Bookster – WordPress Appointment Booking Plugin

Manage real-time bookings with ease. Multi-step booking form, multiple services and locations, built-in customer dashboard.

By Bookster

5.0 (5 ratings)

Version 3.0.0 Active Installs 200+ Updated 7 days ago 2 years old

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Description

Managing appointments through phone calls, texts, and emails is chaotic.

You lose track of bookings, double-book appointments, and spend hours on scheduling instead of serving customers.

Bookster turns your WordPress site into a 24/7 booking system.

Customers book appointments themselves, see real-time availability, and receive automatic confirmations.

You manage everything from one dashboard.

💫 Perfect For

Hair salons and barbershops
Spas and beauty clinics
Massage therapists and wellness centers
Personal trainers and fitness coaches
Consultants and coaches
Tutors and education services
Medical and dental practices
Any service business that takes appointments

💙 How It Works

Customers visit your booking page, choose a service, pick their preferred staff member, select an available time slot, and book instantly.

You receive an email notification and can view all appointments in your calendar dashboard. No more back-and-forth scheduling.

🔥 Key Features (100% Free)

Unlimited Bookings & Services

Create unlimited services with custom names, descriptions, and photos
Organize services into categories (e.g., Haircuts, Coloring, Spa Treatments)
Set individual duration and pricing for each service
Add taxes, fees and discounts to bookings
No limits on number of appointments per month
Offer service add-ons and upsell options

Smart Scheduling

Set your working hours for each day of the week
Configure different availability for different services
Add buffer time between appointments (e.g., 15-minute cleanup)
Block off days for vacations or holidays
Set minimum advance notice for bookings (e.g., require 24-hour notice)

Staff Management

Add unlimited team members from Bookster Agents menu
Set individual working hours for each staff member
Assign specific services to specific team members
Let customers choose their preferred agent or assign automatically
Track performance and bookings per agent

Customer Booking Experience

Clean, mobile-friendly booking form that works on all devices
Multi-step process: choose service select staff pick time enter details confirm
Customers see only available time slots (no double-booking)
Optional customer account dashboard to view and manage their bookings
Customers can cancel or reschedule appointments themselves

Payment Options

Accept cash/check for in-person payment
Accept PayPal payments online (customers pay when booking)
Stripe integration available via addon for credit card payments
Mark bookings as paid or unpaid manually
Track revenue in the analytics dashboard

Automatic Notifications

Email confirmation sent to customers immediately after booking
Reminder emails sent before appointment
Email notifications sent to admin when new bookings arrive
Customize email templates with your branding
All emails sent automatically – no manual work required

Admin Dashboard

View all appointments in Bookster Calendar menu
Switch between day, week, and month calendar views
Click any appointment to view or edit details instantly
Filter appointments by status (confirmed, pending, cancelled)
Search for specific customers or appointments
Drag appointments to different dates to reschedule
Color-coded by service or staff member for quick overview

Analytics & Reports

Track total bookings and revenue right from dashboard
View performance by service (which services are most popular)
Monitor individual agent performance
Make data-driven decisions about staffing and services

Premium Addons (Optional)

Upgrade your booking system with these customizable options:

Booking Form

Customize booking form steps (reorder, add, or remove steps)
Add custom fields to collect specific information
Enable recaptcha, brand logo, timezone selector, and more for your booking system.

Advanced Features (coming in future addons)

Group bookings and classes
Recurring appointments
Multiple locations management
SMS notifications via Twilio
Design Toolkit for Block Editor and Elementor

Getting Started

Adding the Booking Calendar to Your Site

Method 1: Shortcode (Works Anywhere)
Add [bookster_booking_form] to any page, post, or widget area.

Method 2: Block Editor
1. Edit the page where you want the booking form
2. Click the + button to add a block
3. Search for “Bookster”
4. Select the Bookster Booking Form block
5. Publish the page

Method 3: Classic Editor
Paste [bookster_booking_form] directly into your content.

