Skip to main content

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.

Introduction

An appointment series lets you create multiple recurring appointments for a client in a single step. Instead of booking the same service week after week by hand, you set a pattern (e.g. every 2 weeks for 6 months), review the planned dates, and create the entire series at once. Each appointment in the series is a normal, independent appointment — it appears on your calendar, triggers reminders, and can be rescheduled or cancelled individually. Series are created by team members from the scheduler. Clients cannot create a series through online booking.

Key Features

  • Flexible recurrence patterns: Weekly, fortnightly (every 2 weeks), every 4 weeks, or monthly
  • Pre-flight preview with conflict detection: See every planned date and any scheduling conflicts before you commit — no competitor offers this
  • Skip conflicts: Choose to skip dates that clash with existing appointments or leave, and create the rest
  • Notification control: Send a confirmation for the first appointment only (default), every appointment, or none
  • Cancel upcoming: Cancel all remaining appointments in a series at once
  • Independent instances: Each appointment can be rescheduled, edited, or cancelled on its own without affecting the rest

Recurrence Patterns

PatternExample
WeeklyEvery Wednesday for 12 weeks
Every 2 weeks (fortnightly)Every other Monday for 6 months
Every 4 weeksEvery 4 weeks on Friday until December
MonthlySame day of the month (e.g. the 15th) for 6 months
Limits:
  • An end date is always required — open-ended series are not supported
  • Maximum 52 appointments per series
  • End date cannot be more than 12 months from the first appointment

Creating an Appointment Series

1. Open the appointment form

Click a time slot on the scheduler calendar and select Add Appointment, or press N to open a new appointment form.

2. Fill in the appointment details

Select the client, add one or more services, assign team members, and set the date and start time — exactly as you would for a single appointment.

3. Enable Repeat

Toggle the Repeat switch in the appointment form. A recurrence section expands where you can:
  • Set the interval (every 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, or 1 month)
  • Set the end date for the series
A summary line confirms the pattern — for example: 12 appointments, every Wednesday from 27 May to 12 Aug 2026.

4. Click Create

Clicking Create opens the pre-flight review dialog instead of saving immediately. This dialog shows:
  • A list of every planned date
  • Conflict warnings on any dates where the team member is unavailable or already booked
  • A summary such as “2 of 12 dates have a conflict”

5. Handle conflicts (if any)

If conflicts are found, you can:
  • Skip the conflicting dates and create the rest
  • Go back and choose a different pattern or time
If the first date has a blocking conflict, the series cannot be created — fix the first appointment before proceeding.

6. Choose notification preferences

Before confirming, select how the client is notified:
OptionWhat happens
Send confirmation for the first appointment only (default)The client receives one confirmation email/SMS for the first date. Standard reminders still fire for every appointment as each date approaches.
Send confirmation for every appointmentThe client receives a separate confirmation for each appointment in the series.
Don’t send any confirmationsNo confirmation emails or SMS are sent. Reminders still fire normally.

7. Confirm and create

Click the Create button (e.g. “Create 10 appointments”) to commit the series. All appointments are created and appear on your calendar.
Each appointment in the series is a fully independent record. Services, prices, and team member assignments are copied from the first appointment at creation time. If you later change a service price, existing appointments in the series keep their original price.

Deposits and Series

When a service has a deposit policy, the series handles deposits as follows:
  • First appointment: The standard confirmation email includes the deposit request. If the client has a card on file and you select it, the deposit is charged immediately for the first appointment only.
  • Remaining appointments: No immediate email is sent at creation. As each appointment date approaches, the standard reminder includes a deposit request so the client can pay closer to the date.
This avoids a flood of deposit requests when the series is created and ensures each deposit is collected at the right time.
If your business has auto-cancel enabled for unpaid deposits, it only applies to the first appointment. Remaining appointments in the series are not auto-cancelled — they wait for the per-appointment reminder to prompt payment.

Viewing Series Appointments

Each appointment in a series appears as a normal appointment on the scheduler. You can open any instance to view or edit its details individually.
A dedicated series section in the appointment detail panel and a visual series indicator on calendar cards are planned for a future update.

Rescheduling a Single Instance

You can reschedule any appointment in a series using the normal reschedule flow. A note in the reschedule dialog confirms that only this appointment will move — the rest of the series stays unchanged. The rescheduled appointment keeps its series membership.

Cancelling Upcoming Appointments

You can cancel all remaining appointments in a series at once. The cancel-upcoming action shows how many upcoming appointments will be cancelled and leaves completed or past appointments untouched. Select a cancellation reason and optionally notify the client (one cancellation message per appointment).
You can also cancel a single appointment in a series using the normal cancellation flow. The cancelled appointment keeps its series link for reporting purposes.

FAQs

No. Appointment series are staff-only. Clients interact with each individual appointment normally — they can confirm, cancel, or reschedule single instances through self-service.
The edit applies only to that appointment. There is no “edit all future” option — each appointment is independent after creation. The edited appointment keeps its series link.
Yes. A series supports multiple services per appointment, just like a regular appointment. The full service list (including bundles and add-ons) is copied to every instance.
52 appointments, with an end date no more than 12 months from the first appointment.
Yes. The standard reminder schedule applies to every appointment individually, regardless of the notification mode you chose at creation. Notification mode only controls the initial confirmation email/SMS.
Future appointments in the series become unassigned, just as they would for a single appointment. You can reassign them individually from the scheduler.
Yes. Each appointment syncs as a separate Google Calendar event, identical to any other appointment.
No. Series use the same permissions as regular appointments — if you can create, view, and cancel appointments, you can work with series.
Not in the current version. Each appointment in a series appears individually on the scheduler.