Booking Rules & Policies
Go to Settings → Booking settings to adjust your booking page's availability, time rules, confirmation method, and reminders. The time slots customers can choose are set in Business Hours. Changes take effect only after you click Save changes at the bottom of the page.
In this guide
- Turn online bookings on or off and set whether the booking page is public
- Set the minimum notice, booking window, and cancellation and reschedule deadline
- Turn on automation rules like auto-confirm, automatic blocking, and appointment reminders
Who can do this
Only the Owner and Admins can see and change this page.
Availability
Open Booking settings
In the sidebar, click Settings → Booking settings. The "Booking page" section is at the top.
Adjust the two toggles
- Accept online bookings 1: When off, the booking page stays visible, but a "Not accepting new bookings" notice appears at the top and customers can't submit new bookings. Existing appointments aren't affected, and customers can still reschedule or cancel them on their own. Use this when you're temporarily fully booked or taking time off.
- Public booking page 2: When off, the booking page isn't listed in search results, and customers who open the URL see only "Online booking not available". They also can't submit bookings or reschedule on their own.
Time rules
| Setting | Range | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum notice | 1–7 days | How far in advance customers must book |
| Slot interval | 10, 15, 30, or 60 minutes | The spacing between time slots shown on the booking page |
| Booking window | 7 days–6 months | How far ahead customers can book; must be longer than Minimum notice |
| Cancellation / reschedule deadline | Anytime, 1 hour–3 days, 1 week, or "No cancellations or changes allowed" | Within this time before an appointment starts, customers can't reschedule or cancel on their own |
| Reschedule limit | 0 (unlimited)–10 times | Max number of times a customer can reschedule a single appointment on their own |
| Daily booking limit | 0 (unlimited)–10 appointments | Max number of appointments one customer can have on the same day |
Minimum notice and Booking window set the date range customers can choose from. Once an appointment is inside the Cancellation / reschedule deadline, customers can't reschedule or cancel it on their own, but you can still do so in the dashboard.
If there's no availability anywhere in the booking window, the booking page lists the LINE contact and phone number you entered in Settings → General, so customers can reach you.
Confirmation
Set the confirmation method and who can book
- Auto-confirm bookings 1: When on, bookings customers submit are Confirmed right away. When off, new appointments stay Pending until you confirm them manually (see Confirm, Cancel & Reschedule).
- Auto-blacklist threshold 2: When a customer's no-shows reach this threshold (1–10 no-shows), they're blocked automatically. Leave it blank to turn off automatic blocking (see Handling No-Shows).
- Allow guest bookings 3: Lets customers book without signing up for an account.
- Require phone number 4: When on, customers must enter a phone number to book online. See Require phone number.
- Allow multiple services per booking 5: Lets customers choose multiple services in one booking. The services are scheduled one after another.
- Let customers choose a staff member 6: When on, customers can choose a staff member or select "No preference". When off, staff selection doesn't appear on the booking page, in LINE booking, or in the "Team" section. Dolyu assigns a staff member who's free at that time, and customers see who was assigned on the booking confirmation page and in notifications. This works well for shops where every staff member can provide every service.
Turn on multi-slot bookings if you need them
Allow multi-slot bookings 7: Lets customers book multiple time slots at once. When it's on, you can set the maximum number of slots and the booking count limit. For details, see Multi-Slot Bookings.
Require phone number
With Require phone number on:
- Guests: The phone field on the booking page becomes required.
- Signed-in customers: If their account already has a phone number, they don't need to enter it again. If not, they enter it once when booking, and it's saved to their customer details.
- LINE conversational booking: Customers whose account has no phone number get a link to the booking page, where they enter it and finish booking.
- Appointments you create in the dashboard: Not affected. You decide whether to enter a phone number.
Reminders and rebooking
Appointment reminders
Turn on Enable appointment reminders 1 and set Reminder timing 2 to 12, 24, 48, or 72 hours before the appointment. If needed, also turn on Add a final reminder 3 (1, 2, 3, or 6 hours before). For channels and message content, see Notification Settings.
Rebooking reminders
Turn on Enable rebooking reminders 1, set Days after completion 2 (7–90 days), and optionally enter a Custom message 3. These reminders encourage customers to book their next visit. Rebooking reminders aren't sent while Accept online bookings or Public booking page is turned off.
Booking policy content
Write your policy content
In the "Booking policy" section 1, enter the text you want to show on the booking page, such as your cancellation policy or things customers should know. To ask customers questions, use Booking Forms instead. If you leave it blank, the booking page doesn't show a policy and customers don't need to tick the agreement box.
Common questions
Can I collect a deposit?
Dolyu doesn't collect deposits for you. To take a deposit, mention it in Booking policy so customers know, and click Collect on the appointment in the dashboard.
If I turn off Accept online bookings, are confirmed appointments affected?
No. It only stops new bookings. Existing appointments stay as they are, and you can still confirm, complete, or cancel them.
If I change the Cancellation / reschedule deadline, does it affect existing appointments?
Yes. The new setting applies to all appointments right away. Once an appointment is inside the new deadline, the customer can't reschedule or cancel it on their own.
Can I use the Auto-blacklist threshold and still block customers manually?
Yes. With the automatic threshold on, you can still block a customer manually from their customer details at any time.
Is the Daily booking limit counted per customer or per service?
Per customer, across all services. A customer's Pending and Confirmed appointments on the same date can't exceed the limit in total.
Troubleshooting
| Issue | Cause and fix |
|---|---|
| A customer can't book the time they want | First check whether Minimum notice or Booking window excludes that slot. Then check that Business Hours has that time open, and that the staff member works that day and isn't already booked. Buffer time before and after a service also takes up slots; adjust it in each service's settings |
| A customer can't reschedule or cancel on their own | Check whether the appointment is already inside the Cancellation / reschedule deadline or has reached the Reschedule limit. Customers can't cancel paid appointments on their own, so you need to cancel them |