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How to set up and manage bookings, events, and appointments

WooDonkey Bookings helps you sell appointments, classes, and events from your WooCommerce store. Shoppers book on your store. You manage the schedule, staff, packages, and emails in your WooDonkey dashboard. WooDonkey is the platform, not the store.

What it is

WooDonkey Bookings is in your WooDonkey dashboard at app.woodonkey.com, under Advanced Tools, then Bookings. The page subtitle is Create events, appointments, and classes. Five tabs: Bookings schedule, Products & Packages, Design Elements, Emails, and Settings.

Shoppers book on your WooCommerce store. Checkout is WooCommerce. Occupancy lives in WooDonkey, not in WooCommerce Bookings tables. The storefront stays empty until you turn Storefront on, the companion plugin is installed, and a booking shortcode is on a WordPress page.

How it helps you

WooDonkey Bookings helps you sell tickets and time-based services directly on your existing WooCommerce store without needing a separate checkout system. It provides a single dashboard for managing all aspects of your bookable products, including occupancy, staff availability, packages, and customer notifications. Shoppers benefit from a familiar WooCommerce checkout experience, while you gain a streamlined process for confirming bookings, rescheduling, and exporting data from the Bookings schedule.

What is included

WooDonkey Bookings offers these capabilities:

  • Booking Product Types:
    • Event: For dated happenings with tickets, where customers pick from published dates.
    • Appointment: For time slots from your working hours, with optional staff and intake questions.
    • Class: For repeating sessions with enrollment, where customers join a class meeting.
  • Product Configuration:
    • Shared fields: Description, Category, Location, Image, Price per participant or Total price, Duration, Minimum / Maximum participants, Shared resources.
    • Advanced options: Require confirmation, Waitlist when full, Google Meet link, Zoom meeting + Zoom URL, Deposit percent, Add-ons, Custom intake questions.
    • Staff assignment with optional staff-specific pricing.
    • Booking policies: When customers can start/close booking, how far ahead they can book, and allowing customer cancellations.
  • Packages: Create packages with visit credits or time-based redemptions, covering selected products, product types, or your whole catalog. Manage customer wallets and gift packages.
  • Bookings Schedule: A central calendar view (Month, Day, Week, List) to manage all bookings. Filter by status (all, pending, confirmed, cancelled, attended, No-show), search, create manual bookings, and manage existing bookings (Confirm, Cancel, Attended, No-show, notes, Reschedule). Export bookings as CSV or ICS.
  • Design Elements:
    • Grids & Carousels: Create customizable product catalogs with grid or carousel layouts, shortcodes for easy embedding, and control over card display.
    • Booking Wizard: A 3-step booking form (Schedule, Details, Review) with customizable fonts, images, and customer fields.
    • Calendars: Create embeddable calendars (Month or List view) with optional day/week/month switches and filters.
    • Client Dashboard: Customize the appearance and meta-information for the customer’s My Bookings page.
  • Shopper Experience: Customers browse catalogs or calendars, use the booking wizard, complete checkout via WooCommerce, and manage their bookings (upcoming/past, cancel/reschedule if allowed, check-in code + QR, meeting links) on a My Bookings page.
  • Staff Management: Add team members with names, images, emails, phones, bios, working hours, time off, and optional Google Calendar integration. Provide staff portal access with unique usernames and passwords.
  • Settings: Configure general settings (Storefront switch, Your timezone, Customer dates and times display, Cart hold minutes), manage Locations, Shared resources, and Store holidays.
  • SMS Integration: Configure Twilio for SMS notifications on booking confirmation.
  • Emails: Design a global booking template and manage individual customer, employee, and admin email notices. Toggle notices on/off and send test emails.

How to turn on and manage each capability

Open Bookings

  1. Log in to app.woodonkey.com.
  2. In the sidebar, click Advanced Tools.
  3. Click Bookings.

Timezone and Storefront

  1. Set your timezone:
    1. Go to the Settings tab.
    2. Under General, find Your timezone.
    3. Select your timezone from the dropdown.
    4. Click Save settings.
  2. Manage customer date/time display:
    1. Go to the Settings tab.
    2. Under General, find Customer dates and times.
    3. Choose Show in your timezone or Show in the customer’s timezone.
    4. Click Save settings.
  3. Turn on Storefront:
    1. Go to the Settings tab.
    2. Under General, find the Storefront switch.
    3. Turn the Storefront switch on. A toast appears: Storefront switch is on. Update the companion plugin so the shortcodes render.
    4. Ensure the WooDonkey Companion Plugin version 1.360.0 or higher is installed and active on your WooCommerce store.
    5. Ensure you have at least one Published booking product.
    6. Ensure you have placed a Bookings shortcode on a WordPress page.

