Complete Settings Guide

This guide covers the main settings in Xolapp: business hours and closures, booking and confirmation, staff assignment, reminders, and domain settings. It is for owners and admins. Settings are saved automatically as you change them.

This comprehensive guide covers all settings available in Xolapp. Settings are automatically saved as you make changes, so there's no need to click a save button.

Table of Contents

• Business Hours & Closures
• Booking & Confirmation Settings
• Staff Assignment Settings
• Appointment reminders
• Custom Domains

Business Hours & Closures

Control when your business is open and when clients can book appointments.

Enable Business Hours

Location: Settings → Business

Purpose: When enabled, this setting enforces business-wide operating hours for all bookings.

How it works:

• ON: Clients can only book appointments during your specified operating hours
• OFF: Clients can book at any time, regardless of operating hours (subject to staff availability)

Best practice: Enable this if you want to strictly control when bookings can be made. If your staff have flexible schedules, you might leave this off and rely on individual staff availability.

Allow Booking Outside Hours

Location: Settings → Business

Purpose: Allows bookings outside of business hours if a staff member is available.

How it works:

• ON: Even if business hours are enabled, clients can book outside those hours if a staff member has availability during that time
• OFF: Bookings are strictly limited to your operating hours

Example: Your business hours are 9 AM - 5 PM, but a staff member works until 7 PM. With this enabled, clients can book appointments between 5-7 PM if that staff member is available.

Best practice: Enable if you have staff with extended hours or flexible schedules. Disable if you want strict adherence to business hours.

Timezone

Location: Settings → Business

Purpose: Sets your business's primary timezone for all bookings and scheduling.

How it works:

• All appointments are scheduled in this timezone
• Operating hours are interpreted in this timezone
• Reminders are sent based on this timezone

Important: Choose the correct timezone for your location. This ensures appointments are scheduled at the right local time, especially important if you serve clients across different time zones.

How to change: Select your timezone from the dropdown menu. Common options include Australia/Adelaide, Australia/Sydney, Australia/Melbourne, etc.

Operating Hours

Location: Settings → Business

Purpose: Define your business hours for each day of the week.

How it works:

• Set hours for each day (Sunday through Saturday)
• For each day, you can:
  • Mark it as open or closed
  • Set opening and closing times (24-hour format)
  • Add a break period (optional)

Setting Hours:

1. For each day, toggle whether it's open or closed
2. If open, set the start time (e.g., 09:00 for 9 AM)
3. Set the end time (e.g., 17:00 for 5 PM)
4. Optionally add a break by checking "Has break" and setting break start and end times

Break Times: If your business has a lunch break or daily closure period, set break times. During break times, appointments cannot be booked (unless "Allow booking outside hours" is enabled and staff override exists).

Example:

A salon open Monday-Friday 9 AM - 6 PM with a 12 PM - 1 PM lunch break would set:

• Monday: Open, 09:00 - 18:00, Break: 12:00 - 13:00
• Saturday: Open, 09:00 - 14:00, No break
• Sunday: Closed

Best practice: Keep your operating hours accurate and update them for seasonal changes or special schedules.

Business Closure Dates

Location: Settings → Business

Purpose: Block specific dates when your business is closed (holidays, special events, maintenance days).

How it works:

• Add closure dates to prevent bookings on those days
• Each closure can have a reason (e.g., "Public Holiday", "Year End Closure")
• Closure dates override operating hours - even if normally open, the business will be closed on closure dates

Adding a Closure Date:

1. Click the calendar icon in the "Add Closure" section
2. Select the date(s) when you'll be closed
3. Optionally add a reason (e.g., "Christmas Day", "Staff Training")
4. Click "Add Closure"

Viewing Upcoming Closures: Closure dates within the next 7 days are displayed as a banner on your public booking page to inform clients.

Removing Closures: Click the "X" button next to any closure date to remove it.

Best practice: Add closure dates well in advance, especially for holidays. Clients will see these closures before booking.

Note: Appointments already booked on a closure date will not be automatically cancelled. You'll need to manually cancel or reschedule them.

Booking & Confirmation Settings

Control how appointments are booked and confirmed.

Auto-Confirm Bookings

Location: Settings → Business

Purpose: Automatically confirm new bookings or require manual confirmation.

How it works:

ON (Auto-Confirm):

• • New bookings are immediately confirmed
• • Clients receive a confirmation email right away
• • No manual action needed from you
• • Appointments appear as "Confirmed" in your dashboard

OFF (Manual Confirm):

• • New bookings are marked as "Pending"
• • Clients receive a "We'll confirm ASAP" email
• • You must manually confirm each booking in the Appointments dashboard
• • When you confirm, a confirmation email is sent to the client

When to use Auto-Confirm:

Use when you trust the booking system and want a fully automated experience. Good for businesses with simple services and predictable availability.

