Bookster – WordPress Appointment Booking Plugin vs Ultimate Appointment Booking & Scheduling

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! 🚀

Ultimate Appointment Scheduling Demo Appointment booking platform that lets your customers schedule appointments directly on your website with an easy-to-use calendar and booking form. Set up locations, services, and providers for those services, and let your clients start booking their appointment reservations online today! Includes Gutenberg block for displaying appointment booking forms! Key Appointment Booking Features Create appointment locations with different opening hours Create appointment services that cost different amounts and take different amounts of time Dynamically updated booking calendar and appointment schedules, so it’s impossible to double book Optional multi-step booking form Set required information, such as name or phone number Set up automated reminder emails that will go out to your clients a certain number of days or hours before their appointments Great for businesses that need to set up one-on-one or one-to-many services, such as mechanics, medical professionals, event venues, exercise classes, corporate training sessions, etc. Also works to schedule meetings, for scheduling phone calls and for other situations in which a booking form and reservation system are required. Appointment Booking Form Adding your booking form to a page is as simple as inserting the above shortcode. You can search for it by name or find it in the Ultimate Appointment Scheduling block section. With the block, you can also insert your booking form into any widget area in your theme. Ultimate appointment booking flexibility! [ultimate-appointment-calendar] [ultimate-appointment-dropdown] Alternatively, you can simply insert either of the appointment booking shortcodes above into any page to display a responsive booking form. The first will display a booking calendar, from which you can select and reserve an appointment time. The second will allow you choose a date and then display available appointment booking times that are available for you to book a reservation. Allow your visitors and customers to book reservations for a wide array of services and appointment types. With options to create an unlimited amount of unique appointment services, to specify multiple different appointment locations, and to create service providers and specify the services they do, the booking locations they work at and their hours, all with an easy-to-use reservation form on the front end, Ultimate Appointment Scheduling provides the most simple and effecting booking solution and reservation system that is perfect for both you the admin as well as your site visitors. Email Notifications and Reminders The plugin comes with a flexible array of email notification and reminder options. You can configure it to automatically send a notification to the admin and to the customer when a new booking is made. You can create an unlimited number of custom email messages, which you can assign to your different notifications. You can also create an unlimited number of reservations reminder notifications, which will allow you to send out emails to your customers at the exact time intervals you need, to help remind them of their upcoming appointments. Notification and email features include: Send an automatic email to the admin when a new booking is made Send automatic emails to clients when a reservation is placed and an appointment is successfully created Create unique email messages that you can assign to your different notifications. Set up automated reminder emails that will go out to your clients a certain number of days or hours before their appointments Additional Appointment Reservation Features Ultimate Appointment Scheduling comes with many more features that make it the most advanced and versatile booking form solution for accepting reservations on your WordPress site, including options to make your appointment services, locations and providers as specific or broad as you require, and a mobile booking form for the ultimate responsive reservation system. Options to set a minimum and maximum number of days before an appointment that a reservation for a service can be booked Set the amount of time between appointments. This, combined with the duration set for a service, will decide when appointment reservations can made. Set the date format and hours format Set a calendar offset to specify how far ahead the default opening date of the calendar will be Premium Appointment Features The premium version of Ultimate Appointment Scheduling comes with even more features, which will allow you to customize the form both to your exact needs and to your website. Some of the great premium features are: Accept mandatory or optional payments for appointments either via PayPal or WooCommerce Add reCAPTACHA to your form, to help prevent spam Option to require login to WordPress before being able to create an appointment Additional booking form layout option Labelling options Customize the look of your form with an array of styling options to help you fit it in seamlessly with the rest of your site Shortcodes [ultimate-appointment-calendar]: display a calendar that with available appointment times that users can click to select an appointment [ultimate-appointment-dropdown]: display a set of dropdown menus to find appointment times and schedule an appointment Translations German (Thanks to bkleine)