Client is struggling to use the plugin because they can't "Squeeze In" Appointments. The booking is "Too Restrictive" in that she can't override the standard buffer time between appointments, or go outside her normal working hours. I recognize a work around in adding special days hours mitigates some of this but doesn't help overall.
Is there a way we can allow admin users from the back end to just add appointments in wherever they like? We ideally would like to put in 'random' appointments... such as doing paperwork, or taking a nap. And take those out of available appointments for booking on the front end, while showing all the data in the back end.
Can you please explain exactly what issues your client has?
The buffer time is set to "0" by default, and it can be different for each service individually. An issue may arise if they set "Default time slot step" in General Settings to a bigger value (for example 2 hours). If they did this, they will only see time slots at (for example) 12:00; 14:00; 16:00 and so on. If they were to lower that to 10 minutes, you'd get 12:10; 12:20; 12:40; 12:50, and so on, depending on the length of the service.
If there are available time slots, Amelia Managers can create appointments from back end without any issues. There are some variables to what may look like restrictions, while in fact it all has to do with setup. That is why I'm asking for more details, and perhaps an example of what's going on.
I think it's the "if there are available appointments" that is the issue.
Let's say hours are set to 8am-5pm, 1h appointments 15 minute buffer time between.
One client has booked an 8-9am
and another booked 10-11am
End user would like to be able to manually make an appointment on the back-end between 9 and 10am, but that time period is not available for a 1h booking due to the buffer time. Employees typically try to "Squeeze in" an customer, foregoing the buffer, if they can. In other words, we want the buffer time for clients using the front end, but want the employee to be able to override it on the back-end.
Can we over book on the back end, but not allow that on the front end?
Similar situation for clarity. Same scenario as above. There is 1 hour between appointments which is great and meets the buffer criteria. We'd like to be able to manually schedule in something like "Paperwork", or "Lunch break" for that hour. This prevent someone on the front end from scheduling a 30 minute service, but generally just helps organize the employee's day without having to refer to another calendar.
I'd really like an "ignore Amelia scheduling rules" option on the back end, that would allow entering any appointment in any slot. Even tasks that are not service related.
We had thought Google Calendar "2 Way Sync" would solve this when we were evaluating Amelia, but I have since learned that Amelia does not have true 2 way sync. What we really need, are all the appointments from the employee's Google Calendar to show up in Amelia, regardless of Amelia rules and if they over-lap. But all the Sync seems to do is remove available time slots. This is not super helpful without them showing up in the Amelia calendar. It can also cost business if they enter a personal reminder or something in Google Calendar, it can take availability away unintentionally. Employees have to continually switch between Google and Amelia and extrapolate their true schedule.
Unfortunately, there are no settings to override the buffer time, or overlap appointments. If a buffer time after an appointment is "a must", we cannot book anything during those 15 minutes. However, you could create a service which would not be accessible from the front-end:
If you set the "Default time slot step" to 5 minutes in General Settings, your employees assigned to this service would be able to book the remaining 45 minutes until the next appointment from the back-end.
So, if you have an appointment from 12:00 - 13:00, and no one until 14:00, you can add an appointment for those 45 minutes, which would block the booking of an actual service for customers.
We are working on improving our 2-way sync with Google, but it will be a few more updates until we get it working 100%, like you described.
I hope this workaround can help you out with the issue, though.
Good day,
Client is struggling to use the plugin because they can't "Squeeze In" Appointments. The booking is "Too Restrictive" in that she can't override the standard buffer time between appointments, or go outside her normal working hours. I recognize a work around in adding special days hours mitigates some of this but doesn't help overall.
Is there a way we can allow admin users from the back end to just add appointments in wherever they like? We ideally would like to put in 'random' appointments... such as doing paperwork, or taking a nap. And take those out of available appointments for booking on the front end, while showing all the data in the back end.
Please let me know what can be done.
Thanks
Hello Matt.
Can you please explain exactly what issues your client has?
The buffer time is set to "0" by default, and it can be different for each service individually. An issue may arise if they set "Default time slot step" in General Settings to a bigger value (for example 2 hours). If they did this, they will only see time slots at (for example) 12:00; 14:00; 16:00 and so on. If they were to lower that to 10 minutes, you'd get 12:10; 12:20; 12:40; 12:50, and so on, depending on the length of the service.
If there are available time slots, Amelia Managers can create appointments from back end without any issues. There are some variables to what may look like restrictions, while in fact it all has to do with setup. That is why I'm asking for more details, and perhaps an example of what's going on.
Best regards.
Kind Regards,
Aleksandar Vuković
[email protected]
Rate my support
wpDataTables: FAQ | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Front-end and back-end demo | Docs
Amelia: FAQ | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Amelia demo sites | Docs | Discord Community
You can try wpDataTables add-ons before purchasing on these sandbox sites:
Powerful Filters | Gravity Forms Integration for wpDataTables | Formidable Forms Integration for wpDataTables | Master-Detail Tables
I think it's the "if there are available appointments" that is the issue.
Let's say hours are set to 8am-5pm, 1h appointments 15 minute buffer time between.
One client has booked an 8-9am
and another booked 10-11am
End user would like to be able to manually make an appointment on the back-end between 9 and 10am, but that time period is not available for a 1h booking due to the buffer time. Employees typically try to "Squeeze in" an customer, foregoing the buffer, if they can. In other words, we want the buffer time for clients using the front end, but want the employee to be able to override it on the back-end.
Can we over book on the back end, but not allow that on the front end?
Similar situation for clarity. Same scenario as above. There is 1 hour between appointments which is great and meets the buffer criteria. We'd like to be able to manually schedule in something like "Paperwork", or "Lunch break" for that hour. This prevent someone on the front end from scheduling a 30 minute service, but generally just helps organize the employee's day without having to refer to another calendar.
I'd really like an "ignore Amelia scheduling rules" option on the back end, that would allow entering any appointment in any slot. Even tasks that are not service related.
We had thought Google Calendar "2 Way Sync" would solve this when we were evaluating Amelia, but I have since learned that Amelia does not have true 2 way sync. What we really need, are all the appointments from the employee's Google Calendar to show up in Amelia, regardless of Amelia rules and if they over-lap. But all the Sync seems to do is remove available time slots. This is not super helpful without them showing up in the Amelia calendar. It can also cost business if they enter a personal reminder or something in Google Calendar, it can take availability away unintentionally. Employees have to continually switch between Google and Amelia and extrapolate their true schedule.
Matt
Hello again Matt
Understood.
Unfortunately, there are no settings to override the buffer time, or overlap appointments. If a buffer time after an appointment is "a must", we cannot book anything during those 15 minutes. However, you could create a service which would not be accessible from the front-end:
If you set the "Default time slot step" to 5 minutes in General Settings, your employees assigned to this service would be able to book the remaining 45 minutes until the next appointment from the back-end.
So, if you have an appointment from 12:00 - 13:00, and no one until 14:00, you can add an appointment for those 45 minutes, which would block the booking of an actual service for customers.
We are working on improving our 2-way sync with Google, but it will be a few more updates until we get it working 100%, like you described.
I hope this workaround can help you out with the issue, though.
Best regards.
Kind Regards,
Aleksandar Vuković
[email protected]
Rate my support
wpDataTables: FAQ | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Front-end and back-end demo | Docs
Amelia: FAQ | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Amelia demo sites | Docs | Discord Community
You can try wpDataTables add-ons before purchasing on these sandbox sites:
Powerful Filters | Gravity Forms Integration for wpDataTables | Formidable Forms Integration for wpDataTables | Master-Detail Tables