Event Scheduling Setup Guide

Admin UI Overview

When you first log in to your pickAtime account, you will automatically land on the Administrative User Interface, with the Event Reports displayed by default.

Profile & Sidebar Navigation


Left-Hand Navigation Menu

Checklist

In order to set up your event using the Normal event scheduler, you will need to follow these steps:

1. CREATE YOUR EVENT - You will need to create your event and name it appropriately for your scheduling use (e.g. Health Screenings, Photo Shoot Appointments)

2. ADD A RESOURCE - You will need to add a resource to your event. The resource is the “holder” of the slots. The resource could be a person or a generic entity such as “Nurse” or simply “Appointments.”

3. CREATE SLOTS FOR THE EVENT - Create the time slots (including the dates, times, and durations of appointments). 

4. CONFIGURE SETTINGS 

Appointment Settings - There are several appointment settings that you can modify for the specifics of your event.

Configure Notifications (optional) - The pickAtime system offers the capability of sending out email confirmations and email reminder notices. You may choose to modify the default settings for these emails.

5. TRY IT OUT

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. I have multiple locations for my event

A. On the Event List page, you can create a new event for each location

Q. I have multiple dates for my event

A. At your event, you can create multiple days of time slots. Simply use the calendar on the left-hand side and create slots on your first date. Then click on a new date on the calendar and repeat. 

Q. I’d like to customize the emails

A. On the Settings / Notifications page, you can customize the Confirmation email, Reminder email, and Cancellation email. 

Q. How do I see who has signed up for an appointment? 

A. When you first log into pickAtime from our home page, you will be in the Reporting area. Here you will be able to see scheduled appointments. There are a number of different reports available. 

You can also view appointments in the Admin UI. Select your event from the Account Management page, and then select the Appointments tab. Click on a date and time, and you will see the name of the person displayed in the time slot. 

Q. This seems too easy. Is that all there is to do? 

A. Setting up a scheduler is easy. The pickAtime Admin UI is a powerful tool, and has many more options available than described in this Quick Start Guide. For more information, see the Advanced Options section of the User Manual. Here you will find information on options such as: allowing a customer to take multiple time slots, limiting the number of appointments scheduled in any given day, displaying your early time slots first, adding an initial sort to your page, such as a sort by state or city, and restricting eligibility to the scheduler. 

Event Setup

Event Setup

STEP ONE: Create Event

Create Your Event

When you first log in to your account from the pickAtime home page, you will be in the Admin tool and on the Event Reporting page. 

  1. Select the Events/Preview button on the pickAdminUI sidebar (left side). 
  2. Click on the green Add button.
  3. Enter a name for your event, for example, "Health Screenings, Photo School 2026."
  4. Select the type of Normal
  5. Select the event time zone.
  6. Optionally, you can add the Date and Location for your event.

You will then see a row listed for your event. The date and location column can be left blank. They are used to differentiate between the different events when more than one event is available. The date field is simply a label. If your conference has multiple dates, you can list all dates in this column, or you can leave it blank.

For any event, you can also use the Event Details box on the screen to fill in any event-specific information that you may want to use in the display of your scheduler or in your emails for this event. Any text that you add in the Event Details box will be available as a macro field that you can use in your CUI Messages or in your Notification Setup. The macro for the Event Details is $(E_DESCRIPTION).

If you have multiple dates for your event, you do not need to create multiple events. Any event can have any number of dates on it.

Event Setup

STEP TWO: Add a Resource

Defining Your Resources

Every event requires at least one Resource to act as the "container" for your time slots. Follow the steps below to name and organize them.

1. Naming the Resource

Click directly into the Title Area of the new resource to edit its name.

2. Choose a Descriptive Name

Your resource name should be specific to the type of event you are organizing. For example:

3. Add Additional Resources

If your event involves multiple staff members, rooms, or service types, continue adding resources as needed. Each resource will manage its own independent set of appointments.

Event Setup

STEP THREE: Create Slots

Create Slots Function

The Create Slots function is used to generate appointment dates, times, and appointment durations for your event.

Accessing the Create Slots Function

  1. Navigate to Events / Preview from the navigation menu.

  2. Select your event from the list.

  3. Click the Appointments button.

  4. Select the Appointments tab.

On the left-hand side of the page, you will see a calendar. Select the date you would like to create slots for. If your event spans multiple days, begin with the first date.

