How to Set Up Calendar Availability for Appointments

Availability is what turns a calendar into something people can book. It comes in two parts: a Default Schedule that sets your normal weekly hours, and an Availability page where you block the days and times you are not free, or open extra hours on a single date. Set the weekly hours first, then add the exceptions as they come up.

Set your weekly hours on Default Schedule

1. Click Calendar Hub in the left menu and open your calendar.
2. Click Default Schedule in the Workspace Menu.
3. Click Add Defaults. A row opens at the top of the table, already filled in with Monday, 9:00 AM, and 5:00 PM.
4. Set the row:
   • Day. Sunday through Saturday.
   • Start time and End time. The window you are open for appointments that day. Start has to be before End.
   • Mark as unavailable. Check this instead of entering times to label the day closed. It is a label only: the booking page offers whatever Available rows that weekday has, so to stop taking appointments on a day, remove its Available rows.
5. Click the save icon on the right of the row. The cancel icon next to it drops the row without saving.
6. Repeat for each day you want to open. Saved rows show as Available or Unavailable in the table.

You can add more than one window on the same day. Add Monday 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and Monday 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM as two rows, and the hours in between are simply not offered, which is how you keep a lunch break or a standing meeting free.

To remove a row, click the pink X at the end of it. Its hours are no longer offered for booking. Any other row on the same weekday stays as it is.

Default Schedule and Availability both sit in the Workspace Menu.

Add Defaults opens a row already filled in. Set it, then click the save icon.

Saved rows read Available or Unavailable. The pink X removes a day.

Block days and times on Availability

Use this for the exceptions: a conference, a holiday, an afternoon you need back. Click Availability in the Workspace Menu.

1. In the Add Appointment Blocks To Calendar panel on the left, pick the Date.
2. Either set a Start Time and End Time to block part of the day, or switch on Block Entire Day to take the whole day out. Blocking hours on a date you had already blocked whole replaces the whole-day block, so the rest of that day opens up again.
3. Click Add Block.

Blocks appear in the list on the right with the date, the time range (or "All day"), and a BLOCKED tag. The line above the list counts the calendar's time blocks, full blocked days and added hours, from today on. Click the pink X on a row to remove a block and put those hours back. The row shows Removing with a spinner until the block is gone, so let it finish rather than clicking again.

Blocking also puts a placeholder on the calendar itself so the time reads as busy at a glance: a full day shows as BLOCKED DAY, and a time range shows as BUSY.

Pick a date, set the times or block the whole day, then click Add Block.

Blocks list on the right with a BLOCKED tag and a pink X to remove them.

The block also shows on the calendar as BLOCKED DAY or BUSY.

Add hours on one date

Use this to take bookings at a time your Default Schedule leaves closed, such as a Saturday or an evening, without changing your normal week. The hours are offered on that date only.

1. On Availability, switch on Add Available Hours. The panel changes to Add Available Hours To Calendar and Block Entire Day goes away.
2. Pick the Date.
3. Set the Start Time and End Time. Start has to be before End.
4. Click Add Hours.

The hours appear in the list on the right with an ADDED HOURS tag. They are added to whatever hours your Default Schedule already gives that weekday, and you can add more than one window on the same date. Adding the same hours twice gives the message Those hours are already added for that date. A blocked day, or a block of hours, on that date still wins where they overlap. Added hours put nothing on the calendar itself. To take them away, click the pink X on the row and confirm Remove Added Hours; your blocks on that date stay as they are.

Added hours list with an ADDED HOURS tag, beside your blocks.

Offer different kinds of appointments with Event Types

An event type is one kind of appointment people can book on this calendar, with its own length, its own public link and its own scheduling rules. Every calendar starts with one, 60 Min Appointment, marked Default. The default is what your plain booking link books, so nothing changes until you add more.

