> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.bellabooking.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Notes

> Manage private, shared, and client-authored notes on appointments and client profiles

## Overview

Bella Booking provides three quick-note types on both **appointments** and **client profiles**, giving your team fine-grained control over what information stays internal, what is shared with clients, and what clients contribute themselves.

Each of these quick-note fields supports up to **500 characters**. Client profiles also have a separate, dated **Timeline** log for building up a client's history over time — see [Client Timeline notes](#client-timeline-notes) below, which is **not** subject to the 500-character limit.

***

## Appointment Notes

Every appointment has three note fields:

| Field                | Label in the form               | Who can write it              | Who can see it                                      |
| -------------------- | ------------------------------- | ----------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| **Private Note**     | "Private Note"                  | Your team (Owners and Admins) | Your team only — never shown to clients             |
| **Note for Client**  | "Note for Client"               | Your team (Owners and Admins) | Your team and the client (via their booking portal) |
| **Note from Client** | Submitted during online booking | The client                    | Your team and the client                            |

### Private Note

Use this for internal information relevant to the specific appointment — preparation reminders, colour formulas, clinical notes, or anything your team needs to know before the appointment.

The helper text reads: *"Only visible to your team"*.

### Note for Client

This note is visible to your client when they view their appointment in the booking portal. Use it for pre-appointment instructions (e.g. "Please arrive 10 minutes early"), aftercare advice, or any information you want to share with the client about this appointment.

The helper text reads: *"Visible to your client in their booking portal"*.

### Note from Client

When a client books online, they can add a note for your business. The label they see is *"Add a note for the business"* with the placeholder *"Any special requests or information you'd like to share..."*.

This field is **read-only for your team** — your team cannot edit client-authored notes.

***

## Adding Notes When Creating an Appointment

When creating or editing an appointment in the scheduler, notes appear in the **Notes** section of the form:

1. **Private Note** — the first field, with helper text "Only visible to your team"
2. **Note for Client** — the second field, with helper text "Visible to your client in their booking portal"

The "Note from Client" field is not shown in the creation form because it can only be authored by the client during online booking.

***

## Viewing Past Notes

Each appointment retains its own notes permanently. To view notes from a past appointment:

1. Navigate to the **client profile** (via Clients or by clicking a client name)
2. Open the **Appointments** tab
3. Click any appointment to view its full details, including all three note fields

***

## Client-Level Notes

Separate from appointment notes, each **client profile** also has its own set of three notes:

| Field                 | Label                 | Who can write it              | Who can see it                                      |
| --------------------- | --------------------- | ----------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------- |
| **Private Note**      | "Private Note"        | Your team (Owners and Admins) | Your team only                                      |
| **Note for Client**   | "Note for Client"     | Your team (Owners and Admins) | Your team and the client (via their booking portal) |
| **Client's Own Note** | Written by the client | The client                    | Your team and the client                            |

Client-level notes persist across all appointments and are ideal for information that applies generally — long-term preferences, allergies, accessibility requirements, or standing instructions.

<Note>
  Client-level notes and appointment-level notes are independent. Updating one does not affect the other.
</Note>

***

## Client Timeline notes

The three quick-note fields above hold a client's *current* state — you overwrite them as things change. Separately, every **client profile** has a **Timeline** tab: a dated, **append-only** log where nothing is ever overwritten, so you build up a client's history over time.

Each Timeline entry records:

* **Who** added it and **when** — captured automatically.
* A **category** — General, Formula, or Consultation — to keep entries organised.
* **Formatted text** with **bold**, *italic*, and bullet or numbered lists for longer consultation notes.
* Optional **file or photo attachments** (PDF, Word, Excel, image, or text) added directly to the entry.

**Pinning** an entry surfaces it on the scheduler tooltip and the new-appointment form, so the team sees key information (allergies, preferences, alerts) without opening the client record. Timeline notes live in the business dashboard only — they are never shown to clients online.

Timeline notes are **not** subject to the 500-character limit that applies to the quick-note fields. For the full walkthrough — categories, pinning, locking, amendments, and attachments — see [Timeline notes](/clients#timeline-notes) in the Clients guide.

***

## What Clients See

When a client views their appointment in the online booking portal, they see:

* **"Notes from business"** — the Note for Client (PublicNotes) your team added to that appointment
* **"Your notes"** — the note they submitted when booking (ClientNotes)

**Private Notes are never shown to clients** — they are stripped before any data is served to the booking portal.

***

## Notes Are Not Sent in Notifications

Notes do **not** appear in SMS or email notifications (confirmations, reminders, or follow-ups). The "Note for Client" is only visible when the client actively views their appointment in the booking portal.

If you need to communicate specific instructions to a client ahead of their appointment, consider sending a manual message or including the information in your automated message templates.

***

## Editing and Overwriting

When your team edits an appointment:

* **Private Note** and **Note for Client** can be updated freely. The new text replaces the previous content — there is no version history.
* **Note from Client** cannot be edited by your team. It remains as the client originally submitted it.

***

## Cancellation Notes

When cancelling an appointment, your team can record a **cancellation note**. This is a separate field from the three standard note types and is:

* **Internal only** — visible to your team, never shown to the client
* **Recorded at the time of cancellation** and stored permanently on the appointment record
* Useful for documenting the reason or circumstances around a cancellation beyond the standard cancellation reason

***

## Character Limits

The three quick-note fields — Private Note, Note for Client, and Note from Client, on both appointments and client profiles — have a maximum length of **500 characters** each. A character counter is displayed in the online booking form to help clients stay within the limit.

The **500-character limit does not apply to [Client Timeline notes](#client-timeline-notes)**, which are designed for longer, dated entries and support formatted text and attachments.