When to use Manual Confirm:

Use when you need to review bookings before confirming. Useful for:

• • Complex services requiring consultation
• • Limited availability that needs verification
• • Businesses that want to screen bookings first

Changing Settings: You can change this setting anytime. Existing appointments keep their current status - this only affects new bookings going forward.

Maximum Advance Booking (Days)

Location: Settings → Business

Purpose: Limit how far in advance clients can book appointments.

How it works:

• Sets the maximum number of days in the future clients can book
• Range: 1 to 365 days
• Appointments beyond this limit will not be available for booking

Examples:

30 days: Clients can book up to 30 days in advance

90 days: Clients can book up to 3 months ahead

365 days: Clients can book up to a year in advance

Best practice:

Set based on your business needs:

• Short-term businesses (hair salons, spas): 30-60 days
• Medium-term businesses (consultations, medical): 60-90 days
• Long-term businesses (events, courses): 180-365 days

Note: You can still manually create appointments beyond this limit in the dashboard - this only affects public bookings.

Staff Assignment Settings

Control how staff members are assigned to appointments.

Auto-Assign Staff

Location: Settings → Business

Purpose: Automatically assign an available staff member to new bookings.

How it works:

ON:

• • When a client books and selects "Any staff" or doesn't specify a staff member, the system automatically assigns an available staff member
• • The system checks: Staff availability, assignments, conflicts, and working hours
• • If no staff is available, the booking is rejected

OFF:

• • Clients must select a specific staff member when booking
• • If they select "Any staff", they'll see an error message
• • You can manually assign staff later if needed

When to use Auto-Assign:

Perfect for businesses where any staff member can provide a service. Improves booking success rate and reduces client friction.

When to disable:

Use when clients need specific staff members or when you want full control over assignments.

How the system chooses:

The system picks the first available staff member who:

• • Is assigned to the service
• • Is available at the booking time
• • Has no conflicting appointments
• • Is within their working hours

Booking Buffer (Minutes)

Location: Settings → Business

Purpose: Set minimum time between consecutive appointments.

How it works:

• Prevents bookings from being scheduled too close together
• Creates a gap between appointment end time and next appointment start time
• Range: 0 to 240 minutes (0 to 4 hours)

Examples:

0 minutes: Appointments can be back-to-back (ends at 10:00, next starts at 10:00)

15 minutes: 15-minute gap between appointments (ends at 10:00, next starts at 10:15)

30 minutes: Half-hour buffer (ends at 10:00, next starts at 10:30)

Why use a buffer:

Preparation time: Staff need time to prepare

Cleanup: Time to clean up after service

Rest: Prevents staff burnout

Documentation: Time to update records

Best practice:

Set based on your service type:

• Quick services (haircuts, consultations): 5-15 minutes
• Standard services (massages, treatments): 15-30 minutes
• Complex services (procedures, setup required): 30-60 minutes

Note: This buffer applies globally to all appointments. You can still manually schedule appointments closer together if needed.

Staff Buffer Time (Minutes)

Location: Settings → Business

Purpose: Additional buffer time for staff members between appointments.

How it works:

• Adds extra time between appointments specifically for staff
• Works in conjunction with the booking buffer
• Range: 0 to 240 minutes
• Applied per staff member when auto-assigning

Difference from Booking Buffer:

Booking Buffer: General buffer between any appointments

Staff Buffer Time: Additional buffer specific to individual staff members

Example: If booking buffer is 15 minutes and staff buffer is 10 minutes, there will be a 25-minute gap between appointments for that staff member.

When to use: Use when different staff members need different buffer times, or when you want additional padding beyond the general booking buffer.

Best practice: Typically set to 0 unless you need staff-specific buffering. Most businesses can rely on just the booking buffer.

Appointment reminders (Settings → Appointments)

Configure automatic reminders for appointments and payments.

Appointment Reminders

Location: Settings → Appointments

Purpose: Automatically send reminders to clients before their appointments.

Enable Appointment Reminders

How it works:

ON:

System sends automatic email reminders to clients before appointments

OFF:

No automatic reminders are sent

Benefits:

✓ Reduces no-shows

✓ Improves client experience

✓ Saves time - no manual reminders

✓ Increases attendance rates

Reminder Hours

Purpose: Set when reminders are sent before appointments.

How it works:

• You can set multiple reminder times (e.g., 48 hours and 24 hours before)
• Each reminder is sent separately
• Range: 1 to 168 hours (1 hour to 1 week)

Adding Multiple Reminders:

1. Click the "+ Add" button
2. Enter the number of hours before the appointment
3. The reminder will be added to your list

Common Configurations:

Single reminder: 24 hours before

Double reminder: 48 hours and 24 hours before

Triple reminder: 168 hours (1 week), 24 hours, and 2 hours before

Best practice:

Low-commitment services: 24 hours and 2-4 hours before

Standard services: 48 hours and 24 hours before

High-commitment services: 168 hours (1 week), 48 hours, and 24 hours before

Important Notes:

• • Reminders are only sent for confirmed appointments
• • Pending appointments do not receive reminders until confirmed
• • Reminders are sent via email to the client's email address on file
• • Reminders include appointment details, date, time, and service information

Payment Reminders

Location: Settings → Appointments

Purpose: Automatically send reminders for unpaid invoices.