1. Open your calendar and click Event Types in the Workspace Menu.
2. Click Add Event Type.
3. Fill in the form:
   • Name. Required. Shown to the person booking, for example 30 Minute Consultation.
   • Link Name. The end of this type's public link. It fills in from the name as you type, and the full link shows underneath. Use letters, numbers and dashes; two event types on one calendar cannot share a link name.
   • Length (minutes). How long the appointment is, from 5 minutes to 12 hours.
   • Start Times Every. How far apart the offered start times are, from 5 minutes to 2 hours.
   • Buffer Before and Buffer After. Free time kept clear before and after each booking, up to 2 hours.
   • Minimum Notice. How soon from now someone can book, up to a week, so nobody books a slot that starts in ten minutes.
   • Cancel/Reschedule Cutoff. How long before the start the person who booked can still cancel or reschedule from the link in their email: None, or from 1 hour up to 7 days before. Their link page shows the last moment they can change it; after that it says it is too late to change online and asks them to contact the organizer. You can still change the appointment yourself.
   • Days Ahead People Can Book. How far into the future the calendar offers this type, from 1 to 365 days. It starts at 90.
   • Most Bookings Per Day. A daily limit for this type, up to 100. Leave it blank for no limit.
   • Location. Calendar's Location uses the location or meeting link set on the calendar itself. Google Meet gives every booking of this type its own Google Meet link, in the confirmation email, the reminders and the calendar file. Google Meet is offered only once the calendar's Google Calendar is connected. The confirmation email waits for Google to make the link, so it can arrive a few minutes after the booking. Zoom gives every booking of this type its own meeting in the organizer's Zoom account, and is offered once the organizer connects their Zoom with the Connect Zoom link under Location. See How to Use Zoom with Argenta Calendar Hub. Microsoft Teams gives every booking of this type its own Teams meeting in the organizer's Microsoft 365; the meeting moves when the booking moves and is deleted when it is cancelled. It is offered once the organizer has connected a work or school Microsoft 365 account and clicked Allow Microsoft Teams meetings under Location. If the organization later withdraws that permission, the calendar stays connected and new bookings use the calendar's own location until Teams is allowed again.
   • Thank-You Page. Optional. A full web address, such as https://yoursite.org/thank-you, that people are sent to once they book, instead of the built-in thank-you. On a booking page embedded in your website, the whole website page goes there, not just the booking box. Leave it blank to keep the built-in thank-you.
   • Active. Turn it off to stop offering the type without losing its settings.
   • Default. Turn it on to make this the type your plain booking link books.
   • Description. Shown on the public page. Leave it blank to show the calendar's own description.
4. Click Save.

The list shows each type's length and rules. Open shows the type's public page the way a visitor sees it, and Copy Link puts its link on your clipboard. The pencil icon opens a type to change it.

Give one person one appointment. Click One-Time Link beside an active event type to make a new link that books a single appointment of that type and then stops working, so it cannot be passed on and used again. Argenta copies the link to your clipboard and also shows it in the One-Time Link Copied message. Argenta does not keep a copy you can look up later, so send it on straight away; each click makes a different link. Once the link has booked its appointment, anyone who opens it sees This one-time link has already been used to book an appointment and is asked to contact you for another link. Your ordinary links are not affected.

Put the booking page on your own website. Click Embed beside an event type to get code you paste into your website's HTML, so visitors book without leaving your site. There are three styles, each with its own Copy Code button: Inline puts the booking page right where you paste the code and grows to fit, Pop-up Button adds a floating button in the corner of every page that carries the code, and Pop-up From Your Own Link opens the booking page from a link whose words you can change. Both pop-ups open the booking page over your site.

Each style has its own code and its own Copy Code button.

The default can't be turned off, and a calendar always needs one. To change which type is the default, open the one you want, turn Default on and save.

Ask people your own questions. Once an event type is saved, its Questions card adds questions to that type's booking form. Click Add Question, type the Question, and pick the Answer: Short answer, Long answer, Pick one or Pick any. For a pick question, type the Choices one per line. Turn on Required if it must be answered, then click Save Question. The arrows change the order the questions are asked in. Removing a question stops new bookings from being asked it, and answers already given are kept.

The answers show under Booking Answers on the appointment, in the confirmation emails, and as a note on the Notes tab of the person's contact record.

Every saved event type has its own Questions card.

A question you add is asked on that event type's booking form.

Choose when people are reminded. Once an event type is saved, its Reminders card sets how people who book it are reminded. Left as it is, they get the standard reminder: one email the afternoon before. Turn on Use This Event Type's Own Reminders to set up to three of your own. Each one is a number, a unit (Minutes Before, Hours Before or Days Before) and how it is sent: By Email, By Text or By Email and Text. A reminder can go anywhere from 15 minutes to 7 days before the appointment. Click Add Reminder for another one, the trash can to remove one, and Save Reminders when you are done. With the switch on and no reminders left, people get only their confirmation email.

Text reminders go through your organization's own Twilio account, so the text choices appear only once Twilio is connected on Text Messaging. A text goes only to someone who turns on Text me reminders when they book and gives their mobile number.

With the switch off, people get the standard reminder: one email the afternoon before.

Choose who people book with. Once an event type is saved, its Who People Book With card sets whose time it books. Pick an option under Book With, then click Save Who People Book With.

