Booking Attendees
The person who books is often not the person who is served: a parent books for a child, or one person books for a colleague. With attendees, customers save profiles of the people they usually book for and pick one for each booking. You decide what information each attendee needs.
This is off by default and only for Booking shops. While it is off, checkout and the customer account do not change at all.
Turning it on
Open Booking Settings, Attendees section, and pick the mode (in the Dashboard app the section is called Who the booking is for):
| Mode | On the storefront |
|---|---|
| Off (default) | nothing is asked, as before |
| Optional | a customer may pick an attendee for each booking |
| Required | every booking made on the storefront must name an attendee. The pay button only works once one is picked |
Owners and Admins can change it. Every role can see it.
Attendee fields
The attendee's name is always asked (at most 100 characters). Under Attendee fields, press Add field for any other fields you need, up to 8 fields:
| Setting | Rule |
|---|---|
| Field name | the name the customer sees, 1-60 characters, for example "Date of birth" or "Level" |
| Field type | Text (at most 100 characters), Number, Date, or Choice |
| Options, one per line | Choice only: 1-30 options of 1-60 characters each |
| Required | the customer must fill it in |
Each field's technical key is generated from its name and does not change once saved. Leave the list empty if the name is all you need.
An attendee holds only the fields you define. There is no free-text notes field, so you collect as little data as possible.
Changing fields later
- existing bookings do not change: each booking keeps a copy of the name, the values and the field labels from checkout, so it stays readable after you rename or remove a field
- fields you remove no longer show on saved attendee profiles
- when a customer saves an attendee again, values that no longer fit (a removed field, a removed option, a changed type) are dropped
- when a saved profile no longer meets the current fields (for example a new required field), checkout asks the customer to complete that attendee first
What you call an attendee
The word "Attendee" on the storefront can be replaced with What do you call an attendee? in Wording on Your Storefront, for example "Guest", "Patient", or "Member".
What customers see
In the account. An Attendee profiles menu ("The people you book for") shows while the mode is not Off. Customers can add, edit, and delete attendees, up to 20 attendees. The form follows your fields (a date picker for Date, a list for Choice, a mark on required fields). If you turn the feature off, customers who already saved attendees can still see and delete them ("The shop no longer asks for this. You can still delete what you saved.").
At checkout. On each booking line the customer answers Who is this booking for? by picking an attendee or pressing Add new on the spot.
- Required mode: the question is marked Required, and a guest (not logged in) sees "Log in to choose the Attendee for this booking.", because attendees are saved in the account
- an attendee that was deleted or belongs to someone else is refused, and the list reloads
- only lines that create a booking ask for an attendee. Ordinary products in the same cart are not affected
- totals, deposits, and taxes do not change
In the booking detail. Customers see the attendee on their own bookings.
Deleting an attendee in the account does not change old bookings: their copy stays as the record of who the service was for.
Till and Dashboard orders
Orders made in the POS or the Dashboard are never required to name an attendee, even in Required mode, because a walk-in customer may have no profile. Cashiers see the attendee's name on order lines and booking tickets when the customer picked one on the storefront.
Who sees what
| Where | What shows |
|---|---|
| booking list, detail, and actions for Owners and Admins | the attendee's name and all field values |
| bookings for Cashiers | the attendee's name only |
| booking calendar | the attendee's name on the booking chip |
| POS order list | the attendee's name on booking lines |
| sellers (multivendor shops), their own bookings in Seller Center | name and field values. A SUSPENDED seller does not see attendees |
| customers | their own attendee profiles, and the attendee on their own bookings |
| public pages (products, services, availability, directory, reviews) | never |
Booking messages (the confirmation, the customer and provider reminders, and the provider cancel or no-show messages) carry the attendee's name only, with your shop's word for attendee. The other field values never do. WhatsApp templates do not change.
A saved attendee profile can only be opened by the customer who owns it. Staff and sellers only see the copy recorded on the booking.
Messages customers may see
| Message | Situation | What the customer does |
|---|---|---|
| "Choose who this booking is for." | Required mode and the booking names no attendee | pick an attendee, or log in first when checking out as a guest |
| "That profile is no longer available. Choose again." | the attendee was deleted or is not theirs | pick another one from the reloaded list |
| "Some saved details need updating. Edit them and try again." | the attendee is incomplete for the current fields | edit that attendee, then try again |
| "You can save up to 20." | already 20 attendees | delete attendees they no longer use |