Viewing and Managing Appointments

Go to Bookster Calendar in your WordPress dashboard
You’ll see all appointments in calendar format
Click any appointment to view details or make changes
Use the view buttons at top to switch between day/week/month views
Use filters to show appointments based on agents or booking status

Creating a Manual Booking (For Walk-Ins or Phone Bookings)

Go to Bookster Calendar
Click the + New Appointment button (or click an empty time slot)
Select the service and staff member
Choose date and time
Enter customer information (name, email, phone)
Select payment method
Click Create Appointment
Customer automatically receives confirmation email

Troubleshooting

Booking calendar not showing on my page

Check 1: Verify the shortcode
Make sure you added [bookster_booking_form] exactly (with square brackets).

Check 2: Clear cache
If using a caching plugin, clear your cache: WP Rocket Clear Cache or similar.

Check 3: Theme conflict
Temporarily switch to a default WordPress theme (Twenty Twenty-Five) to test. If it works, there’s a theme conflict.

Customers not receiving email confirmations

Check 1: Email settings
Go to Bookster Integrations Email tab and confirm email notifications are enabled.

Check 2: Check spam folders
Ask customers to check spam/junk folders. Add your domain to their contacts.

Check 3: WordPress email issues
WordPress email can be unreliable. Install an SMTP plugin like YaySMTP to improve email delivery:
1. Install YaySMTP plugin
2. Connect it to Gmail, SendGrid, or Mailgun
3. Send a test email to verify

Check 4: Test with yourself
Create a test booking using your own email to confirm emails are sending.

Time slots not showing as available

Check 1: Working hours configured
Go to Bookster Settings Schedule and verify hours are set for the day in question.

Check 2: Agent availability
If using staff members, check Bookster Agents and verify the agent works on that day.

Check 3: Minimum advance notice
Check Bookster Settings General Restrictions, if you require 24-hour notice, today’s appointments won’t show.

Check 4: Service duration
If your service is 2 hours but only 1 hour remains before closing time, that slot won’t appear.

Double bookings happening

This shouldn’t happen with Bookster. If it does:

Check 1: Multiple admin users
If multiple people manage bookings, ensure everyone refreshes the calendar before creating appointments.

Check 2: Contact support
If this persists, contact Bookster support with specific examples.

PayPal payments not working

Go to Bookster Settings Payments tab
Verify your PayPal email address is correct
Confirm PayPal is enabled (toggle should be blue/on)
Test in PayPal sandbox mode first
Check if PayPal account is verified and can accept payments
Review PayPal transaction logs for error messages

Calendar showing wrong timezone

Go to Settings General in WordPress
Set your city timezone correctly (e.g., “New York” or “Berlin”)
Save changes
Go to Bookster Settings and verify timezone matches
Clear browser cache and reload

Third-Party Services

Bookster uses these external services to provide full functionality:

FullCalendar.io

Purpose: Renders the interactive booking calendar
Privacy: No personal data sent to FullCalendar
Terms: https://fullcalendar.io/license

Stripe.com (Optional – only if using Stripe addon)

Purpose: Process credit card payments
Data shared: Customer name, email, payment amount
Privacy: https://stripe.com/privacy

PayPal.com

Purpose: Process PayPal payments
Data shared: Customer name, email, payment amount
Privacy: https://www.paypal.com/privacy

When customers make payments, they’re redirected to Stripe or PayPal’s secure servers. Bookster does not store credit card numbers.

Support

Need help? We’re here for you:

Documentation: Visit Bookster’s detailed guides
Support Forum: Post questions in the WordPress.org support forum
Email & Live Chat Support: Contact us through the Bookster website
Video Tutorials: Watch setup videos on our YouTube channel

Response time: We typically respond within 4 hours on business days and 12 hours on weekends.

We’d Love Your Feedback ❣️

If Bookster helps your business, please leave us a review on WordPress.org! It takes 60 seconds and brightens our day. Click here ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to share your experience.

Have a feature request? We’re actively developing new features based on user feedback. Submit your ideas here.