Events

  1. Create an Event product:
    1. Go to the Products & Packages tab.
    2. Click New booking product.
    3. On Choose the product type, pick Event.
    4. Enter a Title.
    5. Click Create. The kind is locked after this. The product starts as Draft.
    6. Fill in product details such as Description, Category, Location, Image, Price per participant or Total price, Duration, Minimum / Maximum participants, Shared resources, Ticket types / person types, Deposit percent, Add-ons, Questions, Staff, and Policy.
    7. Add event dates: Under the product details, click Add a date. Enter the date and start time.
    8. Add event tickets: On the product, click Add event ticket to add ticket types (not per date). Enter a label, price, and capacity.
    9. Set Status to Published.
    10. Click Save.

Appointments

  1. Create an Appointment product:
    1. Go to the Products & Packages tab.
    2. Click New booking product.
    3. On Choose the product type, pick Appointment.
    4. Enter a Title.
    5. Click Create. The kind is locked after this. The product starts as Draft.
    6. Fill in product details such as Description, Category, Location, Image, Price per participant or Total price, Duration, Minimum / Maximum participants, Shared resources, Ticket types / person types, Deposit percent, Add-ons, Questions, Staff, and Policy.
    7. Define appointment hours: If no staff is assigned, set appointment hours directly on the product. If staff is assigned, ensure Working hours are set for the assigned staff members.
    8. Set Weekly series and Maximum weeks in a series (2-12).
    9. Set Status to Published.
    10. Click Save.

Classes

  1. Create a Class product:
    1. Go to the Products & Packages tab.
    2. Click New booking product.
    3. On Choose the product type, pick Class.
    4. Enter a Title.
    5. Click Create. The kind is locked after this. The product starts as Draft.
    6. Fill in product details such as Description, Category, Location, Image, Price per participant or Total price, Duration, Minimum / Maximum participants, Shared resources, Ticket types / person types, Deposit percent, Add-ons, Questions, Staff, and Policy.
    7. Define class sessions: Set weekly sessions.
    8. Choose How customers pick a time: Any approved time (duration is slot length) or Fixed start times.
    9. Set Status to Published.
    10. Click Save.

Shared product controls

  1. Edit a booking product from Products & Packages.
  2. Toggle Require confirmation if checkout should create a pending booking you Confirm from Schedule.
  3. Toggle Waitlist when full so shoppers can join a sold-out slot.
  4. Toggle Google Meet link after staff Google Calendar is connected.
  5. Toggle Zoom meeting and paste a Zoom URL.
  6. Click Add a question for text, textarea, phone, or select fields.
  7. Under Staff, check who can take this. Optionally set Staff prices.
  8. Set When can customers start booking, When does booking close, and Allow customers to cancel on their own.
  9. Click Save.

Packages and wallets

  1. Go to Products & Packages, then Packages.
  2. Click New package.
  3. Set Coverage: Selected products, Product types, or Whole catalog.
  4. Set Balance: Visit credits (Credits, Expires after days) or Time period (Days or Calendar month, Max redemptions).
  5. Set Regular price and Package price.
  6. Set Status to Published. Click Save.
  7. On Customer wallets, pick Package and Customer email, then Gift. Use Cancel on a wallet to remove it.

Catalog on the store

  1. Go to Design Elements, then Grids & Carousels.
  2. Click New catalog.
  3. Set Layout (Grid or Carousel), Display, Location, Book button text, and what to show on the card.
  4. Click Save, then Copy shortcode.
  5. Paste [woodonkey_bookings_catalog id="..."] on a WordPress page and publish it.
  6. Turn Storefront on. Products must be Published. Companion 1.360.0 or higher must be installed.

Calendar on the store

  1. Go to Design Elements, then Calendars.
  2. Click New calendar.
  3. Choose Month or List, optional Day/Week/Month switch, and Types / Categories / Locations.
  4. Click Save, then Copy shortcode.
  5. Paste [woodonkey_bookings_calendar id="..."] on a WordPress page.

Booking Wizard

  1. Go to Design Elements, then Booking Wizard.
  2. Set fonts, Photo, Title & Description, Location, Price, Next Available, quantity, and customer fields.
  3. Preview Desktop and Mobile. On a phone, Desktop shows This preview is only available on Desktops. Use Mobile.
  4. Click Save.

