Account scheduling defaults and inheritance

Overview

Almost every timing rule in Agenda lives in two places: an account default and, if you want one, a value of its own on each event type. The account default is what applies to everybody; the event type's field only comes into play when you fill it in.

The rule is simple and holds for every field on this page:

Empty field on the event type = it follows the account default. Filled-in field = that event type has its own rule — including 0.

0 is an answer, not an empty field. Buffer after = 0 means "this type needs no breathing room", and that beats the account default. An empty field means "use whatever the account says" — change the account default tomorrow and this type changes with it.

Prerequisites

• Agenda module enabled.
• A role allowed to open Agenda settings.

Step by step

1. In Agenda, open Settings.
2. Go to the Scheduling defaults block.
3. Adjust the fields below — they apply to the whole account.
4. Save.
5. To see inheritance in action, open an event type: each limit field shows, as a hint inside the field, the number it would inherit if left empty.

Settings & options

• Slot interval: how far apart the offered times are on the public page. It is independent of duration: a 60-minute consultation with a 30-minute interval shows up at 09:00, 09:30, 10:00… This is the field that decides how many options the customer sees.
• First day of the week: whether the public calendar (and the availability grid) starts on Sunday, Monday or any other day. It only changes the framing, never the availability.
• Buffer before / Buffer after: minutes automatically reserved before and after each appointment.
• Minimum notice: how much warning is required for a time to still be bookable.
• Maximum advance: how many days into the future the page offers times.
• Minimum cancellation notice: how much warning the customer needs to still cancel — or reschedule, which follows the same window.
• Prevent overlapping appointments: the overlap guard for appointments created directly in the agenda (not through the public page, which has always had its own check).

The five limit fields (buffers, notices and horizon) also exist inside each event type, and that is where inheritance happens.

Use cases

• Move the slot interval from 15 to 30 minutes for every event type at once.
• Give the whole account 10 minutes of breathing room between appointments without touching each type.
• Keep a single "Urgent slot" type with minimum notice 0 while everything else follows the account's 2 hours.
• Start the week on Monday for an operation that does not work Sundays.

Tips, limits & best practices

• Leave it empty by default. Typing the same number the account already uses looks harmless, but it freezes that event type: when the account changes, it is left behind.
• If a type already carries a number and you want it back on the account default, clear the value or use Use the account default, right under the field.
• The slot interval is the field the customer notices most: a short interval means more options on screen; a long one means a tidier day.
• The minimum cancellation notice applies to reschedules too. Without that, rescheduling would be an easy way around the cancellation window.

Troubleshooting

• I changed the account default and one event type didn't change: its field is filled in. Open the type and clear the value (or click Use the account default) to inherit again.
• I set 0 and it went back to the account value: it shouldn't — 0 is a valid value and beats the account. If the field came back empty after saving, it was saved empty; type 0 again.
• The public page shows fewer times than I expected: raise the slot interval or lower the buffers — every buffer minute also eats options.
• The public page shows too many days: lower the maximum advance.

See also

• Event types, availability and buffers
• Cascading availability: account, calendar and event type
• Public booking page
• Prevent overlapping appointments