Bookster – WordPress Appointment Booking Plugin vs Revisual – Event Communication for Google Calendar

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! 🚀

A great event still falls flat if the calendar says one thing and the flyer says another. Revisual closes that gap. Your Google Calendar is already where your events live. Revisual transforms it into a complete event communication system — distributing your programme automatically across your website, printed materials, partner sites, emails, and more. One update in Google Calendar, and every channel stays in sync. 🎯 The Problem Revisual Solves Event information is hard to keep consistent across channels. A time changes, a venue updates, a new session is added — and suddenly your website says one thing, your printed flyer says another, and your email said something else entirely. Revisual makes your Google Calendar the single source of truth, then handles all the distribution for you. No copy-pasting. No manual updates across five platforms. No events that fall through the cracks. 🌐 One Calendar. Every Channel. Revisual connects your calendar to the channels your audience actually uses: Your website — beautiful, always-updated event widgets embedded with a shortcode or Gutenberg block Partner and affiliate sites — embed your calendar on multiple sites simultaneously; all stay in sync automatically Printed materials — QR codes that link directly to your live event listings, so even printed content stays fresh Email campaigns — shareable hosted event pages you can link to from any email or newsletter Kiosks and displays — simple script embed works anywhere, no WordPress required ✨ Features ✔ Sync with Google Calendar & other calendar sources ✔ Automatic real-time updates — seconds after you make a change ✔ Unlimited event widgets ✔ Gutenberg block + shortcode embedding ✔ Fully customizable widget builder (250+ options) ✔ QR codes & hosted event pages ✔ Multiple widget layouts (list, grid, schedule, cards, slider, monthly view, and more) ✔ Event engagement reporting — impressions, views, and engagement ratio per event, by traffic source ✔ Event highlighting & branding options ✔ Simple script embed for non-WordPress sites, kiosks, and displays ✔ Works across multiple websites simultaneously ✔ Automatic timezone handling ✔ Zero data stored in WordPress (API-based, lightweight) ✔ End-user i18n built-in ✔ ICS and iCal support for calendar subscriptions ✔ Event alerts with optional countdown timers ✔ Social sharing & direct event links built in 🔧 How Revisual Works Connect your Google Calendar to Revisual. Design your widget using the visual builder — no coding needed. Connect your WordPress site. Embed via block or shortcode. Revisual keeps everything updated automatically across every channel. 🎨 Customization Pick from multiple layouts — list, grid, cards, slider, monthly view, schedule, and more. Change colors, typography, and spacing to match your brand. Configure behaviour and UX (filters, event details visibility, date formats). Add logos and highlighted event styles to promote key events. Customize hosted event pages or redirect them to your own destinations. 🎯 Perfect For Revisual is designed for anyone who runs events and wants their audience to always know what’s happening — across every touchpoint. Hotels & hospitality — Communicate your events programme to guests before arrival, on-property, and after checkout. Turn your event calendar into a differentiator, not an afterthought. Event creators — Share events widely, drive attendees back to your website for details, registration, and updates. Coaches, trainers & educators — Promote classes, workshops, and webinars from a single calendar. Keep participants informed across email, your website, and social. Non-profits & community organisations — Keep members informed without manual work. One update reaches every channel automatically. Clubs & associations — Make meetings, sessions, and gatherings easy to discover and attend. Creative professionals — Showcase performances, exhibitions, and shows across multiple platforms. QR codes on printed materials stay live even after the programme changes. Multi-site publishers & agencies — Manage event communication across multiple client sites from one place, keeping every channel consistent and up to date. Municipalities & cultural institutions — Run city-wide or institution-wide event campaigns from a single shared calendar, reaching audiences across all your channels. 🔒 Performance & Security Revisual is designed to be fast, reliable, and secure. Your WordPress site never stores event data — all events are fetched via a secure API from your Revisual account. This keeps your site lightweight and ensures it won’t be slowed down by event queries. Embedding is simple: a tiny script or WordPress block pulls events dynamically without impacting your site’s performance. Revisual handles caching on its side, so events load instantly for visitors. All connections are encrypted. No visitor data is collected. No cookies are tracked. 🗺️ Roadmap We’re actively developing new features, including: More calendar integrations RSVP functionality 💡 Feature Requests Share feature ideas with us: Revisual Help Center Support You can find help desk articles and contact support at Revisual Help Desk. External services Revisual connects to the Revisual API to pull your event widgets and ensure seamless syncing between your WordPress site and your Revisual account. Here’s exactly what happens and why: Your WordPress site sends basic information to the Revisual API: WordPress version Site name Site URL Purpose: To generate a unique API key for your site To securely fetch your event data and widgets from Revisual To ensure your events are always up-to-date and display correctly Data privacy and security: Revisual never shares your data with third parties No cookies are tracked by Revisual No personal or identifying information from site visitors is collected Data is transmitted securely via encrypted API connections Fully compliant with EU privacy regulations (GDPR) Your WordPress site data is only used for connecting and syncing widgets This setup allows Revisual to function as a lightweight, performance-friendly layer: events are served directly from Revisual servers, keeping your website fast while enabling sharing across multiple sites, emails, and other channels. This service is provided by “Revisual”: Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Source Code / Development The source code for this plugin is available on GitHub: https://github.com/revisual-app/wordpress-plugin