How to accept bookings on a WordPress site

Decide whether customers are requesting an appointment or confirming an available slot. Also decide whether you need one-to-one appointments, group events with limited capacity, deposits, full payment, staff calendars or approval before confirmation.

Write down each service, its duration, buffer time, price, available staff and cancellation rule. This prevents a common setup error: publishing time slots that are shorter than the service they are meant to contain.

For a small business with only a few bookings each week, create a booking or contact page with fields for the customer’s name, email, phone number, service, preferred date, preferred time and extra information. WordPress form tools can provide appointment or registration form layouts, but the exact fields depend on the form tool you use.

State clearly that the request is not confirmed until you reply. Check your calendar manually, email the customer with an available time, then add the confirmed appointment to your calendar. This route is cheap in complexity and works for request-only bookings, but it does not automatically stop two people choosing the same time, collect payment or show real-time availability.

Use a booking plugin when customers must see live availability, reserve a slot, pay online, receive confirmations or book different services and staff. Configure the booking form on a page, usually by inserting the plugin’s block, shortcode or page element; the exact method varies by plugin. Booking systems commonly provide availability rules, customer records, notifications and payment or calendar integrations.

Choose a system that matches the job. An appointment tool suits salons and consultations, while an event tool should handle capacity, repeated dates and group registrations. Do not install several booking systems on the same page, because their calendars and confirmation emails can conflict.

Enter working hours, days off, holidays, service duration, padding between appointments, minimum notice, maximum booking window and the number of people or resources available. Add each service separately if different services use different durations or staff.

Set the WordPress site timezone under Settings and General, using a named city or region rather than relying on server time. Timezone mismatches can move appointments, make slots appear in the past or disable a calendar when the date changes. Support threads also commonly identify caching and misaligned availability settings as causes of booking calendars that stop working.

Set the customer confirmation email, the administrator notification, reminder timing, cancellation instructions and the address that receives booking alerts. Add your phone number and a clear fallback instruction so customers can contact you if an email is missed.

If you take payment, connect the payment gateway supported by your booking system and confirm whether a booking is held before payment, after payment or only after manual approval. Use HTTPS, test a successful payment and test a failed or abandoned payment before sending visitors to the form.

Submit a booking as a customer on a phone and a desktop computer. Check the displayed timezone, available slots, service duration, confirmation page, confirmation email, administrator notification, calendar entry, payment status and cancellation process.

Then try to book the same slot twice, select a closed day, book just before the minimum notice period and submit the form with missing details. Clear or bypass page caching for booking pages if availability does not update. A Friday failure often comes from cached calendars, expired email credentials or a timezone that differs between WordPress and the booking service.

For a salon or barber site, Coiffure is the faster route because it combines a salon-focused design with appointment booking, service showcase sections and customisable pages. Install and activate the theme from the WordPress dashboard, then use its supplied booking and page-building features to add services, opening hours and the booking page.

Still complete the availability, notification and payment checks above. A polished theme does not remove the need to test timezones, double-booking protection and email delivery before accepting real appointments.