the menu |
| Calendar | Click a cell; the action popover opens. Select Edit time slot |
| Resource calendar | Click a cell; the action popover opens. Select Edit time slot or Edit booking |
| Kanban | Click a card; the drawer opens. Use Edit |
Edit time slot drawer: sections
| Section | Shown when | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Resource info | Slot is linked to a resource | Shows resource name and coverage window |
| Slot details | Always | Game (event) and Status |
| Timing | Always | All-day toggle, display text, or date/time range |
| Additional settings | Status is not booked/completed | Booking rules (late booking, min notice, max in advance), customer-facing text (block-off text, time slot text, external link), and notes; fields shown depend on the current status |
| Custom message | Always | Toggle, message (max 200 chars), display style (Text inline or Badge corner pill), live preview |
| Custom pricing | Toggle on (Available, Blocked, Call to book) | Per-slot pricing override with categories, tiers, and deposit rules |
Slot details fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Game | Required. The event this slot is for. Dropdown of all events in the group |
| Status | Available, Call to book, Blocked, or any custom status. Hidden for booked/completed slots (locked) |
Timing fields
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| All day event | Toggle. When on, the slot spans the full day; only display text is required |
| Display text | Optional label shown instead of a time range (e.g., "Available all day") |
| Start date / Start time | Required when not all-day |
| End date / End time | Required when not all-day |
When the slot is linked to a resource slot with a coverage window, the all-day toggle is disabled and the time range is constrained.
Additional settings fields
All of these live under Additional settings. The visible fields depend on the slot's current status:
| Field | Shown when | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Allow bookings after start time | Available / Call to book | When on, customers can book even after the slot has started (late entry use case) |
| Minimum booking notice / Maximum time after booking start | Available / Call to book | How close to the slot time a customer can still book. Value + period (minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years). Label switches to "Maximum time after booking start" when Allow bookings after start time is on |
| Maximum bookings in advance | Available / Call to book | How far ahead customers can book. Value + period |
| Minimum notice block off text / Time slot text | Status ≠ Blocked | Customer-facing text shown when the slot is unbookable due to notice rules (Available) or whenever it's Call to book |
| Link to external page | Status ≠ Blocked | Toggle + URL. When on, customers are redirected to the URL instead of going through the normal booking flow |
| Notes | Blocked / Call to book | Free-text staff-only note. Shown in the slot's tooltip and the booking drawer; never visible to customers |
Custom pricing configuration (create time slot / certain edits)
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| Enable custom pricing | Master toggle overriding the event's base pricing |
| Reservation style | Private (one group) or Public (multiple groups share) |
| Cumulative category pricing | Combine ticket counts across categories when picking a tier (e.g., 2 adults + 2 children counts as 4 toward the tier match), rather than evaluating each category's count in isolation |
| Hide pricing rate | Hide the per-ticket rate from customers |
| Category name | Custom label (e.g., Adult, VIP) |
| Participant count (per tier) | Count threshold defining each tier |
| Price (per tier) | Price for that tier |
| Allow deposit | When on, customers can choose between paying an optional deposit amount or the full price at checkout |
| Require only deposit amount during checkout | When on, customers reserve with only the deposit amount (the remaining balance is collected later) |
| Deposit amount | Numeric value with currency prefix |
Status visibility and behavior
| Status | What it means | Customer-facing | Editable fields |
|---|---|---|---|
| Available | Open for booking | Visible | All |
| Call to book | Customer must phone to book | Visible with custom text | All + Time slot text |
| Blocked | Not bookable | Hidden (unless Show unavailable slots is on in booking site settings) | Timing, Notes |
| Booked | Reserved with transaction | Shown as sold out | Timing only (status locked) |
| Completed | Event finished | Hidden | Timing only (status locked) |
| Cancelled | Reservation cancelled | Hidden | All |
| Expired (Passed) | Past start without completing | Hidden | All |
| Checked in | Customer checked in but no booking on record | Visible | All |
| Custom status | User-defined (e.g., No-show) | Hidden | All |
| Incomplete booking | Stuck: booked with no transaction | Shown as sold out | See the note below about recovery |
Activity log entries
Activity log records every change to a slot. Typical entry types:
| Entry | When |
|---|---|
| Slot created | Slot was generated from a schedule or created manually |
| Status changed | Admin or automation changed the status |
| Booking created | Customer booked the slot |
| Booking cancelled | A booking on the slot was cancelled |
| Resource assigned | A resource slot was linked |
| Resource removed | A resource link was removed |
| Notes updated | Slot notes were edited |
| Settings changed | Pricing, display options, or booking options were edited |
Each entry shows a timestamp, the acting user (or "system" for automated changes), and the affected fields.
