Booking Calendar vs Bookster – WordPress Appointment Booking Plugin

Booking Calendar – Booking Plugin for Appointments, Reservations, Rentals, Events WP Booking Calendar is a flexible WordPress booking plugin for appointments, reservations, rentals, and events. Add a responsive availability calendar and booking form to your website, accept online bookings, and manage them from a modern admin panel. Use Booking Calendar for full-day bookings, time-slot appointments, service scheduling, event registration, inquiry forms, request forms, or even as a simple multi-steps contact form with built-in request listing and email notifications. Features | See Demos | FAQ | Get Support Best for appointments, service scheduling, property rentals, equipment rentals, consultations, classes, events, and availability management. Key Features Block unavailable time intervals by resource and date range Create admin bookings from selected available time slots Configure global availability rules with live preview Accept full-day and time-slot bookings Show calendar availability on your website Create booking, contact, and inquiry forms Use the new Drag & Drop Booking Form Builder Build multi-step forms with rows and columns Customize form fields and email notifications Prevent double bookings Manage bookings in a clear admin panel Sync bookings with external services using .ics feeds Import Google Calendar events Works for properties, services, rentals, and events New Time Slots Availability & Fast Admin Booking Manage unavailable time intervals visually from Booking Calendar > Availability or directly from the bookings workflow using the new Time Slots Availability popup. Administrators can choose a date range and block or unblock exact time intervals in an interactive timeline. The timeline clearly shows available, booked, unavailable, and full-day unavailable states, and full-day unavailable states, making it much easier to understand real availability at a glance. Administrators can also create a new booking directly from an available time interval. Simply select an available time slot in the popup, open the booking form with the selected resource, date, start time, and end time already prefilled, and save it as a new booking. This makes Booking Calendar especially useful for appointment scheduling, service bookings, consultations, rentals, and any workflow where administrators need to quickly review availability and create bookings from the WordPress admin panel. New Drag & Drop Booking Form Builder Create booking forms visually without manually editing complex shortcodes or form code. Simply drag fields from the sidebar, drop them into the canvas, organize them into rows and columns, edit settings in the sidebar, and preview changes instantly. The new builder also makes it easy to create contact and inquiry forms where the calendar is optional. With the new interface, you can: drag and drop fields into the form layout, organize fields into sections and columns, create multi-step form pages, resize columns for better layout control, edit field settings in the right sidebar, instantly preview the form while building. This new functionality brings a more modern, user-friendly, and flexible way to create forms in Booking Calendar, making form setup faster, clearer, and much more convenient for website owners. Perfect solution for any booking logic As the first booking system for WordPress, we have created a huge number of features to match your specific booking needs. Easily define available dates and allow your visitors to reserve your property or service for a full day or time-slot. For those who need more advanced functionality, our premium versions offer an extensive system with multiple resources, seasonal prices, conditional dates selection, availability search, and even a multi-user system where users can independently manage their own availability, much like an Airbnb portal. Full Day Bookings – Drag and Drop Booking Form Builder Easily configure Booking Calendar for full-day bookings with the new Drag and Drop Booking Form Builder. The new Booking Calendar Form Builder makes it much easier to create flexible booking forms without manually editing form code. It is a simple and visual way to build booking forms for different use cases directly inside WordPress. Appointment Forms with Time Slots or Start Time + Service Duration Selection Create a time-slot booking form in just a few minutes with the new Booking Calendar Form Builder. Visually add the calendar, time fields, and contact fields, adjust the layout, and preview changes instantly — without manually editing form code. Changeover Multi-Day Bookings – Setup Wizard (Pro) Configure multi-day bookings with specific check-in and check-out days, clearly marked with diagonal or vertical lines. Perfect for bookings that require split days. Available Pro versions.

Managing appointments through phone calls, texts, and emails is chaotic. You lose track of bookings, double-book appointments, and spend hours on scheduling instead of serving customers. Bookster turns your WordPress site into a 24/7 booking system. 🌐 View All Demos Customers book appointments themselves, see real-time availability, and receive automatic confirmations. You manage everything from one dashboard. 📌 Documentation | Core Pro vs All Access 💫 Perfect For Hair salons and barbershops Spas and beauty clinics Massage therapists and wellness centers Personal trainers and fitness coaches Consultants and coaches Tutors and education services Medical and dental practices Any service business that takes appointments 💙 How It Works Customers visit your booking page, choose a service, pick their preferred staff member, select an available time slot, and book instantly. You receive an email notification and can view all appointments in your calendar dashboard. No more back-and-forth scheduling. 🔥 Key Features (100% Free) Unlimited Bookings & Services Create unlimited services with custom names, descriptions, and photos Set individual duration and pricing for each service Add taxes, fees and discounts to bookings No limits on number of appointments per month Offer service add-ons and upsell options Smart Scheduling Set your working hours for each day of the week Configure different availability for different services Add buffer time between appointments (e.g., 15-minute cleanup) Block off days for vacations or holidays Set minimum advance notice for bookings (e.g., require 24-hour notice) Customer Booking Experience Clean, mobile-friendly booking form that works on all devices Multi-step process: choose service → select staff → pick time → enter details → confirm Customers see only available time slots (no double-booking) Optional customer account dashboard to view and manage their bookings Customers can cancel or reschedule appointments themselves Payment Options Accept cash/check for in-person payment Accept PayPal payments online (customers pay when booking) Stripe integration available via premium addon for credit card payments Mark bookings as paid or unpaid manually Track revenue in the analytics dashboard