• This Calendar's Organizer. Every booking is with the calendar's organizer, on this calendar. Every event type starts this way.
• Group Session: Several People Per Time. Several people can book the same time, for a class, a webinar or an orientation. Set People Per Session, from 2 to 1,000. Each time stays open until it is full. With Show How Many Spots Are Left on, the booking page shows how many spots each time has left. Each person gets their own confirmation, reminders and links, and can cancel or move only their own spot. A group session always uses the event type's own reminders, so if the type was on the standard reminder, saving turns on Use This Event Type's Own Reminders with one email a day before.
• Round Robin: Whichever Host Is Free. Only a Master Admin can choose this. The link books whichever of the type's hosts is free at the time picked. Under Add a Host, choose a person and their calendar and click Add, then repeat for each host. The arrows change the host order, and the trash can removes a host. Each person can host on one calendar only, and the type needs at least one host. The booking page offers every time at least one host is free, using each host's own hours and calendar. Each booking goes to one host, who gets the booking emails, and a reschedule stays with them. When More Than One Host Is Free decides who gets the booking: Fewest Bookings in the Last 30 Days, Take Turns or First Free in Host Order.
• Collective: Every Host Together. Only a Master Admin can choose this. Add the hosts the same way as for a round robin. The link offers only the times when every host is free, using each host's own hours and calendar, and books all of them at once. The first host leads: the booking and its meeting are theirs, and the person who booked hears from them. Every other host gets the appointment on their own calendar and an email, and moving or cancelling it moves or removes it for all of them.

In the list, a round robin type is tagged Round Robin, a collective type Collective, and a group session Group Session.

A collective type: the first host leads, and every host is booked together.

A group session: choose it under Book With, set how many people each time takes, then click Save Who People Book With.

Send a follow-up email after the appointment. Once an event type is saved, its Follow-Up Email card can send one email to the person who booked, a set time after each appointment of that type ends. Left off, it reads No follow-up email. People who book hear nothing after the appointment. Switch on Send a Follow-Up Email After the Appointment and set:

• Send It. A number and a unit: Minutes After, Hours After or Days After. It can go from 15 minutes up to 7 days after the appointment ends.
• Subject. Up to 200 characters. Leave it blank to use the wording shown in the box, Thank you for meeting with and the organizer's name.
• Message. Up to 4,000 characters. Leave it blank to use the wording shown in the box, a short thank-you that invites questions.

Click Save Follow-Up. The email goes once, to the email address the person gave when they booked, and is signed with the organizer's name. While the event type is active, it ends with a Book another time link to that type's booking page. It never goes for a cancelled appointment, and an appointment that was moved is followed up after its new end time. It still goes when the appointment is marked as a no-show.

Switch it on and the Send It, Subject and Message fields appear. Click Save Follow-Up to keep them.

Event Types sits in the Workspace Menu. Every calendar starts with a default type.

The link name fills in from the name, and the full link shows under it.

Location sets where the appointment happens. Thank-You Page is where people go once they book.

Each type has its own Open and Copy Link.

A type's own link shows its name and length above the dates.

Share your booking link

Once the schedule is set, Argenta shows your open times on a page anyone can use, no login needed. The times are worked out fresh each time the page is opened, from your weekly hours, your blocks, any hours you added on a date, the event type's rules and any calendar you have connected, so a change to your hours or blocks shows up right away.

1. On any Calendar Hub page for a personal calendar, click Public Appointments for Calendar at the top right.
2. Click Copy Appointment Calendar Link to put the link on your clipboard, or Open Public Appointment Calendar to see the page the way a visitor will.
3. Paste the link into an email, your email signature, or your website.

Copy the link, or open the page to see it the way a visitor will.

What the person booking sees

They get a month view with the open dates highlighted. Picking a date lists the times you have free, and picking a time opens a Confirm your time box that names the time in the zone they are viewing (their own unless they picked another from Time Zone, adding yours when your calendar's clock reads differently) and asks for their name, organization, and email address, with phone and notes optional, plus any questions you added to that event type. When the event type sends reminders by text, they also see a Text me reminders switch, and turning it on means they must enter a mobile number. They click Schedule and the appointment appears on your calendar, or Choose a different time to go back to the times without losing what they typed.

Someone booking from a one-time link sees the same page. Once that link has booked its appointment, it shows This one-time link has already been used to book an appointment instead of the times.

To keep the page from being misused, Argenta turns away a rush of bookings made under one email address, or one number for text reminders, and one visitor booking under many different email addresses. The person sees a message asking them to wait a few minutes, or to try again tomorrow. The limits are set high enough that someone booking a whole season of appointments won't reach them.

Open dates are highlighted, and picking one lists the free times.

Picking a time opens this box. Schedule puts the appointment on your calendar.

Mark a no-show

When the person who booked does not come, open the appointment on your calendar and switch on No-Show. It saves right away, without Save All Changes, and switching it off clears the mark. The switch is on appointments booked from your booking page, and it can be used once the appointment has started; before then it reads You can mark a no-show once the appointment has started.

No-Show on an appointment that has started. It saves the moment you switch it.

To design the confirmation emails that go out, use Notification Design in the Workspace Menu. To set the calendar up in the first place, see How to Create a Calendar in Calendar Hub.