Multi-Location Appointment Booking & Staff Scheduling – Next Open
Next Open is the appointment booking plugin that gets out of your way. Whether you run a single salon or manage 36 dental offices, Next Open lets customers book appointments online, 24/7 — with the right location, the right staff, at the right time. Works beautifully for a single location. Scales effortlessly when you grow. Most booking plugins either overwhelm small businesses with complexity or fall apart when you add a second branch. Next Open does both — simple setup for one location, powerful multi-location management when you need it. Each location gets its own business hours, holiday calendar, staff roster, and time slot configuration. Why businesses choose Next Open: Simple to set up — guided wizard gets you live in 2 minutes Works for one location or one hundred — no extra configuration needed The only booking plugin with multi-location as a core feature, not a paid add-on Each location has independent schedules, staff, services, and holidays One shortcode powers everything — no duplicate pages needed Location-specific email notifications — each branch only sees their own bookings (Pro) Lightweight and fast — scripts only load on pages with the booking form No monthly fees — free version is free forever, Pro is a one-time annual purchase Core Features (Free) Guided setup wizard — go live in 2 minutes, no technical knowledge needed Unlimited locations with individual business hours (or just one — it’s up to you) Real-time appointment availability checking Automated email confirmations for customers and admin Customizable time slots (15, 30, or 60 minutes) Customizable booking form heading to match your business Holiday and closure date management per location Mobile-responsive booking form with optional Google Maps Customer database with booking history Admin dashboard with appointment overview and filtering Timezone support for accurate scheduling Simple [next_open_booking] shortcode integration Pro Features Upgrade to Next Open Pro for advanced capabilities — whether you have one busy location or dozens: Staff Management — Add team members with photos, bios, individual availability schedules, and service assignments per location Location-Specific Notifications — Each location’s staff receives only their own booking notifications, not every booking across the business Confirmation & Cancellation Alerts — Staff are notified instantly when customers confirm or cancel appointments Day-Before Appointment Reminders — Automatic reminder emails sent to both customers and staff to reduce no-shows Services & Pricing — Create services with variable pricing and durations per location Stripe Payment Integration — Accept credit card payments or deposits at booking time Custom Form Fields — Add unlimited custom fields to collect location-specific information Customer Self-Service Portal — Customers cancel or reschedule via secure magic links, no account needed Buffer Times — Add preparation time between appointments to prevent back-to-back bookings CSV Import/Export — Bulk import staff, appointments, and customer data Priority Email Support — Dedicated support for Pro customers Perfect For Hair salons and barbershops — one chair or a chain of locations Medical and dental practices — solo practitioners to multi-office groups Wellness centers, spas, and massage therapists Consulting, legal, and accounting firms Auto service and repair centers Veterinary clinics Tutoring and educational services Fitness studios, gyms, and personal trainers Any appointment-based business that needs online booking How It Works Install Next Open — the setup wizard walks you through everything Add your location (or locations) with business hours Add holidays and closure dates The wizard creates your booking page automatically (or add [next_open_booking] to any page) Customers pick a location, choose a date and time, and book Confirmation emails are sent automatically to customer and admin Manage all appointments from your WordPress dashboard Developer Friendly Built with clean, well-documented code following WordPress coding standards. Includes action hooks and filters so developers can extend the booking functionality for custom workflows. Support Free Support: WordPress.org Forums Pro Support: Admin@oiopublisher.com Website: oiopublisher.com Upgrade to Pro: oiopublisher.com/next-open
The Events Calendar Shortcode & Block
Get your events displayed in a customizable list wherever you need them, with The Events Calendar Shortcode & Block! This plugin fully integrates with The Events Calendar Plugin (free version) by StellarWP, formerly Modern Tribe. This plugin adds a shortcode, a WordPress block (Gutenberg editor), and now an Elementor widget and a Bricks element for use with The Events Calendar WordPress Plugin. Display a list of your events by either adding a block in the new editor, or adding a shortcode to any post, page, or widget. Here’s a quick video showing you what you can do: If you need extra design and functionality, Get The Events Calendar Shortcode & Block Pro! The Pro version offers seven designs, additional filtering options, and full control over how your events display. You get the same full integration with The Events Calendar, plus premium support, show multiple shortcodes on one page, a filter bar so users can find what events they want to see, and it works with any WordPress theme. Check out the Pro version today Trusted by 20,000+ WordPress sites and a 4.7 star rating on WordPress.org, The Events Calendar Shortcode & Block is the solution you’ve been after 🙂 How to use The Events Calendar Shortcode & Block You can use the shortcode or block to add a list of your events, filtered