Create Outages, Closures, and Blockages

Create Outages, Closures, and Blockages

On this page, you can block times when bookings shouldn't be allowed: because someone is sick, the store is closed, a piece of equipment is broken, or a room is being renovated. You'll find it in the menu under Appointments → Absences & closures (/manager/emergency-actions). It applies to the location selected at the top of the dashboard.

The page has four tabs. The currently open tab is indicated in the address bar (?tab=staff, ?tab=business, ?tab=services, ?tab=resources); if no tab is specified, “Staff blocks” opens:

• Staff blocks: A person is unavailable for booking during a specific time period.
• Business closures (“Closures” on mobile): The entire location is closed. You can also import holidays here.
• Service blocks: A service is unavailable for booking during a specific time period.
• Resource blocks: A room or piece of equipment is unavailable for booking during a specific time period.

In the upper right corner next to the title “Absences & closures”, an icon reloads the data. The small help icon “How the emergency actions work” explains the most important points, which are also listed here.

What Happens to Existing Appointments

Any block takes effect immediately for new bookings. Appointments already booked during that time period are not canceled. They are given the status “postponed” and appear in the appointment review (Today → Requests → Appointments) along with the reason and the block that triggered it. There, they retain their original time and keep the slot reserved until you reschedule or cancel them.

Before you save, the window displays a preview of the affected appointments; in the case of closures, it also shows the revenue risk. If you later remove a block, these appointments will not automatically return.

The “Notify” toggle is enabled by default in the forms. Emails are sent immediately, in the customer's language, and include a note from the form. If you remove the block afterward, this will not recall an email that has already been sent.

Staff Member Blocking

The tab is explained as follows: “Block staff times for sickness, vacation, emergencies and other absences. Blocked times are not available for bookings.”

The table has the following columns: Created, Staff member, Time Period, Reason, Type, and Status (“Active” or “Inactive”). “Reason” and “Type” contain the internal codes, for example, SICK for sick leave or BLOCK for blocking, with no entry in “Prefer not to say”. You can filter by status and search using the search field, with ten entries per page. Sorting only applies to the currently loaded page. If there are no entries, the tab displays three cards: Illness, Vacation, Emergency.

The row menu has Delete. It prompts for “Delete block?” and “Do you really want to delete this block?”.

New block opens “Create block” with the row “Block availability for the selected period”:

• Staff (placeholder “Select staff member”): who you are blocking.
• Block type: “Block (unavailable)” (default), “Busy”, “Break”, or “Meeting”.
• Reason (placeholder “Select reason”): Illness, Vacation, Emergency, Training, Meeting, Early Departure, Late Arrival, or Other.
• Date: a time period until (placeholder “From - to”). The All day switch is on. If you turn it off, “Time window” appears with From and To (default: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM).
• Note (optional) (placeholder “Description...”).
• Notify affected customers: on by default, “Email notification to customers with appointments in this period”.

Below, “Affected appointments” shows the preview, or “No appointments affected”. As long as staff members or time periods are missing, “Pick what should be blocked first” or “Pick a period” will appear there. Click Create block to save. Affected appointments are automatically set to “rescheduled.” There is no recurrence in the form; each block is a one-time event.

Business Closures

The tab is explained as follows: “Manage business closures and holidays. These block all staff and prevent bookings.”

The table has the following columns: Created, Name (with note), Date (with the characters “Date range” and “Recurring”), Time (“All day” or from–to), Status (“Appointments blocked”, “Customers notified”), and Affected Appointments (count or “None”). You can filter by Type (“Recurring” or “Single”), search using the search field, and sort by Created (newest first) or Date; the date sorting applies only within the loaded page. Ten entries per page. The row menu contains Edit and Delete.

New closure

New closure opens “New business closure” (“Close the business for a period and manage affected appointments”):

• Name (required, placeholder “e.g. Christmas, Maintenance”).
• Closure period (placeholder “Select start and end date”): a day or a time period. Shortcut: “Today”, “Tomorrow”, “This week”, “7 days”.
• All day: On by default. Off: From and To (default: 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM). Closing for only part of the day requires both times, and the start time must be before the end time.
• Repeat annually: Off by default.
• Block appointments: On by default. In this case, no new bookings are possible during the time period, and existing appointments are set to “postponed” as described above.
• Notify customers: On by default in this window.
• Reason (optional) (placeholder “Description...”).

As you type, the window will show what happens after a brief moment: “Conflicts detected” if there is already a closure on the same day, plus “Affected appointments” with “Revenue at risk” or “No affected appointments”. Create is only active once the date and name have been set.