On the right-hand side, you will see a list of your resources.

Slot Menu Options

The Slots drop-down menu includes the following options:

Select Create Slots to open the Slot Generator window.

Creating Appointment Slots

Step 1: Select Resources

Choose whether the slots should be created for:

Step 2: Configure Time Settings

From - Enter the start time of the first appointment slot.

To - Enter the ending time of the final appointment slot for the day.

Duration - Enter the length of each appointment in minutes.

Travel Break - Optionally enter a break duration between appointments.

Example:

This creates:

Appointment Types

Select the appointment format you would like to offer.

In-Person
Virtual
In-Person or Virtual

Slot Types

Select how the slot should appear to participants.

Visible for Customer

The slot is visible and available for booking on the Online Scheduler (CUI).

Hidden from Customer

The slot is hidden from participants but remains visible in the Admin UI. This can be used for reserved appointments.

Shown with “Call” Status

The slot is visible, but participants are instructed to contact the school directly when selecting the appointment.

Make Unavailable

The slot appears in the Admin UI but cannot be booked online. This is commonly used for:

You may optionally enter a custom message for unavailable slots.

Maximum Appointments Per Slot

Use the Maximum allowed appointments per slot field to determine how many appointments can be booked during each time slot.

This is commonly used for:

Creating Multiple Days of Slots

If multiple days will use the same schedule:

If each day has a different schedule:

  1. Create slots for the first day

  2. Select the next date from the calendar

  3. Repeat the slot creation process

Creating Different Schedules for Different Resources

If resources require different schedules:

  1. Select the resource or group of resources

  2. Create their slots and click save

  3. Select the next resource/group

  4. Repeat as needed

To select multiple resources:

Note that if you have created the same slots for all your resources, you will not see the individual slots displayed unless you select one of the resource names from the right-hand side. This allows you to create identical schedules for selected groups of resources.

Viewing Resource Slots

If slots are created for all resources at once, individual appointment slots may not immediately display.

To view a specific resource’s slots:

Time Increment Display

The time increments displayed on the Appointments page automatically adjust based on your slot durations.

Examples:

If multiple slot durations exist, the display will use the lowest common denominator.

Example:

Result:

To manually adjust display increments:

  1. Navigate to Settings / Vendor UI Setup

  2. Modify the Draw Time Every setting

If using Travel Breaks, you may also want to adjust this setting to align with your break duration.

Important Notes: Create Slots Does Not Replace Existing Slots

The Create Slots function only adds new slots. It does not automatically overwrite or remove existing slots.

Example:

You must either:

Updating Slots

The Update Slots feature allows you to update the characteristics of existing slots. This feature allows you to:

Accessing Update Slots

  1. Select Events / Preview from the navigation dashboard.

  2. Select your event from the list.

  3. Click the Appointments button.

  4. Select the Appointments tab.

  5. Select the appropriate date from the calendar on the left-hand side.

  6. Select the resource name on the right-hand side.

  7. Select Slots > Update Slots.

This will open the Slot Updater dialog box.

The dialog box allows you to enter a range of times and apply updates to existing slots.

The option Keep existing slot type on slots being updated allows you to change the appointment type (for example, from In-Person to Virtual) without changing the existing slot type.

This is especially useful if resources have already blocked portions of their schedules.

Important: Update Slots only changes the characteristics of existing slots. It does not change the slot duration, start time, or end time.


Removing Slots — Individual Scheduling Exceptions

  1. Select Events / Preview from the navigation dashboard.

  2. Select your event from the list.

  3. Click the Appointments button.

  4. Select the Appointments tab.

  5. Select the correct date from the calendar.

  6. Select the resource name on the right-hand side.

  7. Select the slot you would like to remove.

  8. Select Slots > Delete Time Slots.

This will open the deletion dialog box.

The dialog box will ask for details about the deletion. Review the information carefully to ensure you are only deleting slots for the correct:

You may also delete all slots that occur during a specific time across all resources.

Example:
If you would like to create a lunch break for all resources, you can enter the lunch break start and end times and remove all slots during that period.

You can also create breaks by using the Update Slots feature instead of deleting slots.