Enable Payment Reminders

How it works:

ON:

System sends automatic email reminders for invoices approaching or past their due date

OFF:

No automatic payment reminders are sent

Benefits:

✓ Improves payment collection

✓ Reduces overdue invoices

✓ Automates follow-up process

✓ Professional communication

Hours Before Due Date

Purpose: Set when payment reminders are sent relative to the invoice due date.

How it works:

• Reminders are sent a specified number of hours before the due date
• Range: 1 to 720 hours (1 hour to 30 days)
• Default: 48 hours (2 days before due date)

Examples:

24 hours: Reminder sent 1 day before due date

48 hours: Reminder sent 2 days before due date (recommended)

168 hours: Reminder sent 1 week before due date

Best practice: Send reminders 48-72 hours before the due date. This gives clients enough notice without being too early.

Important Notes:

• • Reminders are only sent for invoices with status "Sent" or "Pending"
• • Reminders stop once an invoice is marked as "Paid"
• • Each invoice receives one reminder based on your setting
• • Reminders include invoice details, amount due, and payment instructions

Custom Domains

Manage your custom domain for your public booking page. Custom Domains is its own menu item under Business (not under Settings).

Custom Domain

Location: Custom Domains (from the main menu, under Business)

Purpose: Use your own domain name instead of the default subdomain (e.g., yourbusiness.com instead of yourbusiness.xolapp.com).

Benefits:

✓ Professional appearance

✓ Better branding

✓ Improved SEO

✓ Easier to remember

✓ Builds trust with clients

Setting Up:

1. Purchase a domain (if you don't have one) from a domain registrar
2. Go to Custom Domains (main menu, under Business)
3. Click "Add Custom Domain"
4. Enter your domain name
5. Follow the DNS configuration instructions
6. Wait for verification (typically 24-48 hours)

DNS Configuration:

You'll need to add DNS records to point your domain to Xolapp:

A Record: Point your domain to our server IP address

CNAME Record: For www subdomain (optional)

Verification: After adding DNS records, Xolapp will verify your domain. You'll receive an email notification when verification is complete.

Domain Status:

You can check your domain status in Custom Domains. Statuses include:

Pending: DNS records not yet verified

Verified: Domain is active and working

Failed: DNS configuration needs to be corrected

Important: Keep your DNS records active. If you change or remove DNS records, your domain will stop working.

Settings Tips & Best Practices

General Tips

Auto-Save

All settings are automatically saved as you make changes. There's no save button - just update the setting and it will be saved within a few seconds.

Test Settings

After changing important settings, test them by making a test booking or checking your public page.

Regular Reviews

Review your settings periodically to ensure they still match your business needs, especially operating hours and closure dates.

Seasonal Updates

Update operating hours and closure dates for holidays, seasonal changes, or special events.

Troubleshooting

Clients Can't Book Appointments

• Check if "Enable Business Hours" is ON and hours are correctly set
• Verify closure dates don't block the booking date
• Ensure "Maximum Advance Booking" allows the requested date
• Check that staff members are assigned to the service
• Verify staff have working hours set for that day

Reminders Not Sending

• Confirm reminders are enabled in Settings → Appointments
• Check that appointments are "Confirmed" status (pending appointments don't receive reminders)
• Verify client email addresses are correct
• Check your email service settings

Auto-Assign Not Working

• Ensure "Auto-Assign Staff" is enabled
• Verify staff members are assigned to the service
• Check staff working hours and availability
• Confirm no conflicting appointments exist
• Verify booking buffer times aren't too restrictive

Getting Help

If you need assistance with settings:

Check other help articles in the Help Center

Review the tooltips (?) icons next to each setting

Contact support through the Help Center

💡 Remember: Settings can be changed at any time. Changes only affect new bookings or actions going forward - existing appointments and invoices are not affected.

Frequently asked questions

Where are settings located?

Open Settings from the main menu (under Business). You will see sections for Team Access, Staff access, Notification preferences, Appointments (reminders), and Business (business hours, closures, timezone, booking and confirmation, staff assignment). There is no separate Save button; changes are saved as you make them.

Do I need to save settings?

No. Settings in Xolapp are saved automatically when you change them. Refresh the page and your choices will still be there.

Why can't clients book appointments?

Check that business hours are set and that you have at least one staff member with availability. Ensure "Enable business hours" and booking/confirmation settings allow bookings for the times you want. See the Troubleshooting section in this guide.

How do I turn on appointment or payment reminders?

In Settings, open the Appointments section. Enable appointment reminders and set how many hours before the appointment they send. For payment reminders, enable them and set hours before the invoice due date.