My Bookings

  1. Go to Design Elements, then Client Dashboard, and Save colors and meta.
  2. Paste [woodonkey_my_bookings] on a WordPress page.

Staff and staff portal

  1. Go to Settings, then Staff.
  2. Click New team member.
  3. Fill name, email, phone, bio, image, Working hours, Time off, Portal username, and Portal password.
  4. Optionally connect Google Calendar. Click Save.
  5. Copy shortcode [woodonkey_bookings_staff] onto a published page. Storefront must be on.

Schedule operations

  1. Open Bookings schedule.
  2. Use Month, Day, Week, or List. Month is desktop only. On a phone it shows: The monthly calendar can only be viewed and edited on a desktop. Use Day, Week, or List instead. Filter Status or Search.
  3. Click New booking to add a booking onto an available slot.
  4. Open a booking to Confirm, Cancel, Attended, No-show, notes, or Reschedule.
  5. Use Export CSV and Export ICS. Drag is not available. Use Reschedule.

Emails

  1. Open the Emails tab and click Design Booking Template.
  2. Use Customer Emails, Employee Emails, and Admin Emails.
  3. Toggle each notice on or off and use Test send.

SMS

  1. Go to Settings, then SMS.
  2. Enter Twilio SID, token, and from. Click Save settings.
  3. SMS is sent only on booking confirmation, not as a reminder.

Locations, resources, and holidays

  1. Settings, Locations: add named venues.
  2. Settings, Shared resources: rooms or assets that cannot overlap.
  3. Settings, Store holidays: dates the store is closed.

What to know before you start

  • WooDonkey is the platform. Shoppers book and pay on your WooCommerce store.
  • Bookings is available to every signed-in merchant. There is no extra product unlock.
  • The storefront stays empty until Storefront is on, companion 1.360.0 or higher is installed, at least one product is Published, and a shortcode is on a published WordPress page.
  • New products start as Draft. Shoppers never see Draft.
  • Kind (Event, Appointment, Class) is locked after Create. Create a new product if you picked the wrong kind.
  • Event tickets live on the product, not on each date.
  • Appointment times come from product hours when no staff is assigned, or from staff Working hours when staff is assigned.
  • Package Max redemptions is a cap, not unlimited visits.
  • SMS is confirmation only. Email handles reminders.
  • Google Meet needs staff Google Calendar plus a confirmed booking. Zoom uses the Zoom URL you paste.
  • Occupancy lives in WooDonkey. A second bookings plugin on the same store can double-book.
  • Timezone uses Save settings. Storefront saves when you toggle the switch.

Problems you may hit, and how to fix them

  • Empty catalog or calendar on the store: Turn Storefront on. Publish the product. Install companion 1.360.0 or higher. Confirm the shortcode id matches the catalog or calendar you saved. Purge WordPress cache. Confirm the WordPress page is published.
  • No appointment times: Set product hours if there is no staff. Set Working hours on assigned staff. Check Store holidays and When can customers start booking / When does booking close.
  • Product missing from a catalog: Status must be Published. Check catalog Display, Location, Types, and Categories filters.
  • Checkout created a pending booking: Require confirmation is on. Confirm it from Bookings schedule.
  • No Google Meet or Zoom on the booking: Meet needs staff Google Calendar and a confirmed booking. Zoom needs Zoom meeting on plus a Zoom URL.
  • SMS did not remind the customer: SMS is confirmation only. Use Emails for reminders.
  • Emails did not send: Open Emails, turn the matching notice on, and use Test send.
  • Cannot drag a booking on the schedule: Drag is not available. Open the booking and use Reschedule.
  • Month calendar is blank or blocked on a phone: Month is desktop only. Switch to Day, Week, or List, or open Bookings schedule on a desktop.
  • Desktop preview is blank on a phone: Use the Mobile preview. Desktop preview is desktop only.
  • Staff cannot open the portal: Set Portal username and Portal password, then Save. Staff sign in at the staff portal URL, not as WooCommerce customers.
  • Package will not redeem: Coverage must include that product. Wallet must still have credits or time. Max redemptions is a cap.
  • Slot disappeared while someone was checking out: Cart hold minutes is holding the occupancy. Wait for the hold to expire or complete checkout.
  • Times look wrong for the shopper: Settings, Customer dates and times, then Save settings.
  • A second bookings plugin shows different availability: Occupancy is only in WooDonkey. Turn the other plugin off for the same products.

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