Important Note: Deleting Slots with Existing Appointments: If the slots being deleted already contain appointments, an additional dialog box will appear. This dialog box provides several options for handling the affected appointments.

Option 1: Do Not Cancel Appointments

If you choose not to cancel the appointments:

This list acts as a holding area for unresolved or “problem” appointments.

You must then either:

Option 2: Cancel Appointments Without Sending Email

Appointments will be canceled without notifying participants.

Option 3: Cancel Appointments and Send Cancellation Email

Appointments will be canceled, and a cancellation email will be sent.

The cancellation email configured in the Notification Setup section will appear automatically and may be edited before sending.

Blocking Slots

You can block a slot by turning an existing slot red and optionally entering a custom message, such as:

On the Appointments page in the Admin UI:

  1. Click the X in the corner of the slot.

  2. The slot will turn red.

  3. The message Blocked will appear in the slot.

You may leave the default message or replace it with your own custom message.

Blocked slots:

At any time, you may unblock the slot by clicking the X again. The slot will return to blue and display the status Available.

Making Changes to Slot Start Times, End Times, or Duration

To modify:

You must first delete the existing slots.

The Create Slots process does not overwrite previously created slots.

Example:

Existing schedule:

Desired schedule:

You cannot create the new schedule on top of the existing slots.

Instead, you must either:

OR

Move Slots

The Move Slots feature allows you to move existing slots and appointments (if any) to a new date.

Selecting Move Slots opens a dialog box where you can:

If appointments already exist, you will also have the option to send an explanation email to affected participants.

Important Note: New calendar invitation emails are not automatically generated after moving appointments. Participants should be advised to manually update any personal calendar entries they have saved.

Copy Slots

The Copy Slots feature allows you to:

This is useful when:

FAQ on Creating Slots

I created slots on the wrong date

On the Appointments page, select the Slots drop-down and then select the Move Slots option. This will allow you to move all slots (and any appointments) to a new date. You will have the option to send an email to any appointment holder whose appointment was moved. 

My slots are 20 minutes in duration, but I wanted a 30-minute break for lunch

If your break will not have the same duration as your slots or is not a multiple of your slots (e.g., you have time slots of 20 minutes, and you want a 40-minute break), you will need to create your slots in sections. First, create the slots BEFORE your break time, and then create your slots AFTER your break time. 

Why are my time slots yellow? 

Yellow indicates that the time has passed.

I created time slots with the wrong duration, but my customers have already booked appointments.

Time slots can not be changed from one duration to another. If you need a different duration than what you originally created, you will need to delete your time slots with the incorrect duration and create new time slots with the correct duration. When you delete the time slots, the system will ask you what you want to do with the appointments. You can cancel them and send an email to each customer requesting that they rebook their appointment. Or you can put the appointments "on hold" and then cancel and manually rebook each appointment. 

After selecting the Delete Time Slots option, you will see a new dialog box telling you the number of appointments on your soon-to-be-deleted slots:

The default option is set to move the appointments to a holding area on the Appointments List page. If you choose this option, you will have a list of the appointments that you need to either cancel or cancel and rebook.

Event Setup

STEP FOUR: Adjust Settings

UI Setup

Event Settings

On the UI Setup (Events Management, Settings/UI Setup) page, you can adjust various settings specific to your event.

  1. From the Admin UI on the Events/Preview page, select your eventClick on the Go To Event button to open the Event Management page.
  2. Select the Settings tab and then the UI Setup tab.

From the top of the page, work your way down

Scheduler Availability

Appointment Number Limits

Appointment Cancellations

Close Appointment Booking

Scheduler Settings

IMPORTANT NOTE: The event URL you see listed on this page will take the customer directly to the event. However, if you have any other open events on your account, the event table will be displayed to the customer, and they will be able to toggle to the other events. You can use the Category Option if you want to direct a participant to a certain event without an option to toggle to the other open event on the account.

Scheduler Display

Scheduler Display Limits

Resource Display

Miscellaneous

Advanced Settings

Online Meeting Provider

Multiple Appointment Booking

Appointment Changes

Notification Setup

The Notification tab in the Settings section allows you to toggle between the following options: Confirmation Email / Cancellation Email / Reminder Email /Custom Email / Follow-up Email / Resource Notification Email / Calendar Event Notification.