by various options. Here’s an example of how you’d show the next 8 events in the category festival: [ecs-list-events cat="festival" limit="8"] With the WordPress block editor, just add a block and search for The Events Calendar Shortcode. When editing a post or page with Elementor, you can add The Events Calendar Shortcode widget (under “General”) and customize the display options. You can also filter the events in the shortcode and choose from the following options: Category: show events from specific categories. Number of events: choose the number of events to show. Event order: Order in which your events are shown (latest first or last). Event dates: Show or hide the date. Event venue: Show or hide the venue. Event excerpt: Show or hide the event excerpt, and set an excerpt length. Event content details: Change the order the event details are displayed. Thumbnail: Show or hide a thumbnail image. View all events link: Choose whether to include a “view all events” link or not. Events from a specific month: show only events from specific months (including current or next month). Previous events: Show previous events. Hide started events: Hide events when their start time passes. This gives you full control over how your events are displayed, and is perfect for non-profits, charities, businesses, conferences, and anyone with a WordPress website showing events. You’ll find a full list of how to use these options in the shortcode below in the plugin’s FAQs or on our documentation page. With Pro, choose your design and get even more control The Events Calendar Shortcode & Block Pro adds extra designs, including a true calendar view, compact and column-based designs, and advanced features like events grouped by day. Plus, get advanced control over how your events display: Events in the next week: Show events happening in the next X days, for example tomorrow, next week, or next month. Only specific days: Show only events on specific days. Display events by location: Choose to show events by city, state, or country! Only featured events: Show only events you mark as featured. Full event description: Show the full event description, instead of just a short excerpt. Only show start time: Just show the start time of your event. Hide recurring events: Only show the first instance of a recurring event. Filter bar: Allow visitors to choose what events they want to see. Pagination: Let visitors view additional pages of events. Custom design: Create your own using Shortcode Variables or templates, or use one of the seven built-in options. Plus much more: check out The Events Calendar Shortcode & Block Pro details here. The Events Calendar Shortcode & Block Pro is ideal for non-profits, charities, businesses, conferences, developers, and WordPress agencies who need the extra control and support straight from the plugin developer. Check it out here. Who’s using The Events Calendar Shortcode? William Penn University is a private liberal arts university located in Oskaloosa, Iowa. The university offers more than 20 majors through seven academic divisions, with a focus on leadership, technology, and inspired potential. As an institution that hosts various events throughout the year, William Penn University needed an efficient way to display and manage its event calendar on its website. The university chose to implement The Events Calendar Shortcode plugin to streamline event management and improve the overall user experience. The university decided to use The Events Calendar Shortcode plugin, which integrates seamlessly with The Events Calendar WordPress Plugin. The plugin allows the university to display a list of events using a shortcode or a WordPress block. This makes it easy for technical and non-technical users to add events to the website without any coding knowledge. 365Austin is a popular website that curates and shares the best events, activities, and experiences in Austin, Texas. With a comprehensive event calendar, the platform aims to make it easier for locals and tourists alike to discover and participate in exciting events happening in the city. To improve event management and user experience, 365Austin chose to implement The Events Calendar Shortcode plugin on its website. CREST (Center for Research in Economics and Statistics) is a renowned research center that brings together researchers from various fields, including economics, finance, sociology, and statistics. To facilitate collaboration and knowledge sharing among its members and the wider academic community, CREST hosts various seminars, workshops, and conferences. A comprehensive event calendar on the CREST website plays a crucial role in keeping researchers informed and engaged. Each event listing includes essential information such as the title, date, time, speaker, and a brief description of the topic. The calendar is designed to be user-friendly and easily accessible, allowing researchers to stay informed about upcoming events relevant to their fields of interest. Documentation The full list of options you can use can be found on our documentation page. We also have a full course on setting up The Events Calendar, our The Events Calendar Shortcode & Block plugin, and more: Getting Started Promoting Events with The Events Calendar plugin for WordPress If you have any other questions about the plugin, you can post a thread in the WordPress.org forum. If you’re looking for premium, personalized support, consider upgrading to The Events Calendar Shortcode & Block Pro. Still have a question? You can send us an email at info@eventcalendarnewsletter.com. This plugin is not developed by or affiliated with The Events Calendar WordPress plugin, StellarWP or Modern Tribe in any way.