A new closure is rejected if it overlaps with an existing one: a full day with any closure on the same day; a time period with any closure that falls within it or extends into it; two partial closures only if their times overlap. The message then lists the name of the existing closure (“There is already a closure for this time period: …”). Recurring closures are not included in this check.

Edit and Delete

Edit opens “Edit closure” with Name, Start date, End date (optional), All day, Start time and End time, Repeat annually, Block appointments, Notify customers, and Notes (optional) (placeholder “Additional information”), along with the same preview. An end date earlier than the start date is rejected (“The end date must not be earlier than the start date.”). The entry is saved with Save.

Delete opens “Delete closure” with “Do you really want to delete the closure "…"?”. If appointments are affected, “Warning: affected appointments” appears below. An appointment that is already marked as “postponed” due to the closure remains in the appointment check (Today → Requests → Appointments) until you reschedule or cancel it there.

Import Holidays

Import public holidays opens a list of statutory holidays for this year and the location's region. Check the ones you want; Select federal selects all national holidays; Select all and Deselect all select the entire list. Those already imported are listed under “Already imported”. Under “Import options”, there are four toggles for all selected holidays:

• Repeat annually: on
• All day: on
• Block appointments: on
• Notify customers: off

The counter displays “… holiday selected”; Import creates a closure for each one (“… holiday has been imported”). If nothing is selected, “Please select at least one holiday” appears. If there is nothing to import, “No public holidays available for this year and location” appears there.

The till (terminal) can also create and delete lockouts with the same authorization.

Service Blocking

Here you can block a single service, for example, because the device is defective or the supplies are out. The table has the columns Created, Service, Time Period, Reason (with note), and Status. The Status is a toggle: switching it activates or deactivates the block immediately. Filter by status, search field, ten per page. Delete queries “Delete block?” and displays “The service becomes bookable again immediately. This cannot be undone.”

New block opens “Service unavailability” (“Mark a service as unavailable for a time period”):

• Service (required, placeholder “Select service”): active services only, with search.
• Reason (Required, placeholder “Select reason”): Equipment defective, product out of stock, staff unavailable, maintenance, temporarily suspended, or other.
• Date: Time period from to. All day on, or “Time window” with From and To (default 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM).
• Note (optional).
• Notify affected customers: On by default, “Email notification to customers with appointments for this service”.

The preview “Affected appointments” lets you choose individually for each appointment what should happen: Assign other staff (with the option to select who) or Reschedule. If there is no alternative, it shows “No alternative staff — will be rescheduled automatically”. Appointments where you don't make a selection are assigned to the first available alternative staff member; otherwise, “Reschedule”. Save with Create unavailability.

Resource Reservations

Here you can block a room or a device; see also the Resources page (Services → Resources). The table has the columns Created, Resource, Time Period, Type (with “Recurring”, if set), and Status, again as a toggle. Delete queries “Delete block?” and displays “The resource becomes bookable again immediately. This cannot be undone.”

New block opens “Block resource” (“Block rooms or resources for a time period”):

• Resource/Room (placeholder “Select resource”): active resources only.
• Block type: Maintenance (default), Cleaning, Repair, Reserved, Private Event, Renovation, or Other.
• Date: Time period from to, All day or “Time window” with From and To.
• Note (optional).
• Notify affected customers: On by default, “Email notification to customers whose appointments use this resource”.

The “Conflicts” (“… conflicts found with existing blocks” or “No conflicts found”) windows and the relevant appointments are displayed below the form. For each appointment, select a different resource or “Reschedule (Moved)” under Choose action:. Press Cmd+Enter to save, and Escape to close the window. The form does not have a repeat option, even though the table includes the “Recurring” symbol.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where do I block the location for vacation? Under Appointments → Absences & Closures in the “Business closures” tab, click the “New closure” button.

Where do I enter that a staff member is sick? In the “Staff blocks” tab, click the “New block” button, then select the reason “Sick leave”. You can manage her regular work hours and vacation requests under Team (see “Week plan” and “Team times”).

Are existing appointments canceled? No. They are marked as “postponed,” remain at their original times, and appear in the appointment check (Today → Requests → Appointments) until you reschedule or cancel them.

Do customers receive an email? Yes, if the “Notify” toggle is turned on. It is preset to “on” in all forms but is turned off during the holiday import.

Can I repeat a block? Only closures: Repeat annually. Staff member, service, and resource blocks are always one-time only.

Can I edit a staff member block? No, you can only delete it and create a new one. You can enable or disable service and resource blocks using the toggle in column “Status”.