---
title: Appointments
customers-call-it: feature
url: /docs/features/data/presets/appointments-table
---

# Appointments

Take booking requests from your website and confirm, decline or cancel each one from a single list.

## Use it when

Use it when visitors book a time with you on your website and you want to say yes or no to each request yourself. A schedule on your site sends every request here as **Requested**.

## Use something else when

If nobody books from your website and you only need a list of work with due dates, use [Job tracker](/docs/features/data/presets/job-tracker-table). For questions rather than bookings, use [Enquiries](/docs/features/data/presets/contact-form-table).

## How to add it

1. Open **My Business**, then **Advanced**, then **Data**.
2. Press **New data**.
3. Under **Suggested**, pick **Appointments**.
4. Under **Options**, keep the name "Appointments" or type your own.
5. Press **Review changes**, check what it adds, then press **Apply**.

You see **Added**, and the new table opens, empty.

You don't have to add it first: adding a schedule to your website makes one for you if you don't have one.

## How to take bookings on your website

1. Open **My Sites**, open your site, and choose **Schedule** in the editor's side panel.
2. Press **Add a schedule**, pick **Book a time** and press **Use**.
3. Choose the page, and change the **Heading** if you like.
4. Open **Timing** to set **Each visit (minutes)**, **Gap after each visit (minutes)**, **Notice needed (hours)**, **Books ahead (days)** and **Holds a request (hours)**.
5. Press **Add**. The schedule shows in the panel with the table its requests go to.
6. Press **Publish**. Visitors can now pick an open time and request it.

## How to confirm or decline a request

1. In the site editor's **Schedule** panel, open the schedule and press **Open**. Or open **My Business**, then **Advanced**, then **Data**, then your Appointments table.
2. Click the request.
3. Set **Status** to **Confirmed** or **Declined**. Later, you can set a confirmed one to **Cancelled**.
4. Let the person know yourself, by email or phone. Changing the status doesn't tell them.

## How to keep repeating visits

Enable **Allow repeating visits** on the schedule and publish it. Visitors may choose weekly, every two weeks, every four weeks or monthly. Confirm the first visit to make one next confirmed occurrence at the same local time. The table's **Repeat**, **Series** and **Repeating visit note** are visible on the record's Progress section. An unavailable time pauses continuation with a note instead of another booking; it does not skip ahead to a later date. Resolve the conflict and clear the note before retrying continuation. Clearing the note does not itself promise an automatic retry.

The same Appointments built-in automation continues generated visits through Data's existing date-in-a-row trigger. **Cancel appointments** with **All** off cancels only that visit and preserves the series, including a confirmed first visit whose confirmation has not yet been processed by the automation. **All** on stops its series and cancels future visits whether continuation runs before or after cancellation, without touching past or unrelated appointments. An unpublished draft change does not change the live process.

The server records each request's originating schedule in `f_schedule_ref` as `siteUUID:scheduleId`; generated visits keep that identity, even when schedules share this table. Older rows are adopted only when retained publication history identifies one unambiguous originating schedule. Otherwise recurrence and cancellation refuse until authorized staff supply a verified origin through Data's checked write path.

## How to add an appointment

Bookings from your website arrive here by themselves. Do this for a visit someone asks for by phone or in person.

1. Open the Appointments table from your sidebar, or open **My Business**, then **Advanced**, then **Data**, and pick it.
2. Press **New appointment**. If you renamed the table, the button may say something else.
3. Under **Name**, type the customer's name, such as "Sam Patel".
4. Pick when it **Starts**. Add the **Phone** and **Email** if you have them.
5. Press **Create appointment**.

You see **Appointment created**.

## What it adds or changes

- **Opens as**: Table
- **Columns**: Name · Email · Phone · Note · Starts · Ends · Held until · Status

Creates an empty table · no rows or automations

It adds a table with these columns:

| Column | Type | Choices |
|---|---|---|
| Originating schedule | text |  |
| Repeat | text |  |
| Series | text |  |
| Service reference | text |  |
| Version reference | text |  |
| Repeating visit note | long text |  |
| Name | text |  |
| Email | email |  |
| Phone | text |  |
| Note | long text |  |
| Staff | text |  |
| Starts | timestamp |  |
| Ends | timestamp |  |
| Held until | timestamp |  |
| Status | single choice | Requested, Confirmed, Declined, Cancelled |

## Settings

| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Label | The table's name, which also titles the list it opens as. | Appointments |

## Example

Fernwood Dog Grooming, a fictional salon, adds a "Book a groom" schedule with 60-minute visits. A visitor asks for 10:00 on Thursday and writes "Small terrier, first visit". The request appears as **Requested**. The groomer checks her diary, sets it to **Confirmed** and emails the customer.

## If something isn't working

- **A time is missing from your website's schedule.** Someone has already asked for it or you've confirmed it. Requests hold their time for the hours set in **Holds a request (hours)**. Decline a request you can't take to offer its time again.
- **"No requests yet. They land in Appointments."** Check the schedule is on a published page, then try booking a time yourself.
- **"This site has no pages to put a schedule on yet."** Add a page to your site first.
- **"Appointments can't be set up for this business yet."** GrowLocal can't make a table for you here. Ask an admin of your business to check that you're allowed to add tables.
- **There's no New data button, or it says "You don't have access to make lists here."** Your role can't make tables. Ask an admin of your business for access.
- **"These changes are out of date. Review them and apply again."** Press **Review changes** again, then **Apply**.

## Limits

- It doesn't send confirmations to the people who book. Email or call them after you change the status.