Confirmation Email

Reminder Emails

Send Reminder Emails

Configure CUI

The pickAtime system allows you to customize many of the display settings that your participants will see when booking appointments.

 To modify the CUI messages:

  1. From the Admin UI, select the Events / Preview option on the dashboard. Then select your event from the list and click on the Go To button. 
  2. Select the Settings tab and then the CUI messages tab. 
  3. On the left-hand side, you see many different labels that you can optionally modify. When you select a label, the right-hand side will display the text that will show up on the CUI. The text on any of these labels can be changed. 
  4. To edit the title on the login page for your scheduler, select Sign In page / Welcome message* and edit the text on the right-hand side. 
  5. To add a logo to your scheduler, go to the Global Setup / Business page. Under the Account Level Settings / Account Logo, click on the Upload icon to upload your logo.

To edit (or view) the HTML, select the HTML icon (<>) on the toolbar.

Event Setup

STEP FIVE: Try it out

  1. From the Admin UI on the Events / Preview page, select your eventClick on the Go To Event button to open the Event Management page.
  2. Select the Settings tab and then the UI Setup tab.
  3. To turn on the online scheduler so participants can use the website and schedule appointments, modify the “Open scheduler to customers on” and the “Close scheduler to customers on”. Any days that you want to make available for participants to schedule appointments should be within the start and end dates specified.

View for yourself the appointment booking web page. The appointment URL is listed in the Account URL section at the bottom of the Global Setup / Business Setup page. To test out the system, you can click on the URL or copy and paste this URL into another browser window and try out the site as if you were a customer. You can customize this URL by checking the box "Set custom URL" and entering your preferred URL name in the white box.

The "Appointment URL" will change to reflect your selection, and the new URL will be available in approximately 5‐10 minutes.

Event Scheduling FAQs

Account

How do I change the name of my account

To change the account name, follow these steps in the Admin UI:

  1. Navigate to the Global Setup /  Business Setup page
  2. At the top of the page, select Business Settings /  Business Address / Business Name.
  3. Here, you can edit the account name.

Please note: The name change will not be visible immediately. You must log out completely and then log back in to see the updated name.

Administrators 

Can I have multiple administrators on my account? 

You can set up any number of users with Administrative access. To do so, you would go to the Contacts page, select the Add > Admin... button, and then fill in the user information on the Add New Contact form. For a full-powered administrator in the Admin Level pull-down, select Administrator. 

What Administrative Access levels are there? 

I'm getting the message "email address already exists, can't create duplicates" when I add a teacher's email address. What does this mean?

This means that the teacher's email address you added already exists with an account in pickAtime. In the Contacts page, search for the email address by entering it in the email box and pressing search. You should see that the teacher's email address already has an account in your Contacts.

Admin UI

Why is the Appointments List red? 

This means that you have appointments that have some sort of problem that needs attention. When a problem appointment is created, the tab will turn red, and the appointment will be listed in red. There are several ways problem appointments are created. Please see the Problem Appointments page. 

On the Appointments List page, I noticed orange appointments with the status 'Customer is creating this appointment'. What do we need to fix these?

Appointments that are in the process of being booked are displayed in orange on the Appointment List page and cannot be manually deleted or selected for email notification sending. These appointments will be automatically managed and, if necessary, canceled by the system if the user has been inactive for a long time and has not completed creating an appointment. Once the participant completes the appointment booking process and clicks on the Create Appointment button, the status will disappear.
This will allow admins who are booking appointments for clients in the Admin UI tool to not select the time slots that are in the booking process.

Every time I change the Open scheduler to customers on one of my events, why does it change this on my other events? Why are my events connected?

Go to the Events Preview page, select the Events Settings option, change the setting in the Propagator Mode section, under Propagate Changes to: from all events of this type to only the current event. This setting allows you to make changes to one event and not apply them to all your events.

Appointments

I would like to offer Virtual appointments for part of the day (e.g., morning/early afternoon) and In-Person appointments for another part of the day (e.g., evening). Can I set that up?

Yes, you can. Simply create separate time slots for each appointment type:

A participant accidentally booked an In-Person appointment but needs a Virtual one. How can we change the appointment type?

There are two options:

I want to change all booked appointments from In-Person to Virtual (or vice versa). How can I do this?