Automatic Notifications Email confirmation sent to customers immediately after booking Reminder emails sent before appointment Email notifications sent to admin when new bookings arrive Customize email templates with your branding All emails sent automatically – no manual work required Admin Dashboard View all appointments in Bookster → Calendar menu Switch between day, week, and month calendar views Click any appointment to view or edit details instantly Filter appointments by status (confirmed, pending, cancelled) Search for specific customers or appointments Drag appointments to different dates to reschedule Color-coded by service or staff member for quick overview Analytics & Reports Track total bookings and revenue right from dashboard View performance by service (which services are most popular) Monitor individual agent performance Make data-driven decisions about staffing and services Premium Addons (Optional) Upgrade your booking system with these customizable options: Staff Management Add unlimited team members from Bookster → Agents menu Set individual working hours for each staff member Assign specific services to specific team members Let customers choose their preferred agent or assign automatically Track performance and bookings per agent Booking Form Customize booking form steps (reorder, add, or remove steps) Add custom fields to collect specific information Enable recaptcha, brand logo, timezone selector, and more for your booking system. Advanced Features (coming in future addons) Group bookings and classes Recurring appointments Multiple locations management SMS notifications via Twilio Design Toolkit for Block Editor and Elementor Getting Started Adding the Booking Calendar to Your Site Method 1: Shortcode (Works Anywhere) Add [bookster_booking_form] to any page, post, or widget area. Method 2: Block Editor 1. Edit the page where you want the booking form 2. Click the + button to add a block 3. Search for “Bookster” 4. Select the Bookster Booking Form block 5. Publish the page Method 3: Classic Editor Paste [bookster_booking_form] directly into your content. Viewing and Managing Appointments Go to Bookster → Calendar in your WordPress dashboard You’ll see all appointments in calendar format Click any appointment to view details or make changes Use the view buttons at top to switch between day/week/month views Use filters to show appointments based on agents or booking status Creating a Manual Booking (For Walk-Ins or Phone Bookings) Go to Bookster → Calendar Click the + New Appointment button (or click an empty time slot) Select the service and staff member Choose date and time Enter customer information (name, email, phone) Select payment method Click Create Appointment Customer automatically receives confirmation email Troubleshooting Booking calendar not showing on my page Check 1: Verify the shortcode Make sure you added [bookster_booking_form] exactly (with square brackets). Check 2: Clear cache If using a caching plugin, clear your cache: WP Rocket → Clear Cache or similar. Check 3: Theme conflict Temporarily switch to a default WordPress theme (Twenty Twenty-Five) to test. If it works, there’s a theme conflict. Customers not receiving email confirmations Check 1: Email settings Go to Bookster → Integrations → Email tab and confirm email notifications are enabled. Check 2: Check spam folders Ask customers to check spam/junk folders. Add your domain to their contacts. Check 3: WordPress email issues WordPress email can be unreliable. Install an SMTP plugin like YaySMTP to improve email delivery: 1. Install YaySMTP plugin 2. Connect it to Gmail, SendGrid, or Mailgun 3. Send a test email to verify Check 4: Test with yourself Create a test booking using your own email to confirm emails are sending. Time slots not showing as available Check 1: Working hours configured Go to Bookster → Settings → Schedule and verify hours are set for the day in question. Check 2: Agent availability If using staff members, check Bookster → Agents and verify the agent works on that day. Check 3: Minimum advance notice Check Bookster → Settings → General → Restrictions, if you require 24-hour notice, today’s appointments won’t show. Check 4: Service duration If your service is 2 hours but only 1 hour remains before closing time, that slot won’t appear. Double bookings happening This shouldn’t happen with Bookster. If it does: Check 1: Multiple admin users If multiple people manage bookings, ensure everyone refreshes the calendar before creating appointments. Check 2: Contact support If this persists, contact Bookster support with specific examples. PayPal payments not working Go to Bookster → Settings → Payments tab Verify your PayPal email address is correct Confirm PayPal is enabled (toggle should be blue/on) Test in PayPal sandbox mode first Check if PayPal account is verified and can accept payments Review PayPal transaction logs for error messages Calendar showing wrong timezone Go to Settings → General in WordPress Set your city timezone correctly (e.g., “New York” or “Berlin”) Save changes Go to Bookster → Settings and verify timezone matches Clear browser cache and reload Third-Party Services Bookster uses these external services to provide full functionality: FullCalendar.io Purpose: Renders the interactive booking calendar Privacy: No personal data sent to FullCalendar Terms: https://fullcalendar.io/license Stripe.com (Optional – only if using Stripe addon) Purpose: Process credit card payments Data shared: Customer name, email, payment amount Privacy: https://stripe.com/privacy PayPal.com Purpose: Process PayPal payments Data shared: Customer name, email, payment amount Privacy: https://www.paypal.com/privacy When customers make payments, they’re redirected to Stripe or PayPal’s secure servers. Bookster does not store credit card numbers. Support Need help? We’re here for you: Documentation: Visit Bookster’s detailed guides Support Forum: Post questions in the WordPress.org support forum Email & Live Chat Support: Contact us through the Bookster website Video Tutorials: Watch setup videos on our YouTube channel Response time: We typically respond within 4 hours on business days and 12 hours on weekends. We’d Love Your Feedback ❣️ If Bookster helps your business, please leave us a review on WordPress.org! It takes 60 seconds and brightens our day. Click here ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to share your experience. Have a feature request? We’re actively developing new features based on user feedback. Submit your ideas here. Compatibility Works With All Major WordPress Themes: Brandy WP Shadcn GeneratePress OceanWP Divi Avada And thousands more Page Builders: Elementor Gutenberg (Block Editor) Classic Editor Beaver Builder WPBakery What’s Next? After installing Bookster: Run the setup wizard Add the booking calendar to a page Create a test booking to see the customer experience Customize email templates with your branding Share your booking page link with customers Start accepting appointments 24/7! Your new booking system is ready to help you grow your business. Welcome to Bookster! 🚀