Quick start: your first appointment booking

This guide assumes Schedopia is installed and activated and that you chose Appointments or Both in the setup wizard.

1. Create a category and a service

Go to Schedopia → Categories and add one, for example Hairstyle.
Go to Schedopia → Services and add a service in that category. Give it a duration (say 60 minutes) and a price.

Customers filter services by category on the first step of the booking form, and each service shows its duration, how many staff offer it, and its price. If you only have a few services, one category is fine.

2. Add a staff member and their hours

Go to Schedopia → Staff and add a person.
Set their weekly hours: the days and times they are available.
Assign them the service you created.

You can also set days off, a buffer between appointments, and how many customers a single slot can take. Those are covered in Staff, availability and buffers. For a first test, weekly hours are enough.

3. Put the form on a page

Create a page (for example Book) and add the shortcode:

[schedopia_booking]

In the block editor, use the Shortcode block. In Elementor, use the Shortcode widget. Publish the page. See Shortcode and page setup for details and limits.

4. Make a test booking

Open the page in a private browser window and walk through the three steps:

Service: pick the service you created.
Time: choose a day, then a morning or afternoon slot. Only times that fit the staff member’s weekly hours appear.
Information: enter a name and email, add a note if you like, and confirm.

The form uses pay on arrival, so no payment is taken online. A confirmation email is sent to the customer address you entered, and your team receives a new-booking alert.

5. Find it in the admin

Go to Schedopia → Dashboard. Your test booking appears in Today’s schedule (if you booked today) and in the totals. Open Bookings to see it in the list with its status and payment state. You can record a payment or cancel it from there.

Next steps

Brand the form with the Form Appearance customizer.
Add service add-ons and buffers.
Review the emails and reminders customers receive.
Selling seats instead? Start with Venues, halls and events.