In the Admin UI:

  1. Open the event.
  2. Go to the Event Management page.
  3. Click Slots / Update Slots.
  4. In the Slot Updater pop-up:
    • Set the desired time range.
    • Choose the new appointment type from the Slot Type drop-down.
    • Click OK.
  5. A confirmation message will appear, informing you how many existing appointments will be updated.
  6. Click OK to proceed. All affected appointments will be updated to the new type.

Appointments List

Why is the Appointments List red? 

This means that you have appointments that have some sort of problem that needs attention. When a problem appointment is created, the tab will turn red, and the appointment will be listed in red. There are several ways problem appointments are created. Please see the Problem Appointments page. 

Canceled Appointments 

Can I see a list of Canceled Appointments for a teacher? 

To view canceled appointments: In the Reporting section, check the Account Reports radio button. Then select the report labeled Canceled Appointments. Click on the Additional report fields / Appointment Fields line to add Student and Teacher to the report. Click on the Additional report fields / Contact's Fields line to add Email to the report. You can sort by the teacher's name to locate all appointments for a teacher. 

Contacts

Why are the contacts different colors? 

Blue means that the contact (person) has never logged in and taken ownership of their account. Black means that the person has logged in. Also, we have contacts that are marked in red. Red means a problem account - usually indicating that the email address is a duplicate.

Emails

How can I view any emails that have been sent? 

This can be viewed on the individual contact level. On the Contacts page, you can search for a contact by name. Then click on the contact, and then click on the small Log tab. This will show a log of appointments booked, canceled, and any emails sent. 

How do I turn off my E-Mail Reminders?

To turn off your reminder emails, go to the Events Management  /Settings / Notification Setup page, and under the Reminder email option, you will see a check box labeled " Send Reminder Emails". Uncheck this box.

E-Mail Reminders

We would recommend that you include a table of appointments within the body of the reminder emails. If you go into the Settings / Notification Setup page and select the Reminder email option, you will see a check box (above the body) labeled " Replace the Email Body with the Printable Schedule of Appointments". This will take the schedule of appointments (in a table format) and use this as the body of the reminder email. Any text you add in the Header will show up above the table of appointments.

The format of the printable schedule is set in the CUI Messages / Print Schedule section. This table does include the room number. 

On the Settings/UI Setup page under the Customer Reminder Email section, you have checked the box to require a reminder. You also need to enter a number of hours (prior to each appointment) for which the reminder will go out. For the Automatic Reminder Email(s), select the green +  under the Send Reminder Emails and then enter the number of hours prior to the appointment you would like the email sent (e.g., 24, 48, etc.).

Can I change the time/verbiage of my reminder emails?

Yes, you can change the verbiage and add/remove the times of your Reminder Emails at any time. These updates will apply to all appointments.

Invoices

How do I view my invoices?

Can I pay my invoice by credit card?

Can you call me so I can pay your invoice?

We are unable to take payment over the phone. To pay by credit card, please see the instructions above.

Passwords

A participant called and can not remember her password. 

On the login page, the participant can click on the Forgot Password button. A link will be emailed to the participant with instructions on resetting the password. Alternatively, you can reset the password for the participant in the Admin UI. Go to the Contacts page, search for the participant. Click on the participant's name and then click on the Reset PW button. 

How do I change my password?

Log in to your pickAtime account. Click on the menu icon on the upper right-hand side, and then select the Edit Profile / Change password option

A participant is having trouble with her password.

Participants can click on the Forgot Password option, and they will get an email that will allow them to reset their password. They can also email support@pickatime.com to reset it as well.

Alternatively, in the Admin UI, you can reset the participant's password. 

Scheduler

Every time I change the Open scheduler to customers on one of my events, it changes this on my other events. Why are my events connected? 

Go to the Events Preview page, select the Events Settings option, change the setting in the Propagator Mode section, under Propagate Changes to: from all events of this type to only the current event. This setting allows you to make changes to one event apply to all your events. 

How do I add a logo to my scheduling site? 

To add a logo to your scheduler, select go to the Global Setup / Business page. Under the Account Level Settings / Account Logo, click on the Upload icon to upload your logo.

Do you have a Spanish/French version of the scheduling page?

You can use your browser to translate your page. Review our instructions on how to do this.

How do I test out the scheduler?