Resource slot link attributes
| Attribute | Description |
|---|---|
| Resource slot id | The resource this slot is linked to |
| is_locked | If true, the assignment won't be auto-reassigned |
| is_saturated | If true, the resource is "locked after first assignment" and accepts no more bookings |
Good to know
- Slots are generated from schedules up to 12 months in advance by default. The Maximum bookings in advance setting on a slot further constrains what customers can see.
- Call to book is visible to customers but not self-servable; they see the Time slot text and are expected to phone. This is for slots that require a human conversation before confirming.
- Blocked slots are hidden from customers unless your booking site template has Show sold out and blocked slots turned on.
- The Time slot text / block-off texts are the customer-facing voice of your blocking rules. Use them to communicate "Call 555-1234 to arrange" or "Closed for a private event".
- Custom statuses (defined in Booking slot settings) are exempt from autoblocking rules and hidden from the customer-facing booking site. Useful for internal tracking like "No-show".
- A slot linked to a resource slot inherits the resource's coverage window. Timing edits outside the window are rejected.
- The Incomplete booking state is a failure case, not something you set. It happens when the transaction pipeline fails mid-booking. If you encounter one, contact support to get the slot restored to an available state; there's no self-serve reset in the current booking drawer.
- Deleting an unbooked slot is permanent. Deleting is restricted to booking_slot_delete permission; canceling (instead of deleting) preserves the slot and transitions it to Available.
- Changing a slot's status from Blocked back to Available doesn't restore any previous pricing overrides; those need to be re-entered.
- Booking slots and resource slots are independent records. Creating a booking slot doesn't automatically create a resource slot; you link them separately.
FAQ
Q: What's the difference between a booking slot and a resource slot?
A: A booking slot is a time window an event is available for customers to book. A resource slot is a time window for a specific resource (room, staff, equipment). A single booking can consume a resource slot through the assignment link. Not every event needs resource slots; they're optional infrastructure for capacity management.
Q: Why can't I change the status of this slot?
A: It's booked or completed. Cancel the booking first, then you can change the status. The Status dropdown is hidden for booked and completed slots to prevent accidental state changes that would confuse the transaction.
Q: What does "Incomplete booking" mean?
A: The slot shows as booked but has no linked transaction, usually because the transaction pipeline hit an error during processing. It's rare. If you see one, contact support so they can restore the slot to a clean state.
Q: How do I set a slot as private so only one group books it?
A: Enable Custom pricing on the slot and set Reservation style to Private. Multiple groups can't share a private slot; the first booking claims it entirely.
Q: Why is the All day toggle disabled?
A: The slot is linked to a resource slot with a specific coverage window. The resource constrains the timing. To use all-day, unlink the resource or edit the resource slot's window.
Q: Where do slot notes show up?
A: On the calendar, staff see the note in the slot's hover details and in the booking drawer. Customers never see them; notes are internal-only.
Q: How far in advance are slots generated?
A: Up to 12 months by default, starting from today. The Maximum bookings in advance per-slot setting can shorten this window for specific slots.
Q: Can I override the price for a slot without affecting the event's base pricing?
A: Yes. Enable Custom pricing on that slot. The override applies only to this slot; the event's default pricing is unchanged.
Q: If I change the event (game) on an unbooked slot, does that break anything?
A: It re-associates the slot with the new event's default pricing, capacity, and rules. Any custom pricing you set on the slot persists if Custom pricing is still enabled.
Q: What happens to resource assignments when I cancel a booking?
A: The resource link's time_freed_up is stamped, freeing the resource for the remaining window. Auto-reassignment rules on the resource may automatically pick up another booking if eligible.