How to Create a Booking Service

This guide explains how to manage your bookings in the DigiCommerce plugin. The booking feature allows you to create and manage booking services for appointments, reservations, and accommodations.

How to Access Bookings

After activating the DigiCommerce plugin with the booking addon, you’ll find a new “Booking” menu item in your WordPress dashboard. This menu provides access to all booking-related functions.

To access your bookings:

1. Navigate to your WordPress dashboard
2. Click on “Booking” in the left sidebar menu
3. You’ll see two main sections:
   • All Booking – Lists all your created booking services
   • Types – Allows you to categorize your booking services
   • Bookings – Shows all customer bookings

Creating a Booking Service

To create a new booking service:

1. Go to Booking > Add New
2. Enter a title for your service (e.g., “Hair Styling Appointment”)
3. Add a description in the main editor area
4. Configure service options in the sidebar settings panel:
   • Service Type: Choose between single date (appointments) or date range (accommodations)
   • Service Details: Set pricing, duration, and people capacity
   • Service Availability: Define available days, time slots, and booking restrictions

Service Types

DigiCommerce supports two types of booking services:

• Single Date: For services that occur on a specific date and time (appointments, consultations, tours)
• Date Range: For services that span multiple days (hotel rooms, vacation rentals, equipment rentals)

Service Details Settings

For each booking service, you can configure:

• Base Price: The cost of the service
• Default Duration: Length of the appointment (for single date services)
• People Selection: Enable if multiple people can be included in one booking
• Minimum/Maximum People: Set capacity limits
• Pre-payment Requirements: Configure whether full or partial payment is required

Availability Settings

Control when your service is available for booking:

• Days Available: Select which days of the week customers can book
• Time Slots: Define specific time periods available for booking
• Maximum Future Days: How far in advance customers can book
• Lead Time: Minimum notice required before booking
• Unavailable Dates: Block specific dates when the service is not available

Managing Bookings

To view and manage customer bookings:

1. Go to Booking > Bookings
2. You’ll see a list of all bookings with status filters:
   • All: Shows all bookings
   • Pending: Bookings awaiting confirmation
   • Confirmed: Approved bookings
   • Cancelled: Cancelled bookings
   • Completed: Past bookings that have been fulfilled

Booking Actions

For each booking, you can:

• View Details: Click on the booking number to see complete information
• Confirm: Approve a pending booking
• Cancel: Mark a booking as cancelled
• Add Notes: Add internal notes or communicate with the customer

Editing a Booking

To edit a booking:

1. Click on the booking number in the bookings list
2. Update the booking details as needed
3. Change the status if necessary
4. Add notes for your records or to send to the customer
5. Click “Update Booking” to save changes

Payment Integration

The booking system integrates with payment gateways to collect payments for bookings:

• Stripe: For credit card payments
• PayPal: For PayPal payments

To enable payments:

1. Ensure payment gateways are configured in DigiCommerce settings
2. For each service, enable “Require Pre-payment” in the service details
3. Set the pre-payment percentage (100% for full payment, or less for deposits)

Displaying Booking Forms

You can display booking forms on your website using shortcode:

[digicommerce_booking_form service_id="123"]

Replace “123” with your actual service ID.

Customer Account Integration

Customers can manage their bookings through their account area:

1. A “Bookings” section is automatically added to the DigiCommerce account dashboard
2. Customers can view their booking history and check booking details
3. Booking confirmation emails include account access instructions

Email Notifications

The system sends automatic email notifications for:

• New Bookings: Admin receives notification of new bookings
• Booking Confirmation: Customer receives booking details
• New Account Creation: If a guest books, an account is created and credentials are sent

Email templates can be customized in the DigiCommerce template structure.

Custom Fields

You can add custom fields to collect additional information during the booking process:

1. Edit a booking service
2. Look for the “Custom Fields” section in the sidebar
3. Add fields like special requests, additional options, or required information

Custom field data is stored with the booking and displayed in the booking details.