Go to the Online Scheduling link. This will take you into the Online Scheduler. You can add any student to your account and then view the schedule for the students' teachers.

When I try to test out the site, I see a message that says "there are no events available" or "the online scheduler is closed."

This means that you have not made the site available for appointment taking. In the Settings / UI Setup page, check the start date and end date of Scheduler Availability. In order to view the scheduler, the site must be open for appointment taking.

Our scheduler is closed, but our participants could still cancel.

When the scheduler closes, if the link is still available (either on your website or bookmarked by the participant), participants can still log in and view their schedule. They are not able to book any appointments. 

Depending on your cancellation settings, they can still cancel an appointment. This is determined by the setting customer cannot cancel their appointment closer than xx hours/days. This setting is on the Settings / UI Setup page, Appointment Cancellations section. If participants are not able to cancel, then a message displays that they should call to cancel. 

I am attempting to use the site, and it is saying I was recognized as a bot.


We use Google reCAPTCHA on our sign-up pages to detect and prevent spammers and other automated systems from overloading our systems. This detection is based on a number of factors and is an automated process that runs in the background. You'll see the message on the screen: 

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.” — in accordance with Google’s requirements.

Occasionally, this system can have a "false positive." We recommend the user try again by refreshing the page or doing a hard refresh.  To hard refresh the page, press Cmd + Shift + R on a Mac, or Ctrl + Shift + R on a Windows computer. 

We created our event, and while testing, noticed that when we click on the account URL, there is a 404 error message. How do we resolve this asap?

If you encounter a 404 Error page when testing your event, it is likely because the "Category Sort" option was activated, but no categories have been assigned to your events. To resolve this, please follow these steps to disable the setting:

  1. Navigate to Events Preview / Events Settings / Manage Categories for Events.
  2. Under the Category Sort section, uncheck the option 'Allow customer to select category' first.

Once this setting is disabled, your event link should function correctly.

Snow Day

We have an event that we need to cancel on account of a snow day. We would like to move all appointments to a new day.

In the Admin UI, go to the Appointments page for your event. Select the date of appointments from the calendar on the left-hand side. Click on the Slots / Move Slots option. Here you will be able to move all slots and appointments to a new date in the future. You will be prompted to select a destination date. You will have the option to send an email to all participants with appointments.

Time Slots

I created time slots with the wrong duration. 

Time slots can not be changed from one duration to another. If you need a different duration than what you originally created, you will need to delete your time slots with the incorrect duration and create new time slots with the correct duration.

I created slots on the wrong date? 

On the Appointments page, select the Slots drop-down and then select the Move Slots option. This will allow you to move all slots (and any appointments) to a new date. You will have the option to send an email to any appointment that is being moved.  

My slots are 20 minutes in duration, but I want a 30-minute break in the middle.

If your break will not have the same duration as your slots or is not a multiple of your slots (e.g., you have slots of 20 minutes, and you want a 30-minute break), you will need to create your slots in sections. First, create the slots BEFORE your break time, and then create your slots AFTER your break time. 

Why are some of my time slots yellow?

PickAtime automatically displays older Time slots in yellow to indicate that the scheduled time has already passed. These slots will not appear to your participants. Check the date of the slots, and either delete them or move them to the correct date. Slots on the correct date will be blue and will allow you to book and block.

I created time slots with the wrong duration, but my customers have already booked appointments. 

Time slots can not be changed from one duration to another. If you need a different duration than what you created, you will need to delete your time slots with the incorrect duration and create new time slots with the correct duration. When you delete the time slots, the system will ask you what you want to do with the appointments. You can cancel them and send an email to each customer requesting that they rebook their appointment. Or you can put the appointment “on hold” and then cancel and manually rebook each appointment. 

After selecting the Delete Time Slots option, you will see a new dialog box telling you the number of appointments on your soon-to-be-deleted slots. 

The default option is set to move the appointments to a holding area on the Appointments List page. If you choose this option, you will have a list of the appointments that you need to either cancel or cancel and rebook. 

Working in the Admin UI

Help! The time slot boxes in the Admin UI are really small. How can I adjust this? 

Put your cursor on the line indicating the time on the left-hand column. You can then stretch or shrink the size of the boxes. Alternatively, you can go to the Settings / Vendor View Setup page and adjust the Time Slot Display Scale.