Would you like to better manage the online booking on your WordPress site? Many WordPress businesses and individuals rely on a system of Reservations to effectively run their business and manage their customers. In this tutorial, we will show you how to better manage the online booking on WordPress with StartBooking.
Why manage online booking on WordPress with StartBooking
Often, business websites need a web management system. online booking to allow customers to book appointments online without having to call.
Apart from providing convenience to customers, it also allows you to manage your time and services efficiently. There are many plugins Reservations on WordPress of your choice. Here are some of the things you should look for with an online booking solution.
- Does it allow you to easily add forms de Reservations to your website?
- Are the features customizable enough to fit your business?
- Does it integrate with third-party services like Google Calendar?
- Does it have smart planning to avoid overlaps or incorrect appointments?
- Does it have the option of adding staff schedules which is very useful for services like salons, spas etc.?
That being said, let's see how to easily manage online booking on WordPress with StartBooking.
Managing Online Booking in WordPress with StartBooking
First of all, you need to visit the website of StartBooking to create an account. StartBooking is a paid service, but it offers a free plan for those who are just starting out.
Once you have signed up, you will be taken to your account dashboard. From there, you need to click on your account name in the upper right corner to be able to access the settings page.
On the settings page, you need to click on the Hours section in the left column and then start recording your hours of operation for each day.
If you operate a multi-person business, such as a spa or salon, you can add your staff by visiting the users section in the account settings. You will be able to change the times, notifications and role of each user.
StartBooking allows you to add multiple services for which customers can book. You can visit the “Services” page where a “Sample Service” will already be added for you.
You can modify or delete the service for example. You can also create new services if needed.
On the new service page, you can provide a title and description for the service offered. After that, you need to select duration, cost, user (staff member assigned to the task) and add price.
Once you are done, click on the “Add Service” button to save your changes. Repeat the process to add more services if needed.
Now that you've set up your StartBooking account, connect it to WordPress using their WordPress reservation plugin .
Go to your WordPress site to install and activate the plugin StartBooking. For more details, see our step-by-step guide to way to install a WordPress plugin .
After activating the plugin, the plugin will add a new menu item titled "Booking" to your WordPress admin bar. Click on it to go to the plugin settings page.
You must click on the "Connect My Account" button and log in using your StartBooking account details. Once logged in, you will see the plugin's settings page.
It will automatically create a new page on your WordPress site called "Book Now" and the online reservation code inside.
You can click on the "View page" link to view your online reservation system.
If you have more than one department, users will first see the option to select a department, then click the Continue button. On the next screen, they will be able to select the date and time.
In the next step, clients will provide their contact details and save their appointment.
After being properly configured, StartBooking will send a confirmation email to customers, and they can also see their appointment details on the screen. You or the staff member assigned to the department will also receive an email notification.
If you don't want to use the default "Book Now" page created by the plugin, you can also select any other page on your WordPress site to display your online booking form. Just add the following shortcode to your page.
[startbooking]
This shortcode displays the full flow of the booking form with services, date, time and customer information.
You can also create call-to-action buttons for use on your service pages. Just use the following shortcode with a service ID which you can find in the plugin settings.
[startbooking_cta services="4K59oyjEP"]Réserver pour une simple coupe[/startbooking_cta]
View and manage your online bookings
StartBooking not only allows your users to make a reservation, but it also allows you to easily manage your time using a simple dashboard.
Just head over to the StartBooking website and you will be able to see all the booked time slots. You can change the calendar view to day, week or month to see more appointments or click on an individual appointment to see details.
StartBooking can also be integrated into your Google calendar to synchronize your appointments. Just go to your account settings, then click on the "Integrations" tab.
You need to click on the sign in button next to Google Calendar. This will take you to your Google Account where you will be prompted to give StartBooking access to your Google Calendar.
Click the “Authorize” button to continue.
After that, you will be able to view all your appointments on your phone using the Google Calendar app.
We hope this article will help you find a better way to manage online